Ryan Day shares takeaways from Ohio State's QB battle following first spring scrimmage

Ryan Day has a big decision on his hands as Ohio State prepares for the 2023 season.

After a two-year run as a star for the Buckeyes, quarterback CJ Stroud is off to the NFL Draft and could become the first overall pick in April. His departure leaves Ohio State in search of the team’s next starter to lead the offense.

On Saturday, the Buckeyes had their first scrimmage of the spring. As expected, Day was asked about the QB battle and his takeaways from the scrimmage moving forward.

While Saturday’s scrimmage provided some good insight, Day also knows he’s still a ways out from uncovering any conclusive information about the QB group.

“If you just look at one drive, you can’t come to a conclusion real easy. But if you look over time, I think that’s why when we talk about these in the meeting room,” said Day per Cleveland.com. “It’s hard to tell until you stack these days.

“We’ll grade every single snap today, we’ll see how everybody graded out. But at the end of the day, we have to move the offense into the end zone. That’s our job as a QB. However we do that, everybody has a different style but that leadership means a lot. Now, one practice is one practice. Can you learn and grow from it? I read the other day that the brain doesn’t grow from success, it grows from failure. There was a lot of failure on this field today, so who can learn and grow from it and we’ll see.”

Outlook for Ohio State’s QB1

While Day did not say anything concrete about the QB battle, it is still (currently) hard to envision a scenario where Kyle McCord does not at least open the season as the starter for the Buckeyes. Devin Brown certainly has talent, but it is hard to beat out a player with an extra year of experience and after two years serving as the primary backup for Stroud.