Ohio State coach Ryan Day came closer to saying the Buckeyes are the frontrunners in the battle for the quarterback position, while also praising Will Howard’s progress.
“I would say he’s taken command of the huddle at the line of scrimmage,” Day said of Howard, the Kansas State graduate. “I think he’s a lot more confident out there. No decisions have been made yet.”
Day said the team plans to play a practice game on Saturday. He said Howard and Devin Brown have separated themselves from the three freshmen.
“Until then, we’ll do an evaluation and see where we stand,” Day said. “Both guys are getting reps with the 1s. But I will say Will has really made progress in the last couple of practices and has been playing again on the third try. He didn’t win the job, but we saw positive play there.”
Like Sunday, Howard took his first reps with the starters on Thursday in 11-on-11 drills conducted in front of a Big Ten Network team, parents and reporters.
Ohio State has five scholarship quarterbacks, but Howard has been the favorite since he arrived. But he’s had a bit of a rocky spring. He weighed 249 pounds in January and struggled in the spring, which was no surprise considering he was adjusting to a new environment.
Devin Brown, who is in his third year in OSU’s system, had a strong spring practice. Day and new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said before training camp that there was no frontrunner, and Kelly reiterated that on Tuesday.
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But Howard has reshaped his body and lost about 15 pounds. He has refined his passing and says he now feels comfortable on offense.
“I’ve tweaked some things in my technique,” Howard said Tuesday. “I’m getting more intensive coaching than ever before. I have a deeper understanding of the offense and the defense’s approach.”
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Day agreed.
“This preseason, you could tell he’s got a total command of the offense,” he said. “He’s done a lot of work this summer. Not just on his body – I think he lost 2% body fat – but on his understanding of the offense.”
Freshman Julian Sayin, a transfer from Alabama, showed promise in spring practice but struggled in training camp. Redshirt freshman Lincoln Kienholz and freshman Air Noland are not considered candidates for the job.
Howard said Tuesday he was not worried about his position in the competition.
“It’s not my decision,” Howard said. “I’m just going to be myself and fight every day to be the best version of myself, get the most out of my reps and show this team that I’m going to do my best. That’s all I can do.”
