Ohio State came up just shy of its ultimate goal of winning a national championship. The Buckeyes put a muzzle on Dabo Swinney and Clemson, but then got taken behind the woodshed by Alabama down in Miami.
So now, things progress to the offseason with several question marks in Columbus and other places. The world of college football always has significant turnover and competition for new spots because of the nature of the yearly cycle of players leaving and entering programs.
But at a place like Ohio State, it’s often a matter of reloading as opposed to rebuilding. There’s no doubt that’ll be the expectation in 2021 with goals of winning every game, taking home a fifth straight Big Ten title, and making a run for the national championship once again.
But what’s the most intriguing offseason question the Buckeyes face? ESPN tried to answer that question for all of the top 25 teams it ranked in the way-too-early preseason, and of course, OSU was a part of all of that. So what did ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren say was the most intriguing question?
NEXT … Ohio State’s most intriguing offseason question per ESPN
Who replaces Justin Fields at quarterback?
What ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren says about the offseason
“Ohio State has former ESPN 300 quarterback recruits C.J Stroud and Jack Miller, but neither completed a pass last season. Both were part of the 2020 recruiting class and will be sophomores. Ryan Day and his staff signed ESPN 300 quarterback Kyle McCord, the No. 5-ranked pocket-passing quarterback, in this 2021 cycle. Stroud was a late pickup in that 2020 cycle and needed time to develop. Was that one year enough for him to push himself past Miller for the starting spot? Can Miller win out or does McCord come in and beat everyone out in his first season? We won’t know until the competition plays out, but it’s a question on how you replace someone like Fields and what he was able to do within the offense.”
NEXT … What we say
Who Replaces Justin Fields
What we say
It sure looked like C.J. Stroud was the next man up at the end of the season last year. He was the first one off the bench when Fields left the game for injury, or in junk time. Early on, however, it was Jack Miller that seemed to have the slight edge. Because Stroud has more dual-threat ability and seemed to have a little advantage during the postseason run, you have to think he’s the leader in the clubhouse. But don’t forget about freshman Kyle McCord. The five-star Pennsylvania product has a big, accurate arm and will be inserted into a three-man competition immediately. It should be a fun competition to watch, and whoever wins it will be throwing to one heck of a wide-receiving corps in 2021.
Ohio State football very early projected offensive depth chart for 2021
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