Snap Judgments: Chip Kelly, Ohio State quarterbacks talk camp, competition and confidence

Ohio State isn't looking for a superhero but it does want a quarterback who can run the football a little bit that's where snap judgments will begin after practice number five in training camp for Ohio State that's Bill Landis Jeremy Birmingham I am Austin Ward to a man especially with that top group a lot of conversation Bill about those quarterbacks needing to be able to run the football for this offense to function the way Chip Kelly and ryane want yeah I think I think two things as part of that conversation stuck out to me today one was Chip Kelly telling us that all these guys can really run every every quarterback in the room topped out of at least 20 mph during speed training uh in the summer and will Howard was the fastest of 22 M hour I would not have guessed that big cat running 22 miles per hour but I actually thought the maybe the more interesting thing today was I don't know the right way to to characterize but I would say that when will Howard first got here he tried to like get in front a little bit of some conversation about his running ability I think in a way to say like hey I'm coming here to develop as a passer I want to showcase that part of my game and it's not that he has changed his mind on that but like today he was like I'm going to run the football like it's part of my game that's what I'm going to do I'm going to embrace it it's a strength of mind we need it for this offense so that was good to hear I guess I I I was like halfway concerned we were going to go down the I'm not a running back road with Will Howard and and I don't I don't think we're we're going to go there he seems uh very much eager to take on that that role within this offense yeah we won't be hearing any similar press conferences like CJ Stroud's famous one after Nebraska which again he was right and you can understand but Howard's approach is very different and it should be different but also he seems so much more confident as a passer of the football right now than he did when he got here this is a kid who he had like he's never had the depth of coaching that he's gotten at Ohio State and and you can just tell he's extremely comfortable I think the thing that stood out to me today about all the quarterbacks even uh down the list to to Lincoln keol Nolan and Julian Sayan like everyone's pretty confident about where they are right now um and it doesn't seem like a group that you have like a major divide between I'm going to be the starter and everyone else saying oh I'm just here to hold a clipboard like even when someone is trying to fom the sension among among the ranks by asking what they do better than everybody else which is a messed up thing to do who would do such I did that and I I I want no I wanted to see if I would get the same answers that I already had in my head and I pretty much did uh which was I think uh you know we talked about it last week but everyone has a different Elite trait and that's why I asked Chip Kelly like you know Ryan Day in recruiting always talks about he wants an elite characteristic what's their one thing and he says extraordinary sure extraordinary extraordinary treat um I asked Evan Brown he said his his leadership I asked will Howard he said his experience I asked Julian sa he said he said hair his hair is great that is California cool uh he said it's the way he processes things he thinks he does that linoln ke just athleticism and the way he can move around the pocket Aon noan was the only one that didn't give like a a hard answer and I think that's fine and understandable for a kid that understands he's five on the depth chart and wanting said I'm just trying I my it ended up being that his Elite trait was being uh worried about himself and not other people which is not a bad thing in this context it's not like you know he's running his own race and to understand that right now single minded Focus right but to to understand that right now is fairly mature for you know a player who was Georgia player of the year two years ago to say hey I'm not actually comparing myself to anybody else I think is good so um overall just the confidence of the group and um bordering a little bit on like shess when dealing especially with Devon Brown and will cockity cockity cockity uh you know I think that's important like you need will Howard said he doesn't need to be a hero but he needs to be a badass if if that you know for different things he needs to be that guy uh after you walked away from asking Devin Brown that question I said uh Devin burm wanted you to say that you throw the best deep ball and you didn't do it and then it's like we had a little bit of a conversation about that and his uh philosophy about taking those chances or shots not chances because he doesn't view them as a risk if he says if he gets the look that he wants he's not afraid to throw it down the field I think that's will Howard was not asked to compare those things directly but he said that one thing he needed to keep working on was pushing the ball down the field and I think I talked to will a little bit on the side after that I talked to Will on the side a little bit before that so let's see what he said and it was he said even when it comes to the competition that's making me better than Kansas State it's it's more competition it's more coaching it's more strength staff support I think when Devin Brown has hit some of these throws thinking of one on Friday to Jeremiah the one on Bryson to Bryson Rogers to end that practice we've seen Devin Brown do that in like almost every practice this year I think that's going to P the seat if like if the other parts are trending towards Will Howard and he wants to be the starting quarterback and he's thinking that other guy is actually having a lot of success taking these shots that's sort of the iron sharpening iron for the passers yeah Chip Kelly when he I asked him about the the the traits and he said Evan Brown's arm strength and his ability to