Devin Brown previews Ohio State QB battle, hints at future plans

Devin Brown is heading into his second year in Ohio State’s program, and he’ll be involved in a major position battle throughout the spring. With CJ Stroud leaving for the NFL Draft, Brown and Kyle McCord will compete for the starting quarterback job with the offense.

In the current era of college football, QB battles have increasingly included high stakes for all parties involved. A number of high-profile players have transferred if QB battles do not go in their favor, but Brown shot down any future speculation recently.

“No, not at all. I’m a Buckeye through and through and I just want to keep going,” said Brown in regard to investigating his options during Tuesday’s media availability. “Obviously, I would love to win the starting job and I just want to keep doing everything I can to do that.”

As for the distribution of the practice reps, Brown said the competition at this point is equal and “every rep has been split” between himself and McCord. He also said Columbus is where you want to be if you’re an elite QB prospect:

“It’s the best of the best,” said Brown in regard to Ohio State’s QB production. “Look at how many first-round picks we’ve had at QB… This QB room is always going to be elite, we have the best coaches. This is the cream of the crop. You don’t want to be anywhere else if you’re a QB.”

QB depth chart outlook for Buckeyes

While the QB battle should be an even one in the offseason, there’s no denying McCord has a leg up on Brown in the competition. McCord has a full year of experience on Brown as a 5-star prospect via the 2021 recruiting class.

McCord also has meaningful playing time under his belt, serving as CJ Stroud’s main backup each of the past two seasons. He even started one game as a true freshman against Akron while Stroud rested an ailment.

Nevertheless, Brown should push McCord this season and is a 4-star prospect out of Utah in the 2022 recruiting class. He also shot down any offseason transfer speculation in a clever social media post.

Ohio State also added 4-star QB Lincoln Kienholz via the 2023 recruiting class and transfer QB Tristan Gebbia out of Oregon State. However, those players are expected to mainly serve as depth at the position in the 2023 season.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.