With Joe Burrow’s announcement that he will transfer out of Ohio State, Tate Martell just moved up the quarterback depth chart.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll get more playing time this fall.
Martell said that OSU coaches told him this spring that he would see the field in certain situations this season.
“That’s already been confirmed. There will be packages if I don’t win the starting job,” he said.
Dwayne Haskins is now the presumed starter for the fall, but he is not nearly as much of a weapon in the running game as J.T. Barrett, Burrow, or Martell would be.
Urban Meyer’s offense has relied heavily on the quarterback run in the past. With a less mobile starter like Haskins, it seems logical that Martell might now get even more chances to play in goal line or short-yardage situations.
A combination of Haskins and Martell would closely mirror another quarterback duo that worked out well for Meyer in the past – Chris Leak and Tim Tebow.
The issue is that OSU is now down to three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, Haskins, Martell, and true freshman Matthew Baldwin. Baldwin is still recovering from a knee injury, leaving walk-on Kory Curtis as the next option at the moment.
With Martell as the only other healthy scholarship signal-caller on the roster, Meyer could be reluctant to put him in harm’s way. That could end up meaning less playing time for Martell, not more.
On the other hand, with Martell now one injury away from the starting job, Meyer might also want to ensure his young quarterback has enough experience to take the starting reigns at a moment’s notice.
Last year, it was Haskins who had to step in following a knee injury to Barrett and engineer a comeback win over Michigan in Ann Arbor. But Haskins had seen action in seven games earlier that season, giving him a sense of what to expect.
The Buckeyes could solve the issue created by Burrow’s graduate transfer by taking on a grad transfer of their own.
Another healthy and experienced scholarship quarterback would alleviate pretty much all of these concerns.
However, the window to add one is fairly tight. Many players such as former Michigan QB Wilton Speight, former Tennessee QB Quinten Dormady, and former East Carolina QB Gardner Minshew have already announced where they will transfer this fall.
If Meyer wants to go that route, he will have to move quickly. Otherwise, he’ll be playing with a shallow bench at football’s most important position this fall.
Part of me is angry that osu invested so much in joe and he turns around and leaves his teammates wide open to a huge disappointment if Adkins starts faltering or gets hurt. That scenario will not be good for Borrows legacy and it can happen very easily.
The other part of me says let the kid follow his dreams. This is a different age. Loyalty does not have a lot of value in society. It is all about the bottom line, and why should now be any different. Being a buckeye or a wolverine or a roll tide simply do not mean much any more. One kid skips the bowl game. Others skip town and leave their team vulnerable others go to their rival, who cares anymore. It is just a heartless machine. Kids will strive to excel in what society values most. They will strive to be pilots and fight in a war when patriotism is at its peak. They will strive to be astronauts when we are going to the moon, and they will strive to chase the millions when money is king. So who are we to stop them?
Martell is –was–clear-cut #3..nowhere near the throwing ability yet of the other 2…OSU just lost it’s best QB in Burrows–highly disappointed but don’t blame burrows at this point.
You will come back when you are proven wrong, correct?
Just got home to see the news. Not surprised but disappointed, really wanted to see Joe get a chance. At least coach was honest with him so he could move on. Good luck Joe
Although the staff kept it a secret from the public, I have to believe that the players in question were told what the pecking order would be. I hate to see Burrow go as he would have been a good one for us. I had anticipated him being the starter based on the total body of work. But that’s me.