College Football: 5 Spring quarterback battles to watch

3. Ohio State Buckeyes

J.T. Barrett departed Columbus, OH having thrown for over 9,400 passing yards and 34 touchdowns in addition to 3,200 rushing yards and 43 touchdowns. At times Barrett looked to be suffering from Tim Tebow syndrome or a sore shoulder that caused him to be inaccurate as Urban Meyer used Barrett as a battering ram.

Barrett heads off to the NFL leaving the Buckeyes with a major hole to fill in their quest to win the 2018 National Championship. Ohio State has to be a top three favorite to make the College Football Playoff backed by Urban Meyer’s strong recruiting classes since arriving at Ohio State.

The top candidate for the starting role has to be Dwayne Haskins Jr.. Haskins Jr is a 6-foot-3, 215 pound former four-star dual threat passer from Maryland. Haskins Jr saw action in eight games in 2017, including replacing J.T. Barrett against Michigan (I was there) when Barrett went down injured. Haskins carved the Wolverines up going 6-for-7 passing for 94 yards and eight yards per carry against Don Brown’s vaunted defense. Haskins Jr averaged 9.91 yards passing per attempt on the season. 

His top competition comes from redshirt freshman Tate Martell. Martell sat in 2017 and the 5-foot-11, 205 pound quarterback lacks NFL size and possibly the stature to endure the beating a Buckeye quarterback is expected to endure. Martell was the starting quarterback at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas in front of UCLA freshman Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

 Haskins Jr’s other competition comes from veteran backup Joe Burrow. Burrow, from Athens High School in Ohio, is a former four-star quarterback. He’s bigger than Martell at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds. Burrow played in four games in 2017 averaging only 5.5 yards per attempt versus his 2016 season where he averaged eight yards per passing attempt. 

Prediction: Dwayne Haskins Jr