Before we go any further, just understand that Tate Martell wants to play quarterback next year.
Quarterback is what he does, it’s who he is, and he came to Ohio State to eventually be the starter at that position.
But for now, after redshirting as a true freshman this year, he simply wants to play next season.
“I think that regardless, I’ll be doing something on the field,” Martell said after the Cotton Bowl. “Whether it’s quarterback, who knows what position? I’ve played a lot of them this year on scout. Definitely going to go do my thing and try to stay with quarterback. That’s what I want to do.”
His time on the scout team was talked about quite a bit. He spent time emulating quarterbacks like Baker Mayfield and Trace McSorley, but also running backs like Michigan’s Karan Higdon Chris Evans. And when the itch arose, he also spent some time in the slot as a receiver.
Once J.T. Barrett decided to return for his fifth year, Martell’s redshirt was essentially custom fitted and going nowhere. He didn’t view this as a year off, however. He used it to get as involved as he could, and he made a statement that he would do whatever it takes to see the field in 2018.
Even though he was No. 4 on the quarterback depth chart and generally on scout team, in many aspects, it would be difficult to have a better audition for 2018.
“We’ll see. I did what I could to prepare myself to be a better player for next year when it comes around that time,” he said. “When it comes to that, I don’t know. I wouldn’t call it starting the competition early. I think it’s going to be wide open. It’s going to be a crazy one for sure.”
This is going to be one of the most interesting spring camps in a while. People may look back to the quarterback competition in 2015, but J.T. Barrett wasn’t full go and Braxton Miller wasn’t even throwing yet. In March, you’ll have a three-man battle between Dwayne Haskins, Joe Burrow, and Tate Martell. True freshman Matthew Baldwin will also be along for the ride, but on the outside looking in.
Spring football will be Martell’s first real opportunity to compete for a starting spot. In fact, it will be everyone’s first real opportunity, given that nobody was supplanting J.T. Barrett. If competition makes everyone better, the growth and improvement in the five weeks of camp in March and April should be significant.
Don’t expect a winner to be named at the end of camp, but the players will know which way the wind is blowing in a general sense.
“I guess you can just base it off of who moves the ball,” Martell said. “You’ll figure it out when the time comes, how the offense moves with who’s in there. The coaches know what they’re doing with each one of us and what they do. We all move the ball down the field while we’re at practice.”
With snow on the ground in Columbus and temperatures in the single digits, spring football feels like it’s a long way off. What is quickly approaching, however, are winter workouts. Early mornings, difficult workouts, and the kind of welcome to football for college freshmen that doesn’t feel all that welcoming.
But because of what it means for 2018, Martell is looking forward to it.
“That’s the part that I’m excited about,” he said. “Get stronger, faster, get in the weight room. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be hard like it was last year, but this time I’m actually in better shape now.”
Martell has now been on campus for about 51 weeks and he has used most of those weeks preparing to be ready for what he is now about to step into. None of it was easy, and it is only going to get more difficult, but that’s the only way to get good enough to make your mark.
Asked what people should expect from him in 2018, he wasn’t sure how to answer the question, but when asked what he expected from himself, there was no hesitation in his answer.
“That I’m going to be playing,” he said.
His position next year may still be up in the air, but his stance leaves no doubt.
Tate Martell wants to play quarterback, but more than that, he wants to contribute. If the team needs him somewhere else next year, that’s what he’ll do. He wants to play quarterback, but for now, he just wants to play.
The headline made me think Tate might transfer, lol. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. I don’t mean this seditiously but I wonder if J.T. really did the team a favor by staying five years. We’ve got a tremendous backlog of talented guys who are ready to play standing around biding their time and I hate for any of them to feel frustrated or thinking they could be starting somewhere else. Burrow is set to graduate after Spring and I hope he wins the starting job and gets to have a season. Barrett hung around and padded his stats but I’m not sure we wouldn’t have gone further with one of the younger guys. Isn’t Fromm at Georgia a true freshman? Well, Martell is going to be in his second year. What a waste having these guys standing around. Somebody told me that although they were grateful for his hard work and loyalty, they were relieved that J.T’s tenure was over. I hope Urban can get the most out of this talent. It looks like a fun season coming up.
Tate would make a great receiver or H back. That is where his future is . . both in college and the pros. . . much like Bill Beliceck has used ex QB’s as slot receivers. I’m sure Urban realizes how we suffered the last few years with no downfield passing game. Now that JT has set his records, lets play the QB that gives us the most potent offense and opens up the running game.
I hope Tate is the starter next year.
Martell has always been a perfect fit for Meyers offense. More so than Haskins, but Haskins arm is so tantalizing. This is what the coaches will face. OSU fans can’t lose. Both are great options.
Tate is a workaholic with a great attitude and freakish talent. He’ll play in 2018 “somewhere” and I’d be mildly surprised if isn’t as the starting quarterback. There’s nobody better suited to operate RPO on the roster. If CEO Meyer goes with that philosophy, he’s the right guy for the job. Yeah I know………but Dwayne, Dwayne. Sorry fellow Buckeye fans but he’s NOT an RPO quarterback. He played well in mop up time and leading the team to a comeback win over the skunk bears, BUT, he doesn’t read the defense in the RPO very well at all. He’s terrific reading the secondary but defenses will now have film on him and sit on the passing game. He’ll get a big run every now and then, but he won’t do it consistently. If the CEO picks Dwayne to be the starter we’ll be looking at an entirely new offensive philosophy. We would have to hope that it was a better philosophy than what they tried to pigeonhole Cardale Jones into. It was the lousiest looking attempt at pass pro as I have ever seem in FBS. Combined with a group of offensive linemen and receivers recruited with eyes on RPO, the staff will have a very tall order redesigning the offense between now and next fall. That’s not much time to reinvent the wheel.
Staying RPO means the 2 best candidates are Tate and Joe.
A lot to watch for when spring ball opens up.
This is why Day is a great coach. He is able to implement more pass pro looks with his experience in the NFL.
Let me know when he actually makes anything happen in that regard.
The one of the most important things Coach Meyer looks for when recruiting a QB is “is he a winner? Is he tough and a fierce competitor?” Don’t forget, Tate was undefeated in three years at Bishop Gorman, the #1 ranked high school in the nation. I haven’t seen much of him on the field, but i dont think i need to. My money is on him to be this years starting QB. It may be a little rough looking early on, but the fire and tenacity that was in Baker Mayfield, I believe is inbTate Martell. Im not a big Baker Mayfield fan, but no one can deny what he meant to his team. Tate will be the same for us.
Great! I hope to see Tate in the slot and whatever helps.
COACHES – Please use Tate in the “hidden player” sweep – hurry up mode. The OL line is standing and tiny guy hides behind them to take an immediate hand off
then he goes the opposite direction of the QB and running backs.
Gotta love the fire!! Coach Meyer did make 2 QB’s work at Florida w/Chris Leak and Tebow when they were together. So that could work here too