With the recent news of incumbent starter Kyle McCord entering the transfer portal, the Ohio State Buckeyes are looking to upgrade at the position and reportedly have their eyes on some big names.
While appearing on SportsCenter on Monday evening, ESPN's Tom VanHaaren reported that the Buckeyes have been targeting Duke's Riley Leonard and Washington State's Cameron Ward to fill that void:
"Ohio State is going to be looking for a new starter next season. You guys mentioned a few names, Cameron Ward from Washington State. He threw for over 3,700 yards this season, he had eight rushing touchdowns. I think he'd be a really good fit for this offense. He's an elite level passer, I have him ranked No. 2 overall in my quarterback transfer rankings right now. I think he would be able to give them an element of passing that they're missing, but he can also bring an element on the ground game." [...]
"The other name that has popped up, you guys mentioned Duke's Riley Leonard, that's another name to watch. When Riley Leonard entered the transfer portal it looked as though he was headed to Notre Dame. I still think that Notre Dame is a really good option for him, but Ohio State is also trying to get in the mix."
As the transfer portal opened up, VarHaaren ranked his top quarterbacks that opted to change programs. Ward and Leonard both were near the top of the list, landing at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. McCord currently ranks eighth on the list.
Both players really exploded onto the national scene this season as Ward played his second season with Cougars after transferring in from FCS program Incarnate Word ahead of the 2022 season.
He proved to be one of the best signal callers in Pac-12 during a season in which there several elite ones like Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. and Caleb Williams, among others. Ward is currently weighing his options between coming back for a final season or entering the NFL draft.
As for Leonard, he's a hot commodity following a breakout season at Duke in which he led the program to several notable upsets over Clemson and NC State while being limited to just seven games due to injury.
Notre Dame is an early favorite to land Riley as it looks to replace Sam Hartman—another former ACC standout. Texas A&M could also be a factor as former Duke coach Mike Elko took the Aggies' top job late last month.
The Buckeyes would be quite the natural landing spot for either quarterback as there is never a shortage of weapons in Columbus and they are a program always in national title contention.
