Ohio State football: Which QB is most likely to transfer?

C.J. Stroud is the undisputed starter of the Ohio State football team after the Rutgers blowout.

While there was some debate over who should start at quarterback for the Ohio State football team, C.J. Stroud put all of that controversy to rest after dismantling the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday.

Though Kyle McCord and Jack Miller got some valuable playing time in the Akron game two weeks ago, neither did enough to take the starting job from Stroud. Now that Stroud is playing with a ton of confidence in his redshirt freshman season, this only further accentuates the notion that one of the many talented backup quarterbacks will be transferring.

Between McCord and Miller, who is the most likely Ohio State quarterback to transfer?

How does true freshman Quinn Ewers factor into all of this as well?

Ohio State football: Which quarterback is most likely to transfer after 2021?

While things could change in the coming weeks and months, here is the pecking order of who will be transferring from most likely to least likely between Ewers, McCord and Miller: McCord is the most likely, followed closely by Miller and Ewers who is not likely to transfer. This is a combination of playing time and their respective viabilities to be a Power Five starter in 2022.

McCord is obvious because Ewers’ reclassification for 2021 gave him no wiggle room at Ohio State. He may have been on campus a semester before Ewers, but that really does not matter heading into 2022. If McCord had won the job out of fall camp, things would be different. For now, he is too good to be riding the pine for multiple years at Ohio State. He is almost certainly going to explore transferring.

Miller probably is transferring as well, but that is not a foregone conclusion. While he is not the obvious Power Five starter upon arrival like McCord would be, Miller is a very high-end backup. There is value in that role and he will get playing time next year at Ohio State if he remains the No. 2 option. Still, two years of not playing very much cannot sit well with a former four-star recruit.

And for Ewers, him potentially transferring is only about one thing: Fit. He did leave high school a year early from his native Texas to go play in Columbus. If the Midwest isn’t for him, then he may come back to the Lone Star State or the Southwest with all four years of eligibility intact. He will not play this year, so that gives him a two-year gap between him and Stroud. Ewers will stay put.

Unless something else changes, McCord will transfer, Miller probably will and Ewers will remain.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.