COLUMBUS, Ohio –– No official starter has been named at quarterback just yet, but Ohio State head coach Ryan Day finally tipped his hand on Monday.

Day said redshirt freshman C.J. Stroud, the longstanding favorite to replace Justin Fields under center in Columbus, has stood out from the pack during camp so far.

"I do think there has been a little bit of separation. I think that C.J. has separated a little bit here in the past couple weeks," Day said after practice at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

The Buckeyes held a scrimmage on Saturday, but Day said he will hold off on naming an official starter for the time being.

Day said the practice reps have begun to skew toward Stroud a bit, although they are still being spread out among the group at present.

Stroud, who said at the start of camp that he put on 20 pounds of muscle over the offseason, was the No. 51 overall prospect in the class of 2020. Stroud was a four-star recruit out of Rancho Cucamonga, California.

“I feel like I’m very exciting to watch, I think I’m very intelligent when it comes to the knowledge of the game of knowing coverages and knowing blitzes, knowing defenses in general,” Stroud said on Aug. 4. “I think I’ve grasped this offense and put it into my own. We’ve switched the offense around a little bit since Justin left, since he was more of a runner than we are. So I think these are all things I will do well in this offense. I feel like I can throw the ball to anybody, I can run the ball on anybody –– I feel like I’m one of the best players in the country.”

Stroud was not the only quarterback in the Buckeyes' 2020 recruiting class though, as fellow four-star prospect Jack Miller joined the program in the same cycle.

Neither Stroud nor Miller threw a pass last season, but each scored a rushing touchdown and had a chance to operate the Ohio State offense for a couple series.

Four-star true freshman Kyle McCord became the third quarterback to join the position battle this winter, but Stroud received the bulk of the team's first-team reps in both spring in fall camp when practice sessions were open to the media.

On Sunday, the nation's No. 1 overall recruit officially joined the Ohio State program, with five-star prospect Quinn Ewers reclassifying from the 2022 class to enter preseason camp eligible to play this season for the Buckeyes. However, Ewers' late arrival won't likely impact the starting job for Week One at Minnesota.