push the ball down the field so like it was where I thought it was going I asked will Howard as a passer because you know without knocking his players at Kansas State I said how much easier is this and he said that he feels way more confident because throwing the ball downfield now even a 5050 ball to Jeremiah Smith is a good decision mhm and it's something that he didn't ever have in his mind before an 8020 ball might be a good decision so like any ball whatsoever so well the idea I mean he's never had those types of receivers and he's like yeah this is way easier I can I can take more shots I can take more risks and I'm not going to be yelled at because I'm throwing you know to a guy that is going to win almost every time so yeah no I I will said it's combination I think of what he's done here and what he did kind of on his own with his quarterback trainers that he just feels like he's throwing the ball a lot more confidently that's clear if you're if you're out here watching practice I think that much is apparent I did like the spin the Chip Kelly put on that though which was it's not merely a physical thing like will is stronger and he's throwing the ball harder I think but knowing the offense understanding the timing knowing the spacing trusting the receivers a lot more I just think the ball comes out quicker and that was an area where I thought he looked behind and somewhat significantly at times in the spring and now I almost feel like he's the best out here at times doing that stuff Julian saying is Flash that regard too Deon Brown obviously knows the offense very well but if there was like any ground to make up there it feels like will has done that and now he's just kind of like building on top of that like whatever whatever catchup he had to do and I think he did have to do probably more than we perhaps gave credit to when he first got here I think he's done that and now it's just like okay how do I take this thing and run with it would you like another off mic bit of insight on that I would love it yeah I asked will whether he was actually throwing with more velocity or if it was better knowledge of the offense and being able to get the football fall out on time and he said well yes it's a little bit of combination of both because physically I'm in better shape but then he did like a demonstration where he would he was like I'd get to my back foot and then be like uh oh that's not the right read and then he would kind of throw off Rhythm and off platform and he said that through five practices when we're seeing more velocity which Ryan day has talked about chip Kelly's talked about we we felt like we noticed that he said it's I think more frequently actually being able to drive off the back foot and know that I've already processed it correctly so it is a combination of both things you're right about that yeah and I makes sense right like I I I think it's the the he just looks very different so it's easy to grab on like wow he put in a lot of work he's really rifl on that pig but it's it's more it is more I think chucking it all over the yard chucking it all over the yard it's a lot more confidence and just like understanding where guys are going to be and understanding the defense too and knowing probably these DBS are really good so you don't get it there fast it's going to get picked off it's going to be a problem yeah but that's also something that will Howard specifically mentioned like there's times when it's frustrating in practice because you think that you're doing things right and you're not completing passes and then you realize oh we're not going to be playing against these guys on Saturdays and so that's okay so uh it's a confident group I do think that that's why that it's significant when they have plays like Devin Brown to Bryson Rogers on Friday because they're not going to win the majority of these reps against this secondary so when they get examples of like you can execute and still do it against the best defense in the country or the best secondary in the country that should carry more weight for the I do think like there's going to be days in these scrimmages where the defense just bottles it up and the natural tendencies like gosh is this offense going to be any good if they win three out of three out of 10 like that's a pretty good sign in my opinion yeah CU we saw plenty of times where they won zero zero out of 10 and zero out of 100 sometimes it felt like of how good this defense is like I I feel like we've seen a fair amount of back and forth which is really encouraging and and I I also like too like Devon Devon having the confidence to throw that ball that we saw him throw Grayson Rogers and his explanation of burn which was the safety's back was turned so the receiver was open doesn't matter that the safety's back was turned almost stride for stride with the receiver his back was turned so Deon thought it was open like the confidence to rip that throw I think can have a trickle down effect on the entire room like you see you see one guy who's willing to to project that kind of confidence in his own ability and his teammates ability and and make a pretty I think High degree of difficulty throw maybe will Howard comes out and wants to do it the next time or Julian S or Aaron R and anybody like I think I think those are kind of like the subtle ways that these guys are continue to push each other and it's that's one part of the offense I mean we're this we're talking quarterbacks because that's what we got to talk to today but you have to think about all of the parts that are a piece of of this quarterback play and how that pertains to the offense but then there's still maybe you know the best two running backs in the country on the same team and so like there's reason for these guys to be confident uh Chip Kelly you can kind of tell like he he's enjoying seems a little giddy just tinkering with these things um so it's uh you know it feels like all the pieces are are there moving in the right direction you know who else I thought was gidy burm