Ohio State football: An important year for Kyle McCord

There’s no debate on who the starting quarterback for the Ohio State football team is this season. C.J. Stroud is one of the best quarterbacks in the country and is going to be in the running for the number one pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Even so, it’s an important year for his backup.

Kyle McCord decided to stay on the Buckeyes’ roster this offseason after two other backups transferred out. The former five-star recruit battled for the starting job last year as a freshman and ultimately lost out to Stroud. Even though he knew he wasn’t going to start this year, he stayed anyway.

It’s an important year for him because he has his eye on the starting job in 2023. He definitely has the upper hand in that battle, but will still have to fight Devin Brown for it. This is a year that he can learn some stuff from Stroud and Ryan Day in practice to improve his game.

Last year he was pressing too much because he was trying to get that starting job. This year, he knows that has no chance of happening so he can just relax and focus on developing his skills. He could be really good next year as a starter if he does this year right.

McCord will likely get some snaps in garbage time this year as well. There will be a few games where the Ohio State football team is ahead of some bad teams where McCord will get playing time. He needs to make the most of those snaps too. I’m sure that he will.

How well McCord develops this year will determine how good he is as a starter next year. It’s an important year for the backup to get better.