Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has often been tight-lipped when asked this offseason to provide updates on the starting quarterback competition, and he did not stray from that approach during his first formal press conference held at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center since the spring game.
Speaking in front of a group of local Ohio State beat reporters on Tuesday, Day provided no further update on his team’s likely three-man quarterback battle between veterans Devin Brown and Will Howard along with true freshman Julian Sayin, saying he and his staff are more focused on developing the program through recruiting during this time of the year rather than making any firm decisions on the competition.
“Really no update,” Day said. “We’ve really been busy here in June. June’s been busy in recruiting. But also with our team. To say coming out of the spring and where we are right now that there is a lot of movement at any position wouldn’t be accurate. We’ll work hard, and there will be a lot of progress made with Mick in the weightroom. But we won’t really know much until we get into the preseason.”
Day’s words seemed to resemble how Ohio State was operating with the three quarterbacks during spring camp. While Brown was getting the majority of first-team snaps in spring practices available to the media, Howard earned the start in the spring game, with Brown and Sayin trailing behind. Day also deemed Sayin “in the mix” for the starting role on April 11.
Day provided no real update on the quarterback, but he may have tipped his hand a bit when asked about the offensive line. With many questions regarding who will start on the right side of the offensive line still persisting, he proclaimed that Josh Fryar — who he lauded for the vast improvements he made over the offseason — is trending towards playing right tackle, leaving the starting spot at right tackle still unclaimed.
“We feel confident with (Fryar) playing guard and tackle,” Day said. “We have to figure out what that right side looks like. I would say we’re probably leaning towards playing him at (right) tackle and trying to figure out who that right guard is at this time, but we do have some flexibility there.”
If Fryar plugs into the starting right tackle role for the second consecutive season, the right guard position will likely be a battle between sophomore Luke Mongtomery and redshirt sophomore Carson Hinzman, who each saw time at the position during spring camp and the spring game.
No matter how Ohio State’s two most significant positional battles shape up this summer and fall, Day said he knows his team must be able to trust not only their starters but also their major depth pieces at every single position, as this season’s potentially extended schedule will require perhaps as much roster-wide production as ever before.
“I feel like we have to build enough depth at receiver that we feel like we can put five or six in the game and feel good about it. On defense, I think we’re still looking to figure out who are going to be the guys inside, the third, the fourth or fifth interior defensive lineman that we are going to put in the game. (We need to figure out) depth, a little bit, at safety, just to see who those next guys are who are going to step up. We know it’s going to be a long year, we’re going to need everybody, and for a lot of those areas, it’s depth.”
