Dwayne Haskins will be the man under center for the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2018. He’s out to prove he’s more than a quarterback transition between two eras.
When a program finishes one era under a successful quarterback, there is typically a transition period before that next era under the great quarterback that will lead them into the future. However, the guy in the middle can sometimes turn out to be the start of that next era. Junior quarterback Dwayne Haskins is out to prove he is more than a transition quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes are coming off of the J.T. Barrett era and Haskins will now get his turn. Under Barrett, the Buckeyes remained one of the top programs in the country and won big bowl games in the process. With Barrett off to the pros, fans are beginning to look toward the Tate Martell era.
Martell, of course, is the exciting young quarterback that many expect Urban Meyer to make the next Tim Tebow at the college level. With high expectations and an exciting future on tap for the Buckeyes, it’s important to not overlook Haskins and what he can ultimately be for a Buckeyes program that doesn’t want to skip a beat in 2018.
It’s been a small sample size for Haskins on the field, but he’s done alright by the Ohio State faithful thus far. When J.T. Barrett went down to injury this past season in a battle against rival Michigan, Haskins came in and made key throws to put the Buckeyes back on top and with a win over the Wolverines.
Defeating Michigan alone is enough to put a quarterback in the good graces of everyone in Columbus, but it also showed tremendous poise. Meyer wouldn’t be starting Haskins if he didn’t feel he had the poise to be successful.
The defending Big Ten Champions know that they’re going to have a tough road to defending their crown and making a playoff push in 2018. Having someone cool under pressure and with a little experience under the belt is going to give them their best chance to make a run.
For those clamoring for the Martell already, he’s certainly going to get a crack at making some noise in a variety of packages as well. Still, Haskins seems like the most logical choice to step in right now and given that aforementioned tough road, he’ll be tested right away.
The Buckeyes have two huge road tests that could make or break their season by the time September ends. In the first month of action for the Buckeyes, they have two away contests against TCU and Penn State. That game against the Horned Frogs will be played at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
The Horned Frogs, of course, are a big contender for the Big-12 Championship and Penn State is led by superstar quarterback Trace McSorley. The quarterback for the Nittany Lions is going to have the spotlight solely on himself this year and the Buckeyes are going to have their hands full.
For a team that’s making a transition at the most important spot on the roster, this is about as tough of a test as a program can have early. Two big contenders on the schedule early will certainly show what Haskins has.
That poise that he showed against Michigan is going to be just as important if the Buckeyes want to keep their playoff hopes intact. What will help is the supporting cast around him on the field.
Lining up behind him will be running back J.K. Dobbins, who can break a game open at any given moment. Johnnie Dixon, Parris Campbell and KJ Hill will provide plenty of experience at the wide receiver spot as well.
At the end of the day, the Buckeyes in 2018 will only go as far as Haskins takes them and if they survive two tough September tests, then the sky is the limit for this program. The sample size is small but promising. The competitive spirit of Haskins will have him out to prove that the future is now in Columbus with the junior quarterback under the helm.