Ohio State Football: Five possible QB options for 2024
By Ryan Stano
While the Ohio State football season isn’t officially over, it’s on its last legs. Unless a miracle happens on Saturday, the Buckeyes will not be participating in the College Football Playoff. It’s time for them to assess what kind of team they want to have next season.
We know that the quarterback play wasn’t good enough this past season. Kyle McCord wasn’t great, but he wasn’t terrible either. His floor is high but his ceiling might not be. It’s pretty clear that for Ohio State to beat the elite teams, they need elite quarterback play.
There are five options that I want to entertain for next season. All five of these options are realistic, not pipe dreams. I can already tell you that you won’t like my final option for who might start next year. Let’s start out with what might be the most exciting option though.
1. Air Noland
The most exciting, and probably daring, option is to have Air Noland start right out of the gate. He is Ohio State’s 2024 recruit at the quarterback position and is out of the state of Georgia. As of right now, he is a five-star recruit and stands at 6’3 and 195 pounds.
Noland gives the Buckeyes something they didn’t have at the quarterback position this past season; the ability to run. McCord was not agile enough to scramble for big yardage on plays. He was barely used at all in the running game. In fact, he finished the season with negative rushing yards.
While he’s not a run-first quarterback by any means, he at least gives that threat that he could tuck it and run at some point. He may have the fastest release of anyone in the 2024 class, which could be important with how bad the offensive line was this past year.
I don’t think this will be the Ohio State football team’s first option for next season. Starting a true freshman is extremely rare for Ohio State. The last person to get any starts as a true freshman was Braxton Miller back in 2011. I wouldn’t count on that happening again.
The next three options I’ll give you will come from the transfer portal, which several quarterbacks have already entered. The next one is someone who is very decorated as a starter.