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August 28, 2019Dawand Jones: Ohio State’s most interesting player in 2019
August 28, 2019With the Ohio State Buckeyes set to kick off their 2019 football campaign in three days, WFNY continues our preview for the scarlet and gray before they begin their season this fall. The Buckeyes not only lost head coach Urban Meyer, but they also lost plenty of talent either due to graduation or the NFL Draft. With first-year head coach Ryan Day and new-look coaching staff on defense, Ohio State is used to losing plenty of talent every single year. It doesn’t mean that they will have to rebuild, they will instead reload, much as they have in the past. In fact, the word rebuild most likely doesn’t even exist in dictionaries across Columbus. You could argue that this year’s team is somehow better than last year’s in some ways. It truly shows just how deep this roster is, thanks to the recruiting efforts by the coaching staff, development of the players, and just how talented these kids are while they try and mesh together to potentially win a national championship at season’s end.
This season is much different than in years past for the Ohio State Buckeyes. The most obvious difference is the fact that Urban Meyer is no longer the head coach, with Ryan Day taking over the sticks and leading the scarlet and gray as a first-time head coach. While there are other key differences as well, one of the most glaring changes is at quarterback. Justin Fields is not only leading a very inexperienced group, but the other difference is also the fact that there is such a big drop off between Fields and the rest of the quarterbacks.
During the Urban Era, the Buckeyes not only seemed to have a solid starting quarterback but also had at least one backup that could step into the fire and lead the offense if the opportunity presented itself, whether it was due to an injury or something else. Two great examples of that were J.T. Barrett stepping in for an injured Braxton Miller prior to the 2014 season and Cardale Jones filling in for Barrett after he fractured his ankle against Michigan in 2014. The gunslinger who was essentially the third-string quarterback during fall camp went on to lead the Buckeyes to an incredible 59-0 drubbing over Wisconsin to win the Big Ten title, essentially securing Ohio State’s spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff. Jones then helped the scarlet and gray upset Alabama and Oregon to win a national championship. That year alone proved how important a backup quarterback — or in this case, quarterbacks — is to the Buckeyes.
The quarterback competition might have gone long into fall camp, with Day (finally) announcing that Fields had won the competition and named him the starting quarterback for Week 1 at the beginning of last week. While Day seemingly made it a competition just to try and get the best out of Fields, the Georgia transfer being named the starting quarterback for this season was inevitable. It wasn’t a matter of if, but a matter of when, especially considering Fields received all of the first-team reps throughout fall camp.
For the first time in a long time, the drop off between Fields and the rest of the quarterbacks behind him is quite a big one. It’s the reason Fields must stay healthy throughout the entire season. Considering he supposedly ran a 4.45 40-yard dash this summer, the quarterback seems to be a more athletic Barrett but not as good of a thrower as Haskins. So the offense will likely find a common ground between the previous handful of years and 2018. Eleven Warriors made a great, easy-to-read chart that shows just how often the Buckeyes have run the ball since 2012, both with the quarterback and running backs.
So, with that, along with the fact that the Buckeyes have running back J.K. Dobbins and a loaded group of wide receivers returning this fall, Fields will run more than Haskins did in 2018 but less than Barrett did during the former quarterback’s time in Columbus. He’ll be a dual-threat quarterback, rather than just favor one style of play.
During his first and only season at Georgia, Fields completed 27-of-39 passes for 328 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions. The then-freshman also ran for 266 yards and four touchdowns on 42 carries while backing up Jake Fromm. He proved his ability to be a dual-threat quarterback.
Considering he will be involved in more run-option plays this fall, Day and the coaching staff must still make sure Fields stays healthy for the long haul. Unlike previous years have proved, Ohio State can ill afford to have Fields get hurt this fall. Former head coach Urban Meyer alluded to that during Fox’s College Football Pregame Show.
With a new QB and head coach, @OhioStateFB will look very different in 2019. @OSUCoachMeyer and @Brady_Quinn give their thoughts on this edition of the Buckeyes. pic.twitter.com/16se4SjZy5
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) August 24, 2019
With Day and new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich leading the offense this season, the two are known for liking the air-it-out style, rather than the run-option style of play. Fields’ 6-foot-3, 223-pound paired with the type of quarterback he can be, they can utilize both. There’s a reason he was named to the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, given to college football’s best player. Fields also has the third-best odds (9-to-1) to win the 2020 Heisman Trophy, according to Bovada. It just comes down to using his style in a way that will not only maximize his skillset but to maximize the potential of Ohio State’s offense all while making sure they do everything possible to keep Fields at 100% all season as well.
“I’m not comfortable with (Fields) taking a lot of hits in the course of a game, for sure,” Day has said. “I think that those are all things that are going to be really calculated down to the last carry. Like you said, because he has such a great skill set, you can do a lot of things with him. You have to be smart with that.”
Considering he joined the Buckeyes in the first week of 2019, Fields still most likely won’t have a full grip of the offense until later in the season. That means that Ohio State will likely have to use the quarterback’s running ability much more often early in the season than they will the rest of his career as he eases into the offense.
The heavy contact will likely be when Fields runs the ball in short-yardage situations, whether it be on third down or on the goal line, while he will also scramble in order to gain positive yards when a play breaks down. It just comes down to him being smart and not taking shots from the defense as much as he possibly can.
“That’s all part of the plan here in figuring that out for him,” Day said. “But obviously don’t want to put him at risk.”
All of this also means that Day and the offensive coaching staff must find ways to give Hoak — who is presumably the backup quarterback after losing the battle to Fields for the starting gig — legitimate, meaningful in-game snaps as much as possible. While those won’t come in close games, they need to play Hoak in blowout situations as much as they possibly can. It will only help with his development while he continues to learn the offense after the redshirt junior transferred in from Kentucky in the last week of April. That, paired with the fact that Ohio State brought in fifth-year senior Chris Chugunov as a transfer from West Virginia to be a reserve and not play in any crucial situations, and it’s pretty obvious that it’s basically Fields or nothing for the offense. While Buckeye Nation hopes Hoak will never have to play in crucial situations, he must be prepared to do so in case Fields goes down with an injury.
After Fields, the Buckeyes will likely have a pass-first, air-it-out style offense as long as Day is the head coach, but for the next 2-to-3 years, it would be in their best interest to find a middle ground between a running style quarterback and one that likes to throw the ball, all while doing everything possible to keep Fields healthy. This offense can be really, really special with all of the athleticism and playmakers it features, it just comes down to whether Fields can stay healthy or not.
Fields’ legs will be something that he can lean on as he eases into his first season as a starting quarterback, but his ability to beat opponents through the air will likely be the No. 1 attribute that can get the Buckeyes to a Big Ten title and even a Playoff appearance. He will lean on his ability to be a dual-threat quarterback, but he must ease the passing game in sooner rather than later. Ohio State’s success comes down to a number of different variables, but the most important one is Fields’ health and ability to stay on the football field. It’s as simple as that.
2019 Ohio State Football Preview series:
- First-year head coach Ryan Day is ready to continue the tradition of excellence for Ohio State on the gridiron
- No Experience, No Problem…Maybe? Ohio State’s QB room has plenty more questions than answers heading into 2019
- J.K. Dobbins is ready to be a one-man show in Ohio State’s backfield in 2019
- Chase Young leads yet another dominate group of defensive linemen for Buckeyes