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The 3 best first-year starting QBs in recent Ohio State football history

The Ohio State football team has had some good first-year QBs under Ryan Day. With Will Howard likely to do the same, we rank the first-year QBs in the Ryan Day era.

By Ryan Stano

Will former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields be starting at QB for the Chicago Bears this season? 10 Takeaways From The Big Ten Schedule Release Including Nebraska Taking One In The Teeth And Ohio State Getting A Favorable Draw
Will former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields be starting at QB for the Chicago Bears this season? 10 Takeaways From The Big Ten Schedule Release Including Nebraska Taking One In The Teeth And Ohio State Getting A Favorable Draw / Adam Cairns via Imagn Content Services,
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1. Justin Fields

When Justin Fields decided to transfer to the Ohio State football program, he hadn't started yet. He sat for a year at Georgia before a baseball player yelled a racial slur at him during a game. What he did have was a five-star recruit pedigree and a body to hold up to hits.

Fields was immediately a leader for the best Ohio State football team that I've ever seen. He led the Buckeyes to an undefeated season and a College Football Playoff appearance. He had 3,278 passing yards and 41 touchdowns through the air and added 484 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.

If it wasn't for some awful refereeing, the Buckeyes would have played for a national championship against LSU. Still, Fields did everything he could to get that 2019 team to a national championship. It was impressive what he was able to do up until that Clemson game.

In 2020, he was able to help the Buckeyes avenge the loss to Clemson and make the National Championship Game. Unfortunately, they got killed by a really good Alabama team in that game. Still, he was able to follow up a great season with another great one.

Fields was a first-round pick by the Chicago Bears in the 2021 NFL Draft. He wasn't set up for success there and was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers this past offseason. Hopefully, he can have the pro career there that he was supposed to have in Chicago.

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Ohio State would love to get a season like any of these guys from Howard this year. If the offensive line can block for him, he'll have every opportunity to do so.

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