Redshirt Review: C.J. Stroud
A series of profiles on members of the Buckeyes’ 2020 recruiting class who redshirted their true freshman seasons, including a look back at how their first year went, and an evaluation of where they stand in the program ahead of 2021.
C.J. Stroud has yet to be officially tapped as the Buckeyes’ next starting quarterback, but the redshirt freshman already has some kind of expectations to live up to.
The Rancho Cucamonga product is a top-five favorite to win the Heisman Trophy to many oddsmakers, and Sporting News recently ranked him among the best 20 college football quarterbacks in the country before he’s even thrown a pass.
RELATED: Sporting News ranks Stroud No. 18 in top 25 QB list for ‘21
Not to mention, his predecessors have won the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year three times running, with the conference’s quarterback of the year award going to Buckeyes in eight of the past 10 years, including the last five straight.
J.T. Barrett rewrote Ohio State’s career records when it came to the quarterback position, and Dwayne Haskins did the same to the program’s single-season records the year after Barrett left. Once Haskins was drafted No. 15 in the NFL Draft, Justin Fields came in and became a Heisman finalist in his first season as a starter, and ended up going even higher in the draft than Haskins.
How exactly does Stroud live up to all of that? Well, first he must win the starting job outright, even if some believe the battle was won long ago.
“They’ve learned a lot, but now the race is on over the next few months to figure out who can make the next stride so that they’re further along,” head coach Ryan Day said after the Spring Game.
Day has refused to admit as much, even after a rock-solid spring game performance from Stroud that took place after he received many of the first-team reps during open practices.
“I think the more practices we have, the more times we can put them in game situations, the better feel we’ll have, but you never stop learning,” Day said during the spring. “You see some of these guys who maybe go on to play in the NFL, sometimes it takes five years, sometimes it takes one year, sometimes it takes two years. You just don’t really know.”
Stroud may not have been head and shoulders above his competitors in April, as his two-touchdown, 185-yard showing was nearly identical to that of true freshman Kyle McCord, who finished with two scores and 184 yards.
McCord even enters the program as the slightly more highly-rated national recruit relative to his class, yet it is Stroud that has won the speculative debate hands down thus far.
Even if Stroud wins the job to start this year, he may have to continue to win it day in and day out, given the talent in Corey Dennis’ quarterback room. Day said the battle for the starting job may go past this year’s season opener, and next to McCord stands redshirt freshman Jack Miller, who is a four-star prospect in his own right.
The skill level possessed by that trio is likely why Day and the rest of the Buckeye coaching staff has been so tight-lipped about the battle, particularly in the age of the one-time transfer rule in college football.
The position will get no less loaded for the Buckeyes after this year though, as Ohio State brings in five-star quarterback and No. 1 overall 2022 prospect Quinn Ewers in next season.
For now though, all eyes will be on Stroud to carry the torch of success for Buckeye passers in Day’s prolific offense, should he be the starter that most expect him to be.