A-Deck: Ohio State still searching for class of 2026 quarterback

Welcome to “A-Deck” at Lettermen Row, where I’ll bring you inside scoop, what I’m hearing, tidbits, thoughts, and more on Ohio State recruiting and team coverage every week.

Last week’s A-Deck provided a prediction as to how Ohio State’s 2025 recruiting class would finish out come National Signing Day.

In this week’s edition, I look at the Buckeyes’ search for a 2026 quarterback, which is proving harder than it should be for one of the top QB-producing programs in America.

Ohio State still searching for its 2026 quarterback

Quarterback recruiting is generally pretty easy for Ryan Day , and the Buckeyes’ head man usually has his pick of his top few targets when push comes to shove. But Ohio State has offered 12 quarterbacks in the class of 2026 thus far, and he and Chip Kelly have struck out to date, as 9 of those prospects have already committed to other programs.

With Julian Sayin and Air Noland as freshmen on the roster, and Tavien St. Clair coming in right behind them, it’s easy to see why a 2026 quarterback would shy away from joining the Ohio State room at the moment. But Ohio State will take a quarterback in the cycle, and will have to find something else to stand behind other than its strong track record of producing elite college level quarterbacks who go on to be drafted highly in the NFL.

In the world of the transfer portal, that may not be as hard as it would have been in years’ past, as a player can be convinced to get elite coaching in Columbus, develop under Day and Kelly, and have a chance to see the field whenever it is earned. If for some reason, the chance to see the field does not happen on the timeline of said prospect, they can always hit the portal and use the skills/development they gained while at Ohio State to have a successful career elsewhere. Hello, Joe Burrow .

Again, though, Ohio State will sign a quarterback in December of 2025, and it’s time to look at what the options may be as things currently stand.

Land Jonas Williams

Out of the 12 quarterbacks offered, the only 3 not committed are Faizon Brandon , Brady Palmer , and Jonas Williams .

Brandon is committing on August 3 and announced a top 4 of LSU, Alabama, North Carolina State, and Tennessee, meaning the Buckeyes are out there.

Palmer is still up for grabs, but right now I am not sure he’s definitely a taker by Ohio State just yet, although it could end up going in that direction.

When looking at the “elite” passers in America, that would leave Williams, an Illinois native, who is ranked No. 88 nationally and the No. 8 signal caller in the country per the On3 Industry Rankings . Right now it’s looking like this would be the Buckeyes’ best shot at a tier 1 quarterback, and while there has been mutual interest from Williams, nothing seems imminent on that front.

With the way the QB dominoes have fallen, Williams is in a position of strength, leading the open market once Brandon commits in a month. He may want to hold that position for a bit before making any decisions, so Ohio State will need to work to get him on campus for a end of July and/or game day visit and try to make their move then.

Find a late-bloomer

Coming out of his junior season of high school, most fans had no clue who CJ Stroud was. Then, in the off-season before his senior year, Stroud dominated camps, combines, and workouts, and blew up at the Elite 11. He didn’t land his Ohio State offer until October of his senior year, but his rise was so great that he ended the 2020 recruiting cycle as the No. 39 overall player and No. 3 QB. A few years later he was picked second overall by the Houston Texans.

Lincoln Kienholz was also a name nobody heard of until late into his senior season. Ohio State let

I’m not saying that Ohio State is going to find another Stroud, but it’s entirely possible that there’s a quarterback out there that grows into his body a bit and makes a huge jump in development over the next 6-12 months, allowing him to become a prospect that emerges to prove he is worthy of donning the Scarlet and Gray.

I’m not going to sit here and pretend to know who that player might be, but an in-state prospect who Ohio State at least has watched and has a relationship with is Nathan Bernhard of Ashland. Bernhard is currently ranked 267th nationally and the 17th best signal caller per the On3 Industry Rankings, and with a strong beginning to his junior campaign, could immediately enter offer territory for the Buckeyes.

Another to watch is Wayne (NJ) DePaul Catholic quarterback Derek Zammit , a prospect the Buckeyes will see a lot of given teammates Dez’ie Jones and DeShawn Stewart are committed in 2025. He’s ranked 274th nationally and the No. 18 QB, so if he pops out on the film, he could emerge as well.

Finally, while others could absolutely emerge, the only other name I have on my watch list for now is Philadelphia (PA) Roman Catholic’s Semaj Beals . Beals has been in contact with the Buckeyes, holds P4 offers (Penn State, Nebraska, etc.) and they’ll keep an eye on him during his junior campaign.

Get the spatula out

The last route is for Ohio State to flip one of their initial targets on the board. Quarterbacks have come off the board VERY early in the 2026 cycle, and there’s going to be plenty of opportunity to convince one of them to change their minds before they sign a LOI in 17-18 months.

The top target for Ohio State was Jared Curtis and at one point he was nearly going to announce for the Buckeyes in January 2024. Georgia ended up being able to come in and land the Nashville-native, but OSU is going to continue to chip (no pun intended) away here and see if they can open the door a bit.

Dia Bell surprisingly committed to Texas on a summer visit, immediately following a solid trip to Ohio State. The pathway to the field and NIL certainly played a big part there, and he’s another prospect that the Buckeyes will continue to communicate with, especially given he plays for South Florida Express, where they have strong relationships.

Troy Huhn really liked the pathway to the field in Happy Valley, but what happens if Penn State struggles a bit over the next two seasons in the expanded, more competitive Big Ten? Is there a chance the Nitrany Lions make a coaching change that causes Huhn to look around? I’m not saying that will happen but that scenario is certainly on the table.

The same goes for Will Griffin and Noah Grubbs with Florida and Notre Dame respectively. There’s no guarantee either of their head coaches make it through 2024 unscathed, and with Hart there’s already chatter he could visit Ohio State at some point this season, while Griffin has made multiple visits to Columbus already.

Finally, Brodie McWhorter is committed to West Virginia, and while early playing time might be appealing in Morgantown, it’s hard to imagine a push from a program like Ohio State wouldn’t have him at least thinking twice about the Mountaineers.

TLDR: there’s a long way to go in the cycle and many scenarios can unfold that allow Ohio State to get back in the mix with their top QB targets to date.

The post A-Deck: Ohio State still searching for class of 2026 quarterback appeared first on On3 .