C.J. Stroud named Ohio State’s starting QB: What’s next for Kyle McCord, Jack

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Kentucky ended its quarterback battle last Sunday when head coach Mark Stoops simultaneously announced that Will Levis had won the job and Joey Gatewood was entering the transfer portal. Tennessee’s four-man QB battle shrunk to three on Thursday when former starter Brian Maurer announced he was transferring.

From Notre Dame to Georgia to Oregon to Miami, more and more major programs are starting transfers at quarterback, and at Ohio State, the Buckeyes are replacing two-year starter Justin Fields, who transferred from Georgia.

So C.J. Stroud being named the starting quarterback for the opener against Minnesota by Ohio State coach Ryan Day on Saturday is only half the story. What about the quarterbacks who aren’t starting? Are they staying?

I asked Day about that, citing some competitions at other schools that led to immediate transfers. He doesn’t believe that will be the case with the Buckeyes and the other QBs who were battling with Stroud — freshman Kyle McCord and redshirt freshman Jack Miller.

“Those guys, they’re in it for the long haul,” Day said. “They’ve been great teammates, and they know the focus has to be on development. We’ve talked about this early on, we knew that there was going to be one quarterback who started against Minnesota, that’s the only thing that’s guaranteed. And they’re all here to continue to work and develop and grow, and their attitudes have been excellent. So that’s been their focus.

“Now listen, we get to January, you’ll see what the year brings, and I think we’ll come up for air and reassess. And that’s all fair. I totally get it. But for right now I know that they’re committed and they want to be here.”

Stroud and Miller are second-year players, while McCord and the newly arrived Quinn Ewers are first-year players. That’s a crowded and talented QB room, so let’s put the futures of the non-starters into context now that the first decision about them has been made.

Quinn Ewers, No. 1 recruit, Class of 2021

Formerly the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2022, Ewers announced on Aug. 2 that was reclassifying to the Class of 2021 and enrolling at Ohio State. The Buckeyes opened preseason camp two days later, but Ewers wasn’t in Columbus and cleared to participate in practice until Aug. 15. He tweeted a photo of himself at practice on Monday with the caption, “Hey, y’all.”

He was never a contender to play early this season, but his early progress has already been held back. Day said Saturday that Ewers hasn’t participated in the last several practices. He didn’t call it an injury, but did say it’s a physical issue that will keep Ewers out for at least another few days.

“He started out early on, and we were kind of getting him indoctrinated into the offense and everything like that,” Day said. “He’s been unavailable the last couple days. So we’ll get him back here at the end of next week.

“It’s been hard for him to kind of step in and then become unavailable. But I think the guys have done a good job of making sure that, they see somebody who doesn’t have the recruiting class…