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Next up a quarterback for Ohio State: Part 3: The conclusion

We are finally here, the last of a three-part series looking at which candidate, Kyle McCord or Devin Brown, has the leg up in the race to be Ohio State’s quarterback in 2023.

I will reiterate I don’t believe this contest will be called early. Given the fairly easy early schedule (Indiana,  Youngstown State and Western Kentucky), this battle potentially could go into the season. If it does, Ryan Day needs to make a choice before traveling to South Bend.

Part 1 of this series focused on McCord. The second focused on Brown. Now we will put that information together and handicap the race. My final takes on each of them and a prediction prior to spring practices and fall camp of what we will see in 2023 for Ohio State at quarterback.

Kyle McCord

Both quarterbacks lack experience, but McCord has a leg up in that department. As for his physical skills, he has the necessary arm strength to make all the throws for this offense. McCord has better accuracy of the two, although he isn’t much of a runner. Day didn’t really allow the Pennsylvania native to stretch the field this past year while playing mostly in mop-up duty. Lots of short throws don’t really tell us much of what to expect going forward from McCord, so there is a bit of unknown.

Devin Brown

The youngster shows some very good arm strength, although Brown might just be a touch behind McCord in that department. It’s really difficult to assess what Brown is at the moment because we last saw him taking meaningful snaps almost two years ago. We know he’s the better runner, so he has the advantage there. His accuracy is not quite as good as McCord’s, but it’s hard to know if or how much Brown has improved in that area. He needed the game to slow for him because he sometimes rushed his throws without proper footwork or was late due to processing. When his feet are squared and he’s not tangled up, Brown can spin it with the best of them though.

Conclusion

It’s pretty easy to see who should be starting with the first-team offense in practices before the LiFEsports Spring Game, Kyle McCord. What happens in the game really will not tell us much. Do any spring games? As I said before, this will not end in April, but we should expect to know who has the advantage heading in the fall. That should be McCord as well. If it’s not, it would be a very interesting development.

It’s hard to think it will not be McCord starting this season, but there should be a package for Brown to play as well. A red zone or goal line set of plays for Brown should be installed. It would be good for two reasons. First, it would get Brown legit experience. Second, it would make teams think about what the Buckeyes might do when he is in.

In C.J. Stroud’s first year as a starter, with no previous collegiate experience, he threw for 4,435 yards, 44 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Could McCord put up similar numbers? Yes, but the bigger question is will he. I still expect the offense to put up big scoring numbers but with the deep stable of running backs and a first-time starting quarterback (not counting McCord’s start in 2021), an aerial attack similar to what we’ve seen the last two years probably isn’t in the cards.

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