The three most glaring needs for Ohio State football coming out of the transfer portal
By Ryan Stano
3. The Ohio State football team must figure out how to handle the quarterback room
Before last year, the quarterback position was not something you worried about with a Ryan Day-coached team. He had a track record of producing a Heisman Trophy Finalist quarterback every single year. It was expected that would happen again in 2023.
That reputation took a bit of a hit after Kyle McCord's play last year. While he wasn't terrible, he did play poorly in the biggest game of his career against Michigan. He transferred in the offseason and Devin Brown got a chance to take the starting job but looked bad before getting hurt in the Cotton Bowl. Lincoln Kienholz looked incompetent as well.
Since that awful showing in the Cotton Bowl, the Buckeyes have added three more quarterbacks to the roster. Will Howard, the transfer from Kansas State, will be the starter. They also added two top-five QBs from the 2024 recruiting class in Julian Sayin and Air Noland.
Day needs to figure out the best way to handle the quarterback room. Brown and Kienholz are candidates to transfer once the Spring window opens for the transfer portal, although Kienholz has a better chance to stay than Brown does.
My guess is that both Brown and Kienholz leave and the quarterback issues for this season fix themselves. Sayin, Noland, and 2025 recruit Tavien St. Clair will battle for the starting job in 2025. That makes the most sense moving forward. Whoever is the most talented QB will win the job at that point.
Next. Next story. Ohio State NIL collective raised $1 million in a week. dark
Those are the three biggest needs for the Ohio State football team coming out of the transfer portal window. They did a pretty good job using the portal fo fix most of their issues once the season ended.