like Lincoln Keen Holtz I think really likes what is being asked of the quarterbacks in the Run game here that it it's a weird thing because like Ryan day is still here he's influenced by his mentor Chip Kelly they've worked together previously and for a long time but it's almost like everyone is suggesting in some ways that this offensive system is like pretty dramatically different for the quarterbacks than a year ago I don't know that the system is altogether different it's just the implementation of certain pieces I think philosophy yeah I mean it's like hey if you have five yards in front of you go take it don't don't you know it's hard to argue with the success Ray's offenses have had uh obviously last year the offense was not good enough to win a National Championship which is hard to swallow because wild State fans for the previous uh four years before that had seen or five years with Ryan day as an offense coordinator in 2017 and 18 like the best offenses in the country so there's pieces that need to be fixed and the Run game the confidence that Chip Kelly has in the offensive line the confidence that they're going to have in the quarterback's ability to do things I I I was actually thinking about lincol ke Holz today as I was asking these questions because he seems fundamentally to be the guy that's different athletically than the others um you know Chip Chip Kelly actually said he thinks that Aon Nolan may have the strongest arm on the team which was something I would not have expected him to say um good and you know but Lincoln athletically is so different that you don't know if maybe he's going to be the right fit for what they want in this offense but you can see him growing as a quarterback which is the important thing and maybe it won't be here in in the long term of his career but like he's going to be a special quarterback somewhere and he's benefiting big time from learning this stuff now he did actually address that part uh earlier today where he was like well we're all competing we know that there's five of us and we all feel like we're getting competitive enough and good enough and productive enough that we can be a really good starting quarterback at Ohio State or anywhere in the country yeah like that's that's that's reality I I actually appreciate hearing it that way like that's the right approach yeah and it's not it is in no way suggesting that anyone has like an eye out the door or is thinking about like they're they're pretty locked in here from everything that I can tell but that is the world that they live in and honestly like if you have that in the back of your mind I feel like that makes you more competitive in practice right like you're everything is recorded everything is videotaped if if the time comes for you to go someplace else and someone says all right can we get some practice film You Don't Want To suckling your practice film so like I I I think like comp to the metaphorical death understanding the realities of being a quarterback in college football in 2024 um and then channeling that the right way I think is I think these guys are doing that well it is that it's think about what to take that Jim nolles expression from Friday like they're all chasing perfection in this case they're chasing they want to be the starting quarterback at Ohio State and if you don't get it you might have a pretty prominent job somewhere else in the country if you call if you fall short like if you're I I think that's and that's not a fair goal to have right and that's not something Ohio state would be mad about the fact is in recruiting especially like if if if Lincoln keenholtz or Devin Brown or will Howard or Julian s ends up being the starting quarterback somewhere else two years two years from now and wins a Heisman right and will Howard can't be so let's just be clear He he'll be that would be wild if he's still playing college football in two years like that's good for Ohio State like you know Joe burrow the conversation around Joe burrow is still lasting around here like yes he won the National Championship in the Heisman at LSU but there's no doubt that Joe burrow gives Ohio State Credit for what he did and it had positive ramifications on the recruiting Trail so the more big- time quarterbacks that are coming in here unafraid to compete the better yeah and I think I there was a chance I think we we've done this long enough that like we could pick up on whether or not like guys were sort of like uncomfortable in their position or upset about something or not liking the fact that they're five here and having to go through all that like I didn't pick up on any of that like I even even air nobody sounded like d Hayden in the spring yeah right exactly yeah yeah so to put a pretty fine point on yeah yeah it just it seems like the room's in a really good spot um competitively and I think just sort of like manto man and how they're trying to help each other was there anything else offensively big picture not quarterbacks that you heard from Chip Kelly or anybody else say that caught attention these quarterbacks feel more confident behind the offensive line yes that's what they said uh and I I take their word for it nobody knows better than them yeah and and Chip gave the offensive line a pretty strong endorsement too um you know is he going to sit down and say like these guys aren't good enough no but again if he was bsing about them I think we'd be able to pick up on it and I don't believe that he is you don't have to you don't have to lie right so it's it's not UCLA we're actually going to pay attention more it's more good report about the group that everyone was worried about uh coming into this Camp so it seems like they're putting some good practices together and we heard from five quarterbacks for practice number five for Ohio State put that one in the bank for the Buckeyes and another snap judgments is done from the Woody Hayes Athletics Center that's Bill Landis Jeremy Birmingham I'm Austin Ward we'll talk to you again tomorrow on The Daily see you