Buckeyes land commitment from former Kansas State QB Will Howard
COLUMBUS — Ohio State is adding a major piece to its push for a 2024 Big Ten title and national championship: the Buckeyes are adding a proven veteran to the quarterback room.
Ryan Day has — first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel — landed a commitment from former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard on Thursday, less than a week after the Buckeyes flopped offensively in the Cotton Bowl to cap off a disappointing season.
Will Howard will have one year of eligibility remaining with the Buckeyes after playing four seasons with the Wildcats, including during the COVID-19 season. He started all 12 games for Kansas State this season, completing 61.3 percent of his passes for 2,643 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
He has 5,786 passing yards, 48 touchdowns and 25 interceptions in his career. He certainly brings experience to an Ohio State quarterback room that is lacking it.
But he also will bring controversy in the room. Second-year quarterback Devin Brown started in the Cotton Bowl before exiting with an ankle injury. Freshman Lincoln Kienholz entered that game, which the Buckeyes ultimately lost to Missouri.
Both of them now have decisions to make: whether to stick around and battle the veteran transfer for the starting spot or move on and find a new home in the transfer portal. And of course, this all comes after 12-game starter in 2023 Kyle McCord left the program through the transfer portal and ended up picking Syracuse.
Ryan Day had plenty to say about both Devin Brown and Lincoln Kienholz immediately following the Cotton Bowl loss, especially about the young Kienholz after he was thrust into a role he may not have been ready for as a true freshman in a top-10 showcase game.
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“When you’re a freshman quarterback who comes in during the summer, you don’t have the spring,” Day said. “You really don’t have much of a preseason. And then you get thrown into it with a [scout team] a little bit here and there.
“But when Kyle was in there, and Devin was getting reps with the twos, Lincoln really didn’t get any reps. He did get some reps in bowl practice, but that’s not like playing in a game.”
Now with Brown and Kienholz still in the room, and four-star freshman Air Noland on the way from the recruiting trail, Will Howard will immediately raise the bar for the competition that is sure to extend into spring practice — if the others choose to stay and battle Howard.
But it’s now official. Former Kansas State signal-caller Will Howard has committed to Ohio State. The Buckeyes have a new, potentially key, piece to the puzzle for a national title hunt next season.
