JD PicKell: Ohio State's leadership for 2023 questioned

Ohio State brings in one of the most talented rosters across all of college football headed in to the 2023 season, but their biggest question mark is at quarterback. Devin Brown and Kyle McCord are competing for the Buckeyes starting job, both possessing a ton of talent and potential as high school recruits. But who will be able to sit in the driver seat and lead the Buckeyes? That’s the biggest question that On3’s JD PicKell believes Ohio State nededs to answer this year, which he discussed on The Hard Count.

“Does this Ferrari have a driver?” PicKell asked. “Fancy way of saying you have Devin Brown, you got Kyle McCord, two five-star options, not bad. A lot of people would give their left arm and a special teams unit to be able to have that problem, but I love what they have personnel-wise. Marvin Harrison Jr. probably could have been a top-five pick this season, dude is that good.”

PicKell not only likes some of the Buckeyes’ offensive weapons and details that come with their Ferrari of a roster, but is also a fan of some of the horsepower and safety features that are provided by their defense.

“The personnel on the defensive side I think is what gets slept on. JT Tuimoloau I’ve told you on here, All-Big Ten written all over him. Like Gerry Bertier, got All-American written all over him, same with with JT Tuimoloau. I like what they have with Jack Sawyer on the defensive end, I love Tommy Eichenberg leader of that defense coming back,” PicKell said. “I love what they did in the portal, Ja’Had Carter at safety, Denzel Burke at corner, I love all the pieces here at Ohio State.”

There’s no question that Ohio State has plenty of tools and parts to work with at their disposal, but according to PicKell, they mean nothing if there isn’t a competent leader gripping the steering wheel.

“So the car is built really nice, the car has all the bells and whistles, we know we can go full throttle with this thing, do we have a driver?” PicKell asked. “You and I both know man you have a Ferrari you take that thing 100 miles an hour that’s great, but if you crash the car, it’s on the driver. Doesn’t matter how fast the car is if you are steering off the road every now and then.”

The quarterback position has prospered at Ohio State for many years now, with a torch being passed down year after year from one great quarterback to another. But until the season starts in September, the college football world will have to wait and see if that high standard in the Buckeyes’ driver seat will be upheld in 2023.

“So do they have a driver, because CJ Stroud there’s a lot of a narrative around about how he didn’t beat Michigan and Ohio State didn’t look great those days. Listen, he still went over three bills in those games. If you don’t have a quarterback like CJ Stroud what do those games look like final score? I don’t know. It’s a team game, you don’t pin it all on CJ Stroud, but I just think that question has to be asked. Do you have a driver at Ohio State to run this Ferrari?” PicKell asked one last time.