The second-longest tenured pledge in Ohio State’s class, behind Jack Sawyer, is borderline five-star quarterback Kyle McCord.

McCord, who committed to the Buckeyes back on April 30, 2019, was able to finally make things official with the program this morning. It is not too often when you see a recruit commit their sophomore year of high school and stay completely loyal throughout, but that was the case with McCord.

The third-ranked pro style quarterback on Rivals remained locked in with the Buckeyes, and was a valuable recruiter for them on the trail as well. Brian Hartline was the person who played the biggest role in helping to land Emeka Egbuka, but McCord kept in touch with the five-star wideout and consistently pitched the program to him.

McCord did not need to necessarily see anymore of Ohio State’s campus prior to signing, but made the roughly seven-hour trip to Columbus on Oct. 24 to be in attendance for the Buckeye Bash event. Even though there was only one uncommitted target in attendance, it’s always great to see one of the leaders of a class make their way out for those types of events.

To no one’s surprise, McCord is gearing up to early enroll at Ohio State and begin his collegiate experience in less than a month.

"The moment I first stepped on campus, I felt at home," McCord told BuckeyeGrove when discussing his decision in April 2019. "I have a great relationship with the coaching staff and I feel like playing for coach Day and coach Yurcich would help me develop for the NFL. On top of that, Ohio State has some of the best traditions in college football."

Watching McCord throw the football is a thing of beauty.

The borderline five-star QB has excellent touch on his deep throws, and makes it look effortless when tossing the ball 50-60 yards down the field. He hits his receivers in stride and drops the ball right in the bucket on passes that are near the sidelines.

You also have to take notice when watching McCord’s film how quickly he delivers the football. On top of having a quick release time, McCord does not lose any velocity on his passes and fires the ball with pinpoint accuracy.

He’s rightfully listed as a pro-style quarterback, but McCord isn’t a statute when standing in the pocket. The 6-foot-3, 212-pounder is mobile enough to escape outside of the pocket, and keeps his eyes up to deliver accurate throws on the run.

McCord is going to be walking into an Ohio State wide receiver room that features the likes of Emeka Egbuka, Jaxon Smith-Njiba, Julian Fleming, Marvin Harrison Jr. and plenty of others. He is the type of quarterback who is more than capable of distributing the ball to all of his weapons and getting everybody enough touches.

With Justin Fields expected to depart from the program after this season, I believe McCord will be in contention for earning a starting spot at Ohio State as a true freshman.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.