Following Stroud’s announcement of his intentions to forego his senior season at Ohio State, OSU’s future is in serious peril
COLUMBUS, Ohio– If a dramatic pause was personified, it would be CJ Stroud’s announcement of his entrance into the NFL Draft. While most QB’s intentions were clear from the beginning, Stroud took it up to the last second, with only a day left to enter into the pool of QB prospects that are eligible to be selected by NFL clubs.
Stroud lost earlier this month in the Peach Bowl to Georgia in a 41-42 thriller that knocked the Buckeyes out of the playoffs. From then on, the speculation began.
Would CJ enter in the NFL Draft and risk being taken by an unfavorable team that wouldn’t give him the opportunities he needs to succeed or stay in Columbus where rumors of a lucrative NIL deal emerged? The question was answered Monday when Stroud let the world know his intentions to step up to the big leagues via Twitter.
“The process has been difficult,” Stroud stated in his Twitter post, “and the decision, one of the hardest I’ve ever had to make. As a kid, I dreamed of playing football at the highest level and after much prayer, I’ve made the decision that it’s time to turn those dreams into a reality.”
Hope grew amongst the Ohio State crowd as Stroud drug his big reveal out for weeks, with uncertainty looming if he would again be under head coach Ryan Day’s helm and play for the scarlet and gray. Stroud leaves on a good note, yet a bittersweet one. In the loss to Georgia, Stroud threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns, a highlight that will forever be tainted by the final score. In Stroud’s two meaningful seasons at Ohio State, he set records aplenty, yet failed to achieve some of the Buckeyes’ most harrowed milestones.
Stroud never beat Michigan, something he acknowledges in his farewell address. A tick on his Buckeye resume, winning The Game is something that every OSU player is expected to do. In addition, Ohio State never won the Big 10 under Stroud and his paralleled head coach Ryan Day, another benchmark many Buckeyes use to measure success.
After Ohio State’s embarrassing loss to Michigan on November 23rd, Stroud addressed the criticism, stating that, “People are going to say I never won The Game, and I understand. People are going to say I never won a Big Ten championship. I understand. When it comes to that, I just have to eat it.”
Now, with Stroud gone, the Buckeyes face serious pressure about their future. Ryan Day has been under heavy fire since the fateful Michigan game in Columbus, with calls for resignation and firing emerging from even the most faithful Ohio State fans.
TROUBLE ACROSS THE BORDER: WR Cornelius Johnson Will Return to Michigan for Final Season
The school has not been without some of the most outspoken talent in the nation. For the previous two years, 16 players have been drafted into the National Football League, including the likes of Justin Fields, Garrett Wilson, and Chris Olave who have all made profound impacts on their respective teams. Those numbers are nice to look at, nice to look at on the walk to the locker room, nice to look at in a trophy case, yet– college football is more ruthless than that. Despite Ohio State’s player production, team output has been less than ideal.
Thus the future is in limbo for Ohio State, and as the coaching carousel makes its turns, several key pieces of the Buckeye coaching staff draw question marks about their future in Columbus. Offensive coordinator Brian Hartline received interest from schools about a possible head coaching hire which he candidly and publicly denied on Twitter, stating that he, “[does] not have any plans to go anywhere else.”
Hartline’s segway into the position is fresh, following the hiring of the previous OC Kevin Wilson at the University of Tulsa. While Ryan Day is still the primary playcaller for the Buckeye offense, Hartline will be tasked with getting the next offensive generation ready to play in an ever so competitive Big 10 where Michigan and Penn State roam as Top-10 teams.
With Stroud’s departure, Ohio State has blank spaces on offense, yet seems as though the Buckeyes will simply reload instead of rebuilding. Such is the mantra in college football where players usually only stay for three to four years at a time and maybe even less with the rise of the transfer portal. Turnover is high, and Day knows it.
Philosophy aside, Day has done a spectacular job of putting bullets in the chamber to concoct yet another high-powered offense even without their golden boy CJ Stroud. In 2022, OSU’s offense leapt to new heights even without preseason presumed WR1 Jaxon Smith-Njigba who suffered a hamstring injury early in the season and never returned to the field.
Instead, Marvin Harrison Jr. stepped up succeeding a stellar 2021 Rose Bowl performance and took the college football world by storm– becoming a consensus all-star and projected top draft pick when he declares. Harrison Jr. returns with one more mandated year of college before he can enter his name in the draft pool and is looking to build off a 1,263 yard sophomore campaign and delves into 2023 as the Buckeyes’ kingpin passcatcher.
Ancillary receiver pieces such as Julian Fleming and Emeka Egbuka also return after posting banner years for the Buckeyes– a solid receiving core to bastion a fledgling Ohio State team.
Another win for Ohio State comes in the form of 2023’s signing day– where the institution signed prestigious prospects Brandon Inniss, Noah Rogers and Carnell Tate– all major inks for the Buckeyes who are in need of receiver depth and future play from a core that’s set to move on after next year.
Hartline’s influence goes well beyond the Ohio State football facilities as well. 2022 1st round draft pick Garrett Wilson speaks volumes to Rivals about Hartline’s coaching ability and NFL receiver background, “You have coaches that know what they’re doing and when you have guys that come in as three-stars and go to the league like Mike Thomas. He’s someone that’s done what I want to do and still going at it. They’re expecting to lose four or five receivers after this season, so that leaves an opportunity for me to come in and make an impact as soon as I get there, and that’s huge for me.”
Wilson also spoke on Ohio State’s production of receivers, “I feel like just looking out for my future that Ohio State was the right choice for me,” he said. “They put receivers in the [NFL] every year regardless of their stats – obviously I want to catch passes – but I feel like they are doing that now with the quarterbacks that they got.”
Ohio State’s reputation precedes them all across the country.
Stroud’s departure also means something else, serious underlines get put on the quarterback room in central Ohio. QBs Devin Brown and Kyle McCord enter into a competition phase to see who will be the heir to Stroud’s throne. McCord meshes well with top receiver Harrison Jr, being high school teammates. McCord and Harrison set records at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, PA, with their final stand in the state championship game possibly foreshadowing what a possible tale of the tape could be: 8 completions to Harrison for 156 yards finishing out a 62-13 win.
COULD THE BUCKEYES USE A QB?: Sam Huard Enters Transfer Portal; Washington Sticks to Penix Jr.
Yeah. They’re dangerous.
Freshman quarterback Devin Brown brings a new skillset to the table, the ability to run. His scrambling ability is profound, adding another element to the Buckeyes’ all but guaranteed lethal passing game. Brown never took heavy 2nd team reps but did make an appearance in a rout against Toledo where it would be comical to say anything notable happened.
As the two enter into a hotly contested QB showdown through spring and into fall camp, Brown lamented at the idea of competing for the starting role, “Man, what an opportunity I have. To be able to say I’m competing for the starting job at Ohio State, I never would have imagined I would be able to do that. So, I’m just so thrilled that I can even have that opportunity.”
Brown also brings some well-appreciated moxie, something that is an Ohio State staple. To be able to compete in one of the deepest conferences in the NCAA, confidence is a must. Every single successful Buckeye has had some form of chutzpah behind them, and Devin Brown seems to be fitting right in.
“I feel like I’m a playmaking type of guy,” Brown said during the Peach Bowl Media Day. A testament to his attitude and something that brings a sense of security to a confused Ohio State team.
