Ohio State Football: From a crowded QB room to empty chairs

There is no doubt Ryan Day knows how to get the most out of his star players but his quarterback room at Ohio State is getting pretty thin.

Ryan Day has proven he can improve a quarterback’s play on the field but during his time at Ohio State his QB room went from being a crowded one to a very thin one. Let’s take a look at how things have transpired the last couple of years.

Going into spring practice in 2017 he had possibly the most loaded QB unit in the nation. J.T. Barrett was in the process of smashing Big Ten records, Joe Burrow who was coming off a nice season as his backup, Dwayne Haskins was about to display his talent after redshirting and Gatorade Player of the Year Tate Martell enrolled early.

Burrow and Haskins battled for the backup spot and both performed well in the spring game. Haskins seized the position after Burrow was injured that summer.

In the fall, Barrett had his finest season as a Buckeye and Haskins performed well. That set up a duel between him and Burrow for the starting job the following spring, and even with Barrett set to graduate the QB room was still full with Matthew Baldwin coming on board.

The two quarterbacks battling for the starting job both performed well in last year’s spring game, but Burrow saw the writing on the wall and transferred to LSU. There was still Martell behind Haskins and West Virginia quarterback Chris Chugunov joined the Buckeyes as a transfer graduate to give them a veteran backup. The quarterback situation looked strong, not only for the 2018 season but for the near future.

Then Haskins had a record-setting season and things really began to change. When it was obvious he would leave Ohio State and enter the NFL draft, the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2018 class Justin Fields was said to be leaning towards transferring to Ohio State.

It was widely reported Tate Martell said he didn’t care if Fields joined the Buckeyes because he wouldn’t shy away from competition and expected to win the starting job. Shortly after Fields enrolled Martell transferred.

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Baldwin and Fields were supposed to battle for the starting QB position and neither set the world on fire during the spring game but both showed promise. Coach Day let everybody know the quarterback situation had yet to be decided. Shortly afterwards Baldwin announced he was transferring.

That makes three quarterbacks who have transferred in the last year. Now the Buckeyes have two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster and neither were at Ohio State when Ryan Day came on board.

I get the fact that players transfer looking for greener pastures, that’s just what happens in big boy football programs. However, losing quarterbacks at a high rate is a concern because teams don’t stock very many.

And when a player who is expected to battle for the starting spot just picks up and leaves you have to wonder why. Especially when it happens three times in one year.