The Ohio State Buckeyes lost their 2x Heisman Finalist QB CJ Stroud. Though, almost became the happiest program in all of CFB when Stroud did not declare for the NFL Draft right away. There was a ton of speculation that he was going to come back for another season after the fight they put up against Georgia. However, within the last 24-ish hours of the declaration window, Stroud put his name in for the 2023 Draft. 

Here are the candidates to replace CJ Stroud as the Buckeyes starting QB:

• Junior Kyle McCord- C/O 2021 4 Star
• Redshirt Freshman Devin Brown- C/O 2022 4 Star

The Ohio State Buckeyes play three easy games to open the season before they have to travel to South Bend to play against Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish, who were in the game pretty much the whole time last year. They have Indiana Week 1, Youngstown State Week 2, and Western Kentucky Week 3. It is extremely possible that we could see both Devin Brown and Kyle McCord in legit game action before Ohio State makes a starting QB decision for the Notre Dame game… in a similar fashion to what Michigan did last year with Cade McNamara and JJ McCarthy.

Our Prediction

We believe that Kyle McCord is going to be handed the reins to this extremely talented and high powered offense by Week 4. McCord was Stroud’s backup last season appearing in 7 total games. He was 16/20 for 190 and a TD. A lot of what we’ve been hearing about the Buckeye offense has to do with the McCord-Harrison connection. For those who don’t know, McCord and Harrison were HS teammates at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philly. If you thought Stroud to Harrison was scary, just wait for McCord to Harrison. Devin Brown should be ready to go though if needed. Ohio State returns most of their team that almost took down the Dawgs, which makes them automatic contenders. If McCord gets the job to start but struggles or doesn’t look the way they hope they could turn to Brown. If it’s a competition now that means it’s probably an open spot all year in a specific situation.