Morning Constitutional: Is the Ohio State Quarterback Competition Already Taking Shape?

Today’s Topic: Is the Ohio State Quarterback Competition Already Taking Shape?

The Ohio State quarterback competition is going to be a story until the race is settled, but that’s not going to be for a considerable time.

And even after it does get settled, it could pop right back up again with a bad game by the starter.

But they’re just getting started. Wednesday was the first practice of spring camp and as head coach Ryan Day repeatedly said, it was just day and they are still installing things, so there cannot be (m)any conclusions drawn by what he saw.

But that doesn’t mean he and his coaching staff aren’t paying attention to everything and charting all of it.

Even though the offense is still being installed, that hasn’t stopped the quarterback competition from officially kicking off.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a battle,” Day said. “Day one, in the way that we look at it is this is spring practice, but this is the first practice leading up to the first game of the season, and it’s a progression along the way. The guys were out there, we were splitting up the reps. During the spring, [quarterbacks coach] Mike [Yurcich] is gonna roll those guys in and out, so that everyone’s competing. I thought it was a good start though.

“Guys are learning this offense. Matt [Baldwin] has been in it for a year but hasn’t really run it with the ones. He had an opportunity today to do that, I thought that was good. Justin [Fields] is a quick learner. He’s a sharp guy. He’s done a nice job in the meetings. So it was good to get out there and kind of feel what this group can handle. Who are they? What’s their identity going to be?

“Day one, so it’s hard to tell, but it’s not going to be the same. Two years ago with JT at quarterback and the guys that we had, that was a different feel. Last year was a different feel, so it’s exciting to see what this is going to be like.”

Reporters were on hand for the first hour of Wednesday’s opening practice and it appeared there were some jitters among the quarterbacks. Once the prying eyes of the media were gone, however, Day said things finished well and he feels good about the direction they are heading.

“I thought they threw it well,” he said. “If we look at our completion percentage overall, it was pretty good. Yeah, there were still some balls that were thrown over everybody’s head. Day one, spacing and timing, especially in the first few periods sometimes you see a ball sail.

“That’s all normal. Shoot, it’s like that in the NFL. As practice went on, I thought the timing was good. I thought the ball came out well. Obviously, there’s a ton of things to improve. We’ve got a long way to go, but for day one, I was pretty encouraged.”