Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith are among the best offensive duos in college football, while the Buckeyes are ranked No. 1 on the 2026 AP Preseason Poll with 40 first-place votes. However, all of these projections could mean nothing in the event of an unprecedented injury. Does Ryan Day have enough quality in the QB room to manage such a situation?
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Former Ohio State quarterback Justin Zwick was at the team’s fall practice on Thursday to watch the players train. And instead of returning with the kind of positive news that matched the numerous projections that have gone in favor of the Buckeyes, he returned with a major concern. From plain sight, there is no danger ahead for the Buckeyes; however, in its current state, the team is so unprepared for unforeseen circumstances, especially in the quarterback room.
“I asked Austin the same thing: ‘Is he a walk-on?'” Zwick asked about freshman quarterback Luke Fahey in an August 19 video on The Live Show at Roosters. “I kind of thought that. I think if he was two or three inches taller, he’s probably a four-star guy who’s going somewhere else. But he looks so small. I haven’t stood right next to him, but he just looks a little out there. He’s a thicker small guy, but he’s just not your typical quarterback… But if you need somebody to come in if something happens to Julian, and you need to trust that you’re gonna get the snap, you’re gonna get the handoff, you’re gonna get the reads that you wanna get; you can run the offense the way as if there was your starter still in there.”
Despite being a four-star prospect, Luke Fahey’s appearance encourages any prejudice fans may have against him. The 5-foot-11, 206-pound athlete was one of the top 25 quarterbacks in the nation, per 247Sports. But the quarterback position is such that a physical deficiency already places athletes at a disadvantage, regardless of their talents. But the Buckeyes have another option, Tavien St. Clair, the touted QB2.
“We still had our Tavien running circles for just laps. Yeah, just doing some laps, not a ton of them, but that FA looking pretty good. I mean, seem to have a pretty good control of the offense. And then, you heard Ryan talk about him on Saturday after the scrimmage. So, it’s good to have a little push there. I mean, I know we talked about Tavien a couple of weeks ago, just like what kind of camp can he have to show, and maybe that’s not going best,” Justin Zwick said.
Tavien St. Clair was a five-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, per 247Sports Composite. And after a silent freshman year, where he appeared in just one game, he was tipped to be the team’s QB2 in 2026 after the transfer of Lincoln Kienholz.
By the standards of a top college football team, like the Buckeyes, a backup quarterback is expected to be good enough to start in the case of an injury. From Zwick’s firsthand experience, Tavien is currently not up to that standard.