Ohio State’s biggest question for their pivotal 2024 season comes at the most important position

Expectations are high in Columbus every fall but they are especially high this go around thanks to the off-season that Ohio State had . After falling short of reaching the College Football Playoff last season, the Buckeyes were able to return a ton of talent and be big hitters in the transfer portal.

Last season, the quarterback play was not good enough to reach the standard that is accepted in Columbus. While Kyle McCord’s numbers looked solid, he was more of a game manager and was never really able to step up and win games for the Buckeyes. He sort of just coasted through. Now, the Buckeyes need someone to step up in 2024 and they believe they have the guy.

Will Howard transferred to Ohio State to be the starter, not sit on the bench

Coming to Ohio State, Howard is set to play in his fifth college football season. Howard played all four years at Kansas State previously and improved each year, especially his final two as the full-time starter. Ryan Day has not officially named Howard as the starter, but it is coming. There is next to zero chance that Howard came to Ohio State to sit on the bench during his final season of eligibility .

Howard will have competition and we will get to that, but he’s most fit to be the guy for Ohio State during the 2024 season. Howard is not a finished product as a passer, but he has a lot of tools to work with, and his ability to run changes the Buckeyes offense from last season alone.

Working with Chip Kelly and Day will only be a big positive for Howard, who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds. Ohio State is loaded across the board and they don’t need Howard to be some kind of hero for them. Instead, Howard has to be the guy that can make the timely play when it is needed and doesn’t limit the offense. Again, the ability to use the legs is a big difference alone from what McCord was capable of last season.

There is a whole lot of promise sitting behind Howard on the depth chart

Figured to be the next guy up and the quarterback with the best chance to beat out Howard is Devin Brown. Behind him, two talented freshmen sit that have a chance to be future starters for the Buckeyes at some point. Julian Sayin was a five-star Alabama signee before transferring to Ohio State after Nick Saban retired. Air Noland is the other talented left-handed freshman who hails from Georgia and was a top-five quarterback in the class of 2023.

Brown has two years of experience at Ohio State and completed 16-of-28 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns in six appearances last year. The former four-star recruit brings some athleticism with his legs too, but does not stand out in the way that Howard does. The time spent at Ohio State is what stands out for Brown the most. He is the only quarterback on scholarship that the Buckeyes brought back from the 2023 team.

Sayin was named a part of the competition back in the spring and is a former Elite 11 winner. Noted as an elite processor, Sayin’s time is eventually going to come but it won’t be in 2024 unless something unforeseen happens. The same can said for Noland, who may not be as far along as Sayin, but when you see him throw it is easy to see why the Buckeyes are high on him.

Conclusion

In the new era of the College Football Playoff, no one knows how it is going to go with possibly playing 17 games. Depth is going to be more important than ever and that includes at quarterback. Ohio State has a deep and talented room at the position but it does lack experience in Columbus that may make things take a bit to get going. Since Ryan Day arrived as the head coach, the Buckeyes have had high-level quarterback play outside of last season. If they can get back to it this season, it may end with Day’s first National Championship.

Related: Former first-round NFL Draft pick from Ohio State calls it a career after being cut during training camp