Ohio State's quarterback play will determine offensive success in 2023

Ohio State is going to look different in 2023 and the quarterback play will determine the offensive success, according to On3’s J.D. PicKell.

Kyle McCord or Devin Brown is likely to be under center and that’s quite the change from Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud from the last four seasons. Obviously, the quarterback is the most important position on the field and if it’s not up to speed, Ryan Day’s offense won’t operate correctly.

But with the amount of talent on the Buckeyes, perhaps the quarterback just has to be really great in two spots.

“Let’s be real, it’s going to be a two game season for Ohio State,” PicKell said on The Hard Count. “Outside of that Big Ten title game, it’s going to be a two game season. You have Penn State in October at home and then you go to Michigan the very last week of the year … But you’re more talented than both those rosters as good as they are. You’re more talented.

“So going back to the ‘if’ factor, does your quarterback do enough to allow this Ferrari to open it up and score how they want to score to play the kind of style of offense? The kind of game that Ohio State wants to play. Big ‘if’ factor for the good people in Columbus.”

Over the course of two seasons, in relief appearances, McCord threw for 606 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions and a 70.7% completion percentage.

Based on Day’s track record, McCord could flourish in his offense.

As a member of the Class of 2021, McCord was a five-star recruit out of Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joseph’s, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 2 overall prospect in the state, the No. 5 quarterback in the class and the No. 25 quarterback in the class.

“We put in some new stuff that worked really well that we’ll use going into the fall,” McCord said in the spring regarding Brian Hartline taking over as offensive coordinator and learning from Day. “But I mean, in terms of just from a quarterback perspective, I mean, it’s been kind of consistent Coach Day. So having that consistency. You know, it’s kind of helped me through that transition. But you know, honestly, it wasn’t a crazy transition or anything like that.”