Column: With Quinn Ewers' reclassification, Ohio State should look to 2023 for next QB

It’s been less than two weeks since Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel dropped the potential bombshell news regarding Ohio State five-star quarterback commit Quinn Ewers. The websites long-time, respected reporter revealed that Ewers, the No. 1 overall player in the country, was “leaning towards” bypassing his final year of high school at Southlake Carroll (TX) to make his way to Columbus as an (very) early enrollee and partake in the Buckeyes ongoing quarterback battle.

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On Monday, the decision was made official by Ewers when he decided that finishing his last class as a Dragon and flipping to the next chapter of his football career was in his best interest. Now, Ewers will go from the headliner of the 2022 Ohio State recruiting class to an attempt at making his case to be the Buckeyes signal caller over a gauntlet that includes Kyle McCord, Jack Miller, and C.J. Stroud — three other highly-touted talents.

As for what it means on the recruiting side of things, Ohio State no longer has a quarterback in their 2022 class. I’m of the belief that programs should take a quarterback in every class but if there is ever a scenario in which I understand not doing so it is when you have a cast of blue-chip underclassmen quarterbacks on campus ready to play.

So, should Ohio State make a call to in-state four-star quarterback Drew Allar of Medina (OH) now? Unquestionably. But while the chance to develop under Head Coach Ryan Day and quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis should intrigue the Penn State commit, any traction coming about would be surprising at this stage. But they should almost certainly give it a try.

More realistically though, I think what could make the most sense for the Buckeyes is to sit out on the position in 2022 and set their sights on getting their guy in the 2023 class. The Buckeyes have already been busy and have delivered scholarship opportunities to a handful of quarterbacks in that class already.

Two of those have gone out to a pair of prospects that have since decided to make their commitments. Malachi Nelson, the No. 3 overall player for next year, verbally pledged to Oklahoma. While Eli Holstein, a four-star from Louisiana, committed to Texas A&M. The focus for the Buckeyes now shifts to a trio of Top 50 quarterbacks that remain on the market in Nicholaus Iamaleava, Dylan Lonergan, Dante Moore.

Iamaleava is one of the very best that the west coast has to offer. A four-star quarterback from Warren (CA) that, aside from Ohio State, equips an offer sheet that involves a few other top-tier programs like Alabama, Georgia, and Oregon. But it may be a tough task for the Buckeyes to pull Iamaleava from Pac 12 territory when it’s all said and done.

The Scarlet and Gray are one of twelve schools that four-star Longeran is focused on as of Wednesday. Ohio State was inserted into the group from the southern standout that also included Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, and South Carolina.

Moore, the No. 15 overall player in his class, hails from what would be considered Big Ten land and has Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame and others tracking him. Perhaps two things that could give the Buckeyes a leg up in this recruitment, as noted by Zach Carpenter of Eleven Warriors, is that while Moore currently does his damage in the state of Michigan, he is actually from the city of Cleveland and his favorite player growing up was former Buckeye QB/WR Braxton Miller. If I am reading the tea leaves correctly, I think this one is the main focus right now for Ryan Day and Ohio State and I think the Buckeyes can be in the battle for the five-star from Martin Luther King (MI) until the very end.

While we are probably a long ways away from knowing just who that 2023 addition to Corey Dennis’ room will be, you can confidently expect one of the very best. Jack Miller shared his thoughts on why the Buckeyes have so much success with adding high-profile players at the position. “I think this is best place you want to come to if you want to be developed by the best quarterback coach in the country,” Miller stated earlier this week. “This is where you come to be a quarterback, to be honest. I think this is turning into one of those universities.”