Ohio State football: Young quarterbacks and defensive backs trying to catch up

Stroud is in a race with fellow second-year freshman Jack Miller III and true freshman Kyle McCord to replace Justin Fields as the Buckeyes’ starter.

Despite Day’s stance on what Stroud being up first meant (nothing), the order the QBs went to work came as little surprise.

Miller and Stroud both arrived last year hoping to jockey for pole position for this race.

Miller got into a game first, but Stroud replaced Fields after a vicious hit to the side in the Sugar Bowl against Clemson.

Both second-year freshmen were four-star prospects while McCord garnered five-star recognition this year.

He is behind Stroud and Miller as far as time to learn the offense, but their lack of game reps and a dearth of even practice time last year has minimized the distance between them all.

Day is in no hurry to pick a starter, but so far he has liked what he has seen — for the most part.

“They have done a decent job of learning each day,” the coach said. “That’s been a positive. I think their lack of reps is hard.

“They need so many reps of everything. They’re very eager to learn. They are taking good notes. They are all getting better in their own way. That’s all been a positive. I wish we had 18 months to get them ready, but we don’t. The rush is on, and so far so good.”

--While Craig Young made headlines earlier this week when the linebacker was spotted playing safety in practice, he is far from the only new face trying to earn playing time in the defensive back seven.

Freshmen cornerbacks Lejond Cavazos and Ryan Watts are also heavily in the mix with veterans Cam Brown and Sevyn Banks sidelined by injuries.

Like the young quarterbacks. Cavazos and Watts lost valuable development time last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they are trying to get caught up this spring.

“The great thing for them is they don’t have a choice,” Day said. “They’ve got to go. They are getting a lot of reps and getting thrown in there. They are getting better because they’re practicing. The more you practice, the better you get.

“Two more weeks of that, if they can stay healthy, they will come out of this spring a lot stronger and ready to make an impact in the fall.”

Credit: Marcus Hartman

Credit: Marcus Hartman

--Another classmate of Cavazos and Watts has also been the subject of praise this spring.

Cam Martinez, an “athlete” prospect from Michigan who signed last February, appears to be another candidate to play slot safety.

That is a versatile role that calls for covering, blitzing and supporting the run, something secondary coach Matt Barnes said he is equipped to do.

“He’s played inside. He’s played outside. He’ll play true safety for us,” Barnes said last week. “We’re really just diving into techniques and concepts right now.”

He likes what he has seen from the youngster on the field and in the meeting room.

“I’ll tell you this about Cam Martinez: You can’t sit in a meeting without hearing great things about him right now,” Barnes said. “Whether that’s strength and conditioning, our nutritionist brags about him, our training staff brags about him. I just five minutes ago walked out of a special teams meeting where (special teams coordinator Parker) Fleming was bragging on how well he’s done in special teams.

“Cam has really, really put his head down and gone to work since this past season ended, and he’s got to be one of the most improved guys so far that we’ve seen.”