All signs, as limited as they have been to this stage, point to C.J. Stroud starting the 2021 season as quarterback for Ohio State.

There has been no official word from head coach Ryan Day or quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis, but there’s a reason why Stroud’s name appears in the top five of many Heisman Trophy odds lists and on projected college football quarterbacks rankings this offseason.

However, Kyle McCord and Jack Miller may both be more than capable at operating the Ohio State offense in their own right, and could foreseeably get the call up at any point if things start going south with Plan A this season.

In our over/under series we’ve been breaking down the likelihood of certain statistical benchmarks for a number of Ohio State players in the 2021 season, and today we’re taking a look at the chances that somebody not named C.J. Stroud gets a start at quarterback this season.

We’re setting the mark at one start and making a case for both outcomes before delivering our own prediction down below.

Lest anyone need reminding, football is a rough sport. Even if Stroud comes out of the gates looking like an all-world QB, he knows just as well as you and I that all it takes is one bad break for the injury bug to bite and your season to quickly be curtailed.

But let’s not think that cynically.

The other obvious scenario is that Stroud comes out of the gates struggling, and the Ohio State offense is not humming like it did under Fields and Dwayne Haskins when the Buckeyes begin the season against tough opponents like Minnesota and Oregon. How long of a leash will Stroud get to play through mistakes?

If the quarterback battle is as close as the coaching staff has made it seem at times, their combined inexperience may mean none of them have earned the right to play through extended periods of mediocre play.

Another situation, albeit somewhat unlikely given the reasons stated above, is that Stroud is not the leader of the pack in the quarterback room come Week One.

Miller may have had the poorest spring game performance of the bunch, but there wasn’t much to separate McCord’s exhibition from Stroud’s own, as both passers looked quite smooth pitching the ball around. In fact, depending on your preference, one could even argue that McCord made more standout throws on that April afternoon.

Of course, the battle is not won in the spring game alone, but the reality is nobody knows exactly what has gone on behind the scenes and in the coaches meeting room when it comes to this decision-making process.

In terms of injury concerns, Ohio State has two of the top returning offensive tackles in the country in Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere, and even with Buckeye passers getting banged up here and there, no backup has actually started a game or supplanted the quarterback for Ohio State since 2015.

The past five years of Buckeye history tells us that whoever starts the first game at quarterback will likely ride out the entire season as QB1, and that may not be any different with Stroud presumably beginning the year under center in 2021.

When Ohio State needed to entrust Stroud or Miller to come into the Sugar Bowl for one play this past season, it was Stroud that got the nod. When Ohio State ran first-string reps during open practices over the spring, it was Stroud that got most of the looks.

The Rancho Cucamonga product has seemed like the next starter post-Fields ever since he committed to the Ohio State program on Signing Day, and at this point, it would be something of a shock if he didn’t start Game One at Minnesota.

Whether it’s injury or performance-related, I think for one reason or another, somebody other than Stroud will get a crack at starting a game under center for the Buckeyes this season. The start of Ohio State’s 2021 schedule might be tougher than anyone is talking about right now, and with a brand new quarterback stepping in, there might just be some growing pains early on.

Fields was never going to get benched in favor of Chris Chugunov in 2019, but the Buckeyes will have some legitimate talent at QB2 and QB3 this season, and I don’t believe the coaching staff would shy away from giving somebody else a chance if things turn sour in the earlygoing.