Day hopes to name QB1 two weeks into camp, which begins Aug. 3
INDIANAPOLIS –– Ryan Day didn’t name a starting quarterback at Big Ten Media Days Friday, but the Ohio State head coach did issue an estimation of when he expects to come to a decision.
Preseason camp will begin Aug. 3, Day said during an hour-long appearance with the media in Lucas Oil Stadium, and within the first two weeks, the Buckeye coach hopes to know for certain who will take the first snap at quarterback for Ohio State come Sept. 2.
“I’m not gonna put a date on it, but you’d like to have it by the first two weeks of the preseason –– in a perfect world –– so that you can start to get them the reps ready to play in that first game,” Day said.
Although most believe redshirt freshman C.J. Stroud, the No. 51 overall prospect in the class of 2020, will ultimately start the season under center for the Buckeyes, Day and the Ohio State program have remained notably tight-lipped about the competition.
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In fact, Day, who has previously said that he anticipated the position battle going well past the season-opener in Minnesota, reiterated Friday that the second and third-string QBs will continue to get significant reps even after a starter has been named.
“We’re still gonna spread the reps around because there’s gonna be three guys in this thing all the way into January or as long as we can play,” Day said. “But if you’re looking for a ballpark, it would probably be about two weeks into camp.”
In the age of the one-time transfer rule and name, image and likeness, Day is tasked with the improbable feat of keeping three young four-star prospects in the same quarterback room, which has no doubt factored heavily into how he has handled the competition.
Even after Stroud, Jack Miller and Kyle McCord, the Buckeyes are slated to bring in the nation’s No. 1 overall recruit at the position in 2022, with Quinn Ewers entering the fray.
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“I don’t know what this is gonna look like moving forward. If I did, I’d probably sleep a little better right now,” Day said. “I know that we want to have that room be around for two to three to four years, so we can have experience as we head into December and January, because that’s one of the things we haven’t had. We’ve had really good quarterback play in Dwayne (Haskins) and Justin (Fields), but not a lot of experience where it’s a third-year starter. We had that with J.T. (Barrett), and that was great. We’re trying to get that again.”
Stroud seemed to take the majority of reps in the few spring practices that were open to the media, but McCord –– the No. 34 overall prospect in the 2021 class –– had a spring game performance that was right on par with Stroud’s own.
When asked if anyone has taken even the slightest lead in the race, Day said “it’s even to me.”
“The last few months, the guys have changed. I think they’ve all done a great job with [strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti],” Day said. “Their bodies look like they’ve changed, they’ve gotten stronger, they’ve gotten faster. So we’ll have a better idea once we get on the field and start practicing. We kind of look at the spring practices, 15 practices and then practice one of preseason is like practice 16 in a body of work. But I’m interested to see what they look like coming out.”
Even if Day has talent to spare at quarterback, he made no bones about his level of concern with the collective lack of experience at the position in Indianapolis.
“We’re nervous about playing in any game right now with a young quarterback. Especially one that hasn’t thrown a college pass,” Day said. “So yeah, there’ll be a lot of sleepless nights as we head into that first game.”
Perhaps after a couple weeks of preseason reps though, the emergence of a starter may just calm his nerves.