Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day Names Dwayne Haskins Starting QB

To the excitement of all teams across the Big 10 and the entire country, JT Barrett, the greatest statistical quarterback in conference history, has finally graduated. With Barrett leaving such big shoes to fill, Ryan Day, the current Head Coach at The Ohio State University, held off on naming his starter throughout camp until he got a thorough look in the early Fall. While Haskins was always assumed to win the job, it is now officially his. Haskins is a 6-foot-3 inch sophomore out of Potomac, Maryland with an absolute cannon of an arm, which he showcased in an emergency entrance in the Buckeyes 6th straight win against Michigan last year when Barrett went down with an injury. Ranked the #7 Pro Style QB as a recruit in 2016, those that have seen him perform are already singing praises that great things will continue to be on the horizon in Columbus.

“This kid, and we saw it in a small sample size last year, he played extremely well in a hostile environment (against Michigan),” Leinart said. “He’s big. He can throw the football downfield, and it’s very similar to Cardale Jones a few years ago when JT Barrett got hurt. That offense looked completely different with the ability to attack the backs, attack the secondary. You combine that with JK Dobbins and the offensive line and really talented guys on the outside, this is a scary, explosive offense with Dwayne Haskins.” – Matt Leinart

To win the job, Haskins had to beat out two elite level talents, as the original competition began as a 3-way race. Joe Burrow bowed out in May after reading between the lines that he would likely not be first on the depth chart. Burrow is expected to be named the starter at LSU in the coming days before the #25 ranked Tigers take on the #8 Miami Hurricanes at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday night.

The other competitor that Haskins out-dueled is Tate Martell, a redshirt freshman from Las Vegas, Nevada. Martell has become a popular name in the college football world after starring on the Netflix series QB1: Beyond The Lights. A 5-star recruit out of Bishop Gorman, Martell was ranked the 2nd best dual-threat QB in his class, posting a 45-0 career record with 7,510 passing yards and 113 touchdowns. Martell is expected to get plenty of time on Saturday too, as the Buckeyes enter their home game against Oregon State as 37 point favorites.