Can Kyle McCord hold off Devin Brown and become QB1?
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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McCord is entering the most important two-week stretch of his collegiate career.
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It’s late August and Ohio State doesn’t have a starting quarterback. Head coach Ryan Day has chosen to not name a starter because he believes two things to be true: One, neither quarterback has separated themselves from the other, and two, both quarterbacks are good enough to be the starter.
If you’re on social media you’ve seen a multitude of takes from Ohio State fans, Ohio State haters, and national media pundits. Some people think that both quarterbacks are bad and OSU will take a step back. Others think they’re both really good and Day is being honest when he says that both are starting caliber.
There is always the sentiment that when you have two quarterbacks you don’t have any but I don’t think that is always true. Ohio State fans are split on who they want to start. On one side you have the fans who think that if McCord, the more experienced quarterback, hasn’t won the job outright, then they should give the job to Brown. Others — and I lean more in this camp — believe you give the job to the older guy.
My reasoning for this is that if you start McCord you have more options.
Option one: You start him and he’s not good so you bench him for Brown.
Option two: You start him, he’s excellent and he goes to the NFL after one season and Brown is the starter next year, allowing you to have both of them start in their OSU career.
Option three: You start him and he’s good, but after the season Devin Brown wins the job in the spring, which is what happened with rival Michigan between incumbent starter Cade McNamara and JJ McCarthy.
If you start Brown, you only have one option, and that is Brown starts for two seasons, and McCord transfers as soon as the season is over. McCord has been loyal to Ohio State, but after three seasons and losing two competitions, he would be in the transfer portal as soon as the NCAA allows.
All of this hinges on both quarterbacks being equal. This brings us to McCord, to this the most important two-week stretch of his career. He has been battling Brown for the starting job since the spring. He has two weeks left to win the job, otherwise, he will effectively end his Ohio State career. Whether it’s at Ohio State or elsewhere I think McCord will be successful and maybe even an
NFL Draft pick, but the chances of that happening at Ohio State are getting slimmer and slimmer by the second.
It seems as though this QB competition will go into the season, which I’m not sure benefits McCord. Brown is the better athlete, he brings more to the table with the QB run game and Ohio State fans almost always support the younger player. McCord needs to leverage his unquestionable talent, his extra year in the system, and the connection he’s built with superstar wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. since they played together in high school.
McCord needs to close the door on Brown before the season starts because unless Brown goes out and throws multiple interceptions, I think McCord may be on the wrong end of the fanbase once Brown gets into the game. I’ve been on team McCord since he stepped on campus. I believed he would be at Ohio State longer than Quinn Ewers and was proven right. I think McCord has everything it takes to lead Ohio State to Ryan Day’s first national championship, but he’s running out of time to prove that to Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Brian Hartline.
McCord is not only fighting for his job, he’s fighting for his future in Columbus. Time to see if he has what it takes to hold off Devin Brown for a couple more weeks.
Connect with Jordan on Twitter: @JordanW330
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