The news of Joe Burrow’s transfer is going to have a huge impact on the 2018 Ohio State Buckeyes. But the reverberations could still be felt for years to come.
Right now, OSU is set to enter the 2018 season with only three scholarship quarterbacks; Dwayne Haskins, Tate Martell, and Matthew Baldwin.
Haskins is now poised to start this fall, and could one good season away from declaring early for the NFL Draft.
With his combination of size, arm strength, and what seems like a down year at the position nationally, he could easily be a first-round selection.
If that all happens, it would leave the Buckeyes with only two returning scholarship quarterbacks a year from now.
That could explain some recent shifts in Ohio State’s 2019 recruiting.
Until a week ago, it looked like the Bucks might take just one QB in the class.
Grant Gunnell, a 4-star prospect rated as the No. 3 pro style quarterback in the senior class, is at the top of OSU’s board.
He decommitted from Texas A&M in February, the same day Ohio State offered him a scholarship. He is now widely considered the most likely 2019 quarterback to sign with the Buckeyes.
But then on May 3, OSU offered a scholarship to 4-star quarterback Dwan Mathis, who is currently committed to Michigan State.
Mathis was in Columbus for a camp, and stopped by the OSU campus for a short visit while he was in town.
Blessed to receive an offer from The Ohio State University ?⭕️ pic.twitter.com/ynnlEvslsy
— WANNYLIVE5 (@DwanMathis) May 3, 2018
They also reportedly met with 4-star Wisconsin commit Graham Mertz, who was also in Columbus for a camp. Mertz has held an OSU offer since January.
At the time, it appeared that the coaching staff may have been hedging their bets in case Gunnell’s recruitment took an unexpected turn.
However, after the news of Burrow’s departure broke on Tuesday, those offers and visits took on a different look.
It’s not hard to draw a line connecting them and the date when Meyer and his staff may have been notified of Burrow’s decision.
With only three quarterbacks on scholarship at the moment, adding a minimum of one is a dire need in 2019.
When you add in the possibility that number could drop to two next January, it makes sense for the Buckeyes to go hard after a pair of quarterbacks in this class.
It certainly looks like Urban Meyer and his staff have figured that out.
[Grant Gunnell photo courtesy Grant Gunnell | Twitter]
[Editor’s Note: Due to an error by the author, an earlier version of this story referenced a visit by Jalon Jones. That visit was made back in March, not May.]