Dwayne Haskins gives Ohio State its best chance to win big this season

With spring games in full force around the country, our friends at Tomahawk Nation provided a friendly reminder on why you shouldn’t put too much stock in what’s essentially a glorified practice:

The “spring game” in college football isn’t actually a game. It’s one of the 15 practices the NCAA allows schools to have. At best, it’s a scrimmage, and not a particularly representative one, given that the squads are split up. In the other scrimmages teams have, which are typically closed to the public, it’s offense v. defense, with players getting to rep with the first string, not a mish-mash of first- and second-team units. The spring game is the least important of the 15 spring practices.

As Ohio State fans are well aware, putting up big spring game stats doesn’t necessarily equate to starting on Saturdays, which is important to remember when discussing the current quarterback competition.

While Joe Burrow put up more impressive stats than Dwayne Haskins on Saturday— Burrow was 15-22 for 238 yards and two touchdowns, compared to Haskins’ 9-19 for 120 and one touchdown line— Haskins once again showed the traits that make him one of the most intriguing QB’s in college football, and why he gives the Buckeyes the best chance at making another run at the National Championship this season.

On this episode of The Hangout in the Holy Land: Patrick Mayhorn and I stand on the table for Haskins, discuss why traits are more important than Spring Game stats, and all our other takeaways from last Saturday, including:

• Demario McCall’s candidacy for starting at H-Back.
• Which wide receivers we thought stood out the most (Hi, Jaylen Harris and Binjimen Victor!)
• Master Teague already looking like a grown-ass man.
• Why you need to prepare yourself for the defensive line being even better than it was last season, despite losing Sam Hubbard and Tyquan Lewis.
• What to make of the young linebackers.
• Shaun Wade’s impressive technique, and Urban Meyer’s comments about field safety being the weakest position on the team.

The guys also discuss Curtis Samuel’s amazing diamond chain, Robert Landers passing out gushers, and break down the commitments of Ronnie Hickman and Noah Potter.