Ohio State Football: One QB isn’t making Ryan Day’s decision easy

We talked about the options for the Ohio State football team at quarterback this morning. One of them isn’t making things easy for Ryan Day.

Kyle McCord sure isn’t making this whole starting-quarterback-decision thing easy for Ryan Day. By all accounts, the true freshman from Philadelphia has been very impressive so far in fall camp. C.J. Stroud may be the perceived leader of the Buckeye quarterback derby (Jack Miller is a part of it as well), but McCord is certainly having his say.

Reports say McCord’s arm strength has been very impressive. The ball explodes out of his hand and gets to the receiver on a line in a hurry. Now, a quarterback can have enough arm strength to throw a ball through a wall, but if they’re not accurate they’re not going to help a team much. McCord has the accuracy to go with the arm strength. His ball placement is outstanding.

While McCord has the required arm strength and accuracy, there is more to the position than the physical side-the mental aspect. Is he making good decisions? Does he know when to throw the ball? More importantly, does he know when to not throw the ball?

Is he making the correct changes at the line of scrimmage? How well does he understand the offense? From what we saw in the Spring Game he seems to have a good understanding of the offense, but does he have a deep understanding?

These are the things fans and media are not privy to in this battle. Only Ryan Day and his offensive staff really know the answers to all of those questions. Answers that will go a long way in deciding this three-way battle.

At Big Ten Media Days a few weeks ago, Day said he wants to name a starter after the second week of camp. Monday, he said this,

"“After this week, we will have a really good feel.”"

He went on to say Wednesday and Saturday will be big days. The Ohio State football head coach feels they are approaching a good sample size for judging his three candidates,

"“We are kind of getting into 20 practices now when you include the spring. That is a pretty good body of work that we’re putting together day after day.”"

Has McCord impressed enough to make this battle far closer than anyone imagined? Possibly. It may just be why Day said this,

"“Will we be ready next week? I don’t know. But it will be pretty close to that timetable.”"

We’re all looking forward to Day’s announcement of his choice. But, I’m more interested in him making the best choice even if that means pushing back his original timeline.

If some true freshman from Philadelphia is doing enough to make Day think longer, I’m all for it.