Ohio State's Kyle McCord releases Michigan-themed Dr Pepper NIL ad

Kyle McCord waited for two years for his chance at Ohio State, backing up CJ Stroud.

The former five-star recruit wasn’t the surefire starter this offseason, either. He competed head-to-head with Devin Brown throughout spring and preseason. But now entering the regular season finale, there’s little doubt about who Ohio State’s starting quarterback is.

McCord has looked more comfortable and confident these last few weeks than at any point this season. Perfect timing, too. The quarterback will make his first start in The Game on Saturday, trying to help the second-ranked Buckeyes snap their two-game losing streak in the series to No. 3 Michigan.

Everything is on the line in the 119th edition of the series. On top of bragging rights, the Big Ten East Division crown is up for grabs. And Saturday will serve as a College Football Playoff elimination game.

It’s a lot for a starting quarterback to shoulder in his first start in the rivalry. But Ohio State head coach Ryan Day emphasized earlier this week that McCord just needs to be routine, similar to his other 11 outings this year.

Before kickoff on Saturday, the junior released his ad for Dr Pepper. While Caleb Williams is the star of the nationwide commercial aired during games, the Ohio State quarterback has been posting on social media throughout the year promoting the soda brand.

Ahead of the most-anticipated game of the season, he’s having some fun with his rivals in the NIL deal. McCord is seen drinking his Dr Pepper when someone tries to grab the soda from his cooler. The quarterback throws his can at the thief and says, “Man, can’t trust anybody.” The “M” is crossed out with an “X,” part of tradition in Columbus.

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A post shared by Kyle McCord (@kylemccord)

The quarterback has thrown for 2,899 yards with 22 touchdowns and four interceptions this season. He’ll face his toughest test on Saturday in Ann Arbor as the two 11-0 teams meet.

“I think we knew how much the rivalry meant in high school,” McCord recently said. “But then I think once you get to college, I think that’s when you really realize how important it is.”

Kyle McCord’s growing NIL brand

Multiple Columbus businesses have started to work with the quarterback, leveraging his name, image and likeness. Back in June, the junior signed with Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet. As part of the deal, he received the keys to a 2023 Mercedes-Benz AMG GT 53. 

McCord signed a major partnership with Rhoback this summer, too, becoming a leading face for the brand. He’s repped by Excel Sports and Vayner Sports.

Previously, he had signed with the Ohio-State driven NIL collectives Cohesion Foundation and The Foundation. More than 200 collectives have populated the college athletics landscape since the inception of NIL in July 2021. They have become necessary to compete in college football and basketball, with wide swaths of donors coming together to pool funds.

Kyle McCord’s social media following has taken off, growing by over 30,000 since August and now sitting at 88,000. He holds a $857,000 On3 NIL Valuation, which ranks No. 25 in college football. The valuation is No. 34 in the On3 NIL 100, the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation. His valuation has grown $558,000 the last 10 weeks.

The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s NIL value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories: performance, influence and exposure.

About On3 NIL Valuation, Brand Value, Roster Value

While the algorithm includes deal data, it does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals athletes have completed to date, nor does it set an athlete’s NIL valuation for their entire career.