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 that I don’t believe this contest will be called early and there is potential that with the fair easy early schedule (Indiana, Youngstown State and Western Kentucky) that this battle could go into the season. If it does, Ryan Day needs to make a choice before traveling to South Bend.
Part one was going over McCord and the second installment was looking at Brown. Now we will put all 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
Another first! 🔋
Jayden Ballard takes it 72 yards for his first career @OhioStateFB TD 💪 pic.twitter.com/s2HIxkfsLN
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 18, 2022
Both of the quarterbacks lack experience but McCord does have a bit of 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, while he isn’t much of a runner. Day didn’t really allow the Pennsylvania native to stretch the field this past year, as he played 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
Oh that’s beautiful pic.twitter.com/JwwyYEbfyt
— Az_Buckeye (@BuckeyePage) January 18, 2023
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, when we last saw him taking meaningful snaps it was almost two years ago. We all know he’s the better runner, so he has the advantage there. Accuracy is not quite as good as Kyle’s, but again it’s hard to know if Brown has improved there. He needed the game to slow down for him, as sometimes he rushes his throws without proper footwork or he’s 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
Rollout throws from #Buckeyes QBs C.J. Stroud, Kyle McCord and Devin Brown pic.twitter.com/lAD0yEoWJX
— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) December 29, 2022
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 won’t tell us much, do any spring games? As I said before, this won’t end in April but we should expect to know who has the advantge heading in the fall. That should be McCord as well and if it’s not, it would be a very interesting development.
It’s hard to think it won’t be McCord as the starter this coming season also, but there should be a package from Brown to play as well. A red zone or goal line set of plays for Brown should be installed. It would be good two-fold, first, getting Brown legit experience and second, making teams think about what the Buckeyes might do when he gets put in games.
In C.J. Stroud’s first year as a starter, with no previous collegiate experience, he threw for 4,435 yards, 44 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. Could McCord put up similar numbers? Yes he could, 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), a similar aerial attack as we’ve seen the last two years, probably isn’t in the cards.
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