Ohio State: Urban Meyer names Dwayne Haskins starting quarterback

Urban Meyer has named Dwayne Haskins his starting quarterback coming out of spring practice, but freshman Tate Martell still has a chance to win the job.

In a perfect world, Urban Meyer would be completely certain of his starting quarterback’s identity at this point in the year. Things aren’t quite that perfect for the Buckeyes. Meyer has gone so far as to name Dwayne Haskins as his starting quarterback for the moment, but the door is still open for freshman Tate Martell to win the job later this summer.

At least the race to be the Ohio State starter has been reduced from three to two players. Joe Burrow made things a bit simpler for Meyer by deciding to transfer to LSU last month. It’s unlikely he was going to win the starting job, but his departure did allow Meyer to take a closer look at his two remaining signal-callers.

Haskins certainly has an experience advantage over Martell. He played in eight games for the Buckeyes last season and threw 57 passes as the top backup to J.T. Barrett. The sophomore showed real promise in his time on the field and is expected to hold off Martell to keep his place atop the Buckeyes depth chart for the long haul.

Martell, on the other hand, is a former top recruit who brings a dual-threat element to the game. He’ll be best-served sitting and learning from the bench and in the quarterback room with Haskins serving as the starter and mentor.

Next: Virginia Tech may lose their starting quarterback

Haskins has the Ohio State starting quarterback job and he’s not about to let it go. Expectations are high for him as he begins to fill the large shoes left by Barrett’s departure. In fact, many Buckeye fans were lobbying for Haskins to take over for Barrett last year. Barrett never really had to worry about looking over his shoulder last year though, and neither will Haskins.