By The Numbers: How Does Kyle McCord Stack Up to Past Ohio State Buckeye QBs?
Though junior quarterback Kyle McCord has taken a lot of heat for his performance over the team’s first five games, a deeper look at the first five starts says he may not be as far off from recent Buckeye legends as many would think.
The following data was gathered through the first five starts as a full-season starter for Dwayne Haskins in 2018, Justin Fields in 2019, C.J. Stroud in 2021 and McCord in 2023.
Three of the four quarterbacks listed above started 5-0, with Stroud being the lone exception, losing 35-28 to Oregon in Ohio State’s 2021 home opener. Apart from that, McCord lacks in nearly every other statistic compared to his predecessors, but not by a whole lot.
All three were substantially better passers than McCord by every stat — they all had higher passing efficiencies, completion percentages, passing yards per game and touchdowns thrown by a decent margin.
In fact, McCord ranks No. 21 with a 164.01 rating; the other three would have a rating comparable to the top three in the country right now — USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr.
Though Fields was known for his run game and ability to scramble, he had a 16-0 touchdown-interception ratio through his first five games as a Buckeye. He also added seven touchdowns on the ground.
Stroud has a 6-1 ratio, which is slightly worse than McCord’s 8-1 ratio, but Stroud was known for his cannon of an arm.
Meanwhile, McCord has projected first-round picks in Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Ebguka at his disposal, while Stroud’s receiving corps was among the best in college football history, consisting of New York Jets wideout Garrett Wilson, New Orleans Saints receiver Chris Olave and Seattle Seahawks rookie, Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Don’t look past the flaws of the other two either. Fields, as good of an overall QB as he was, had a bad habit of taking sacks. He took five sacks in two separate games in 2019 and 27 on the season, despite his 471 rush yards and 10 total rushing touchdowns.
Haskins, at the other end of the spectrum, was probably the best passer Ohio State has seen in a long time. However, because he was such a big guy — measured at six-foot-three, 229 pounds — he was also very poor at running and picked up 122 rush yards on the season.
He has shown up in crunch-time situations and led a game-winning drive against a former top-10 team, placed the ball very well to his elite receiving corps and has only thrown one interception.
Certainly, McCord ranks at the bottom of the last four Buckeye quarterbacks, but he still has Ohio State in a championship-contending position. So far, he has led this offense effectively, despite injuries to Harrison and Egbuka.
Either way, there is still plenty of football left to be played, and plenty of time for McCord to improve his standing.
