A secret is no secret to the secret keeper, so by definition Ryan Day already knows who his starting quarterback will be when the Buckeyes open Aug. 31 at home against Akron. Even if the rest of us don’t.
We may suspect which QB gets the nod between Will Howard and Devin Brown – my money is on Howard – but we also want to wait until a week or so into fall camp to make a final prediction. But Day can’t afford to wait, not with camp beginning Thursday and Akron less than a month away.
Many fans want to believe fall camp is for determining starters through position battles. OSU coaches, especially on offense, are farther down the road. They have to be, or else risk repeating what went wrong in 2023.
One of the perplexing issues dogging Ohio State last season was a failure to get off to fast starts. For all their offensive firepower, the Buckeyes never got out of the gate as quickly as Day wanted. The slow starts were especially noticeable in the first two games against Youngstown State, when OSU led only 14-7 after one quarter, and Western Kentucky, when it was 7-3 after 15 minutes.
It didn’t improve from there: 0-0 vs. Notre Dame; 0-7 vs. Maryland; 13-0 vs. Purdue; 3-3 vs. Penn State; 0-3 vs. Wisconsin; 7-0 vs. Rutgers; 14-0 vs. Michigan State; 0-7 vs. Minnesota; 3-7 vs. Michigan; 3-0 vs. Missouri.
Quarterback Kyle McCord took much of the heat for the Buckeyes performing more like tortoise than hare, but upon closer inspection the problem was more with Day waiting too long to name McCord the full-time starter. Despite an entire spring and summer/fall to make his pick, Day did not make McCord’s role official until after the second game, when the QB permanently moved ahead of Brown on the depth chart.
The delay impacted not only the quarterback position but the entire offense, which went into the season feeling its way instead of intuitively knowing its way.
I’ll let Doug Worthington explain. The former Ohio State defensive lineman (2006-2009) who spent parts of five seasons in the NFL, walked me through the actual purpose of fall camp, which are twofold:
· Keep everyone healthy.
“My headline for fall camp is, ‘Health is wealth,’ ” Worthington said. “One of the biggest things going into it is being very intentional in keeping certain guys healthy. Quarterbacks and skill guys who have to run. You want to be mindful of giving guys great competition, but also get out of camp without getting hurt.”
· Run, don’t walk.
Strategically, coaches want their players to hit the ground running as fast as possible. That happens only when the starting roster is pretty well set heading into camp. The longer there are moving parts, especially on offense, the longer it takes to get out of the blocks quickly.
“Spring ball allows coaches to understand what they have going into the fall,” Worthington said. “Fall is not the time to figure things out. It’s when you want the core group to get confidence and play fast.”
And playing fast becomes problematic if the starting quarterback is not already in place.
“The quarterback has so much influence on so many individuals,” Worthington said. “So if you’re not sure if he can get the job done or can command the huddle or get you out of sticky situations and make the throws, then you’re making everyone else’s job harder.
“The running back’s job, the lineman’s job all just got harder. If you have your quarterback, the tide of the sea calms down. Ryan Day can know the offensive tackle needs to give his quarterback an extra second of protection. Or when the wide receiver can read the high safety and make the right call.”
In other words, coaches need to settle on starters before fall camp begins, for purposes of reaching maximum efficiency as soon as possible, then adjust the roster sparingly. Pick a starter and go with him.
“The coaching staff already has the two-deep in mind that will give them the best chance at winning,” Worthington said. “These guys are million-dollar coaches. They’re very aware of the level of talent and who is ready to play.
“I would say (the starters) are already written in erasable pen, not pencil. Coaches already have them projected, but they leave some room for the opportunity for other guys to creep up. But everybody has to be on one string. This camp is not as much about competition but running and playing fast.”
Camp is about a lot of things. Building chemistry in the locker room. Upperclassmen showing freshmen the ropes. Fine-tuning the details. But mostly it’s about avoiding injuries and playing fast enough that during the first quarter of the Akron game the Buckeyes look worthy of being dubbed a national championship contender.
“Objects in motion stay in motion,” Worthington said.
Given how long it took the offense to get in motion last season, expect Day to announce his starting quarterback sooner than he did a year ago.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ryan Day should name Ohio State football QB to speed up offense
The Columbus Dispatch
