Columbus, Ohio — The quarterback dominoes on the transfer portal keep falling, and Ohio State football is happy to watch it happen from a distance.
Maalik Murphy, a former Texas quarterback, committed to Duke over the weekend, becoming the most recent player to find a new program. He now joins a distinguished group of quarterbacks that includes Riley Leonard of Duke (Notre Dame), UCLA’s Dante Moore (Oregon), Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel (Oregon), Brock Vandagriff of Georgia (Kentucky), and Toledo’s Dequan Finn (Baylor).Following his transfer pledge to Syracuse, Kyle McCord, a former starting quarterback for the Buckeyes, is also included. His exit raised rumors that head coach Ryan Day would have to look into the portal for a quarterback replacement.
Thus far, all of those highly regarded quarterbacks continue to find homes without even planning a trip to Columbus. Day said last week that he hasn’t discovered any prospects in the portal who would unquestionably be an improvement above Devin Brown, who will start the Cotton Bowl game on Friday against Missouri, true freshman Lincoln Kienholz, and incoming five-star prospect Air Noland.
Day stated, “I think competition is very, very healthy.” “I think Lincoln has been looking great and has really been coming on.” We can’t wait for Air to be here in the spring.
“However, I’m excited about Devon’s recent practice habits.” He’s benefitted much from it now that he’s well. His ankle was starting to feel better, so he decided to “take this thing and run” and observe how he handled himself over the following few weeks.
Transfer quarterbacks may not have avoided Day only because of his enthusiasm for those players.
We’ve already had one instance of a quarterback with one year left on his eligibility, McCord, who left after learning he wouldn’t be guaranteed a starting position in 2024 out of the three. Day would have to give in a similar amount to any QB entering through the portal who is capable of starting.
The fact that Day came to this conclusion after observing Brown during multiple bowl preparation practices is the best indicator of OSU’s QB performance in 2024. He has some control over whether Day chooses to roll with the choices available to him or make this a four-man evaluation in the spring as he gets ready for his first career start—against a top-10 SEC team, no less.
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