An Inside Look at Ohio State Football’s 2021 QB Battle

As a Buckeye it didn’t take long for Justin Fields to establish himself as one of the great quarterbacks to come through Columbus. After leading Ohio State to two playoff appearances and a national title game, it’s now time to find the next guy under center at Ohio State.

Luckily Ohio State has recruited very high level quarterbacks and it will be a three man battle to the top spot for the 2021 season and moving forward. Let’s meet the candidates trying out for the job.

Kyle McCord

McCord will be coming in this season being a true freshman. He stands at 6’3 weighing 215 pounds. McCord is a five-star recruit and is ranked #3 for pro style QBs and #27 nationally.

The high school star from Pennsylvania chose Ohio State over other B1G schools such as; Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan State.  McCord also got offers from Mississippi State, Texas A&M, UNC and a few others.

McCord is the least likely to win the job at least in 2021. As he’s only going to be a true freshman and the other 2 candidates are both returning players. McCord slightly lacks mobility but makes up for it with a very strong and very accurate arm:

often getting compared to Matthew Stafford’s skill set. Regardless he’s still battling for the top spot so Buckeyes fans won’t be surprised to see him as QB1 come the 2021 season.

C.J. Stroud

Stroud is a 6’2 pro-style QB coming out of Southern California. Coming out of high school he was a 4-star recruit and the #2 pro style QB in the nation. Stroud chose Ohio State over Georgia, Michigan, Oregon, Baylor and Boise State.

In Stroud’s freshman season he saw some snaps mostly during blowout games but did not attempt a single pass. He was able to put his speed and elusiveness on display with a 48 yd touchdown run vs Michigan State to highlight his small handful of snaps.

To most people Stroud is the favorite to win the job based on his improvements during the 2020 season backing up Justin Fields. Head Coach Ryan Day is very familiar at developing pro style QBs to college superstars. The Buckeyes expect no less then the same with C.J. Stroud.

Jack Miller lll

Jack Miller and C.J. Stroud have a lot in common, both were 4 star pro style QBs from the west coast. The two came to Columbus in the same year, and both are very close in size.

Miller also only saw snaps during blowouts and did not attempt a pass all season but did have 2 rushes combining for 23 yards. Miller seemed to be the early candidate for QB2 after coming in for Fields later in the week 1 blowout vs Nebraska.

Miller did not rank as high as Stroud out of high school, listed as the #13 pro style QB in 2020. He did receive big name offers from schools like Alabama, LSU and Auburn. He also received offers from in-state schools Arizona and Arizona State.

Bottom line is having three potential QB1s is a very good problem to have if you’re Ohio State. All three candidates will develop into complete quarterbacks and no one doubts that Ryan Day will make the right choice.

The Buckeyes will have plenty of weapons alongside the QB1 with receivers Chirs Olave and Garrett Wilsonn both returning. As well as, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Julian Fleming and Gee Scott Jr. all coming into their sophomore season.

Columbus is very eager to see who the QB1 will be, come September 2nd when Ohio State will campaign for their 3rd straight playoff appearance and fight for a national championship.