COLUMBUS, Ohio – So who needs a quarterback?

Or two?

The Buckeyes certainly are on that list with the recent news that Matthew Baldwin has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal and that it does not appear to be just a flirtation with leaving. It does not look like Baldwin will be coming back.

RELATED: Matthew Baldwin to transfer

That move leaves the Buckeyes with two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster with Justin Fields and Chris Chugunov and a walk-on with Danny Vanatsky.

That is a very thin margin for the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes will have to go to the graduate transfer market and find another player to add to the quarterback room. And in short order.

Even if the Buckeyes do find someone that fits the profile and wants to join the program, there is no mulligan on spring practice. That is over and done with. There won’t be any instruction with the coaches and an actual football until the start of fall practice.

That means the Buckeyes will have to find someone who already has a general idea of what he is doing and can go and try and learn the playbook on his own and work on the side until the team reconvenes in July.

The transfer portal has to be deep with candidates, right?

Well, maybe not a lot, but there are a few candidates that might fit.

This one would make the most sense but there is a major hurdle to clear right off the bat, is Hoak really going to transfer or not? He still has to make that decision but is on target to graduate at the end of the academic term and then would have two years of eligibility to compete.

Hoak is a graduate of Dublin (Ohio) Coffman high school and grew up in the shadow of Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes did not offer Hoak coming out of high school with Dwayne Haskins already committed as part of the class.

Hoak has not put up a lot of numbers in his career but he was 13-26 with two touchdowns and a pick last season. He looked sharp in the Kentucky spring game with a near-perfect 14-15 with two scores.

There is also a family tie with his father, Frank and his uncle’s family (Fred Pagac and Fred Pagac Jr.) already having Ohio State ties as former players. There is not an immediate path to the field, but that is going to be a stumbling block in most of these situations.

Update 4/23: Hoak has entered the transfer portal.

News of the Carter transfer only came out this past week and teams are still trying to figure out all they can about the Gilmer (Texas) product.

Mike Yurcich would know a thing or two about him formerly being at Oklahoma State, a conference foe of Texas Tech.

Carter started his career in the JUCO ranks before making his way to Lubbock and in two seasons the quarterback is 51-97 for 677 yards along with four touchdowns and four interceptions. Carter only saw prolonged duty in one game last season, a 35-24 loss to Texas where he was 21-37 for 247 yards and two touchdowns with two picks against the Horns.

Carter is immediately eligible and there is no need to go through any sort of waiver process.

This is another player that Yurcich would know a thing or two about, this time having coached him with the Cowboys. The issue here, Wudtee is not a graduate transfer and the Buckeyes once again would have to wait on the NCAA to make a decision on a waiver or not.

Wudtee would have two years to play two years wherever he ends up transferring.

The Bossier City (La.) native has seen limited action with just eight attempts during his Oklahoma State career, completing three of them, one for a touchdown. He saw a few snaps in a pair of Oklahoma State routs last season, against Missouri State and South Alabama.

He is a big quarterback at 6-foot-4, 216 pounds and a dual-threat weapon with 12 attempts for 81 yards last season.

It seems like Wudtee wants to get closer to home however and it might take an amazing sell job to get him to head north to Ohio, if that is the direction that the Buckeyes want to go.

This would be an interesting move with a former Michigan QB ending up at Ohio State. Malzone spent two years in the Wolverines program before transferring to the RedHawks. It now appears that he is looking for one more move with a final year of eligibility left.

The numbers are, well, not really there. He is a career 0-4 passing. That’s it.

But only having limited opportunities, it still remains to be seen what he is capable of doing if given that chance. The Buckeyes are not looking for a starter but might like to find someone who has a little more of a track record than that when it comes to the situation that they are in with the mass exodus of quarterbacks as of late.

The Buckeyes are aware of Hill has he played for the Maryland Terrapins during his career. Ohio State never faced Hill however as it has been an injury-plagued career so far for Hill, but that has been par for the course as of late at Maryland and at the QB position.

There is also the concern that Hill might not be ready for the start of the season after suffering his second ACL tear and might not be ready until after the first four to six weeks of the season, at best as he goes through his recovery.

Hill would not have guaranteed immediate eligibility not being a graduate transfer and being from Washington (D.C.) he would be moving further away from home if he were to join the Buckeyes. But in these days of NCAA waivers just being handed out, and going through a coaching change, there is a good chance that a waiver could be handed out just based on precedent.

2018 was the most durable year of Hill’s career as he played in 10 games over the season. He was 84-170 passing for 1,083 yards with nine touchdowns and four picks. He also was sacked 15 times.

This move would only help the Buckeyes if they were sure they would get a transfer waiver approved on Hill and felt that his knee injury recovery would be on track that he could be a productive back-up for the Buckeyes this upcoming season.

Francois certainly is the most decorated of quarterbacks looking for a home in 2019 but it is not without controversy as he was dismissed from the Seminoles after an ex-girlfriend claimed that Francois physically abused her. The girlfriend later went on to recant the accusations, but the damage had already been done to his reputation and programs will have to do added due diligence before making any decision on the player.

It is not like Francois was lightning things up while he was at Florida State on offense, but a lot of that too can be tied into the fact that he had zero offensive line in front of him. He was sacked 29 times in 11 games. He did complete 227 of 396 passes during that time and had 15 touchdowns but a bad ratio to 12 interceptions.

Francois would have one year to play one with immediate eligibility.

There really is only one quarterback out of the high school ranks right now that the Buckeyes can look at in the class of 2019 and that is Andrade. He holds one offer, from South Alabama and remains unsigned at this point. The Buckeyes might not want to go the high school path but remember that they did not sign a QB in this class when Dwan Mathis opted to go to UGA after the Fields transfer threw a wrench into a lot of plans.

As a senior, Andrade played in 13 games and was 299-499 for 4,366 yards with 39 touchdowns against nine picks. He led his team to a 7-3 record last season, but his team did not make it into the CIF playoffs. During his career he threw for more than 7,300 yards and had 63 career touchdowns in three years of action (did not play as a sophomore).

Other names: Tommy Stevens (PSU), Colt Garrett (Texas Tech), Connor Neville (Washington State), Cade Weldon (Miami – Fla.)