Ryan Day’s QB announcement raises some questions beneath the surface

It turned out to be not much of a quarterback battle at all for the Ohio State Buckeyes this offseason with head coach Ryan Day recently naming Kansas State transfer Will Howard the starter. That seems obvious given his experience and all indications being that he had the strongest spring and fall camp among the position group.

However, as Day continued, there was a potential cause for concern with the quarterback depth that the Buckeyes have. Namely, he called Devin Brown the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart coming into Ohio State's Week 1 matchup against the Akron Zips.

Brown played in limited action for the Buckeyes a season ago, struggling in the rare instances he played. The junior only threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns in his limited snaps but with an extremely poor QBR of 11.5.

Devin Brown winning Ohio State's QB2 role is potential cause for concern

After going through last season with Kyle McCord, who performed decently but not up to the standard in Columbus (ultimately making way for his transfer to Syracuse), Ohio State made a clear effort to improve the quarterback situation. They are a College Football Playoff contender and Howard should indeed help elevate the offense. But Brown, given what we've seen, being the primary backup does raise some questions.

The fact that Brown beat out highly touted recruits Air Noland and Julian Sayin (who transferred from Alabama as a 5-star recruit following Nick Saban's retirement) along with another returning signal-caller in Lincoln Kienholz doesn't speak well of them. Now, part of that could just be experience in the program that gives Brown the edge but, even then, it's worth keeping tabs on.

While the Buckeyes should be worried about their QB depth, the fate of their season will likely be tied to playmakers Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson, Emeka Egbuka and 5-star stud Jeremiah Smith, regardless of who is throwing the ball for Ohio State this season. Even still, it's worth wondering the details behind Day's decision regarding Brown in the unfortunate instance that something were to happen to Howard on the injury front.

While having Brown listed as the second QB on the depth chart may scare some fans, it's likely the right move for the program to do long-term as it allows the two recruits to develop under the junior's leadership as the school looks to end their continued year-to-year change at the position.