Has Ohio State built the best quarterback room of the Ryan Day era?

Looking at the Buckeyes' eight-year history of No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 quarterbacks.

Ohio State’s quarterbacks warm up before the spring game: From left, Luke Fahey (13), Justyn Martin (16), Tavien St. Clair (9) and Julian Sayin (10). (Photo by Doug Lesmerises)

COLUMBUS — Last season, 11 true freshmen quarterbacks among the 68 power conference college football teams threw at least 50 passes, with all of them starting at least one game. Five of them started at least half the season by the team’s choice, while others were high enough on the depth chart to be forced into action by injury or ineptitude from others.

Tavien St. Clair didn’t come close to that for Ohio State. As a true freshman, he played 13 snaps and threw two passes against Grambling State. He was locked sturdily into the QB3 role for the Buckeyes, behind a second-year player in Julian Sayin and a third-year player in Lincoln Kienholz.

He was in that role because Ohio State still builds quarterback rooms.

In the transfer age, the Buckeyes still, more often than not hit, the mark with Ryan Day’s desire for four scholarship quarterbacks, and the lineup usually makes sense.

Ohio State filled the room last May with the late add of Eli Brickhandler, a transfer from Houston Christian, who became scholarship quarterback No. 4.

This season, they lined things up more efficiently. In fact, I’d argue Ohio State’s four-man scholarship quarterback room is exactly what you want these days.

A year ago, I said the same thing about backup quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, arguing in a story that as a third-year veteran who stuck around to compete for the starting job, knowing he was a longshot to win it, Kienholz was the most qualified backup quarterback in the country.

A vet like that as your No. 2? Great. As for the fact that Kienholz is now the projected starter at Louisville, a likely preseason Top 25 team … well, when your No. 2 becomes that kind of No. 1, you know you had it right.

But Ohio State’s No. 4 last year was a stretch. And while other highly-ranked true freshmen like Bryce Underwood at Michigan and Malik Washington at Maryland were starting, Ohio State has never had interest in recent times in rushing a true freshman under center.

St. Clair at No. 3 was two turned ankles by the top two quarterbacks away from taking the field. There’s a big gap between being a 1 and being a 3, and Ohio State quarterbacks stayed healthy.

But Ohio State’s full QB setup this season still is better.

• No. 1: Third-year player, second-year starter, Heisman Trophy finalist and former five-star recruit.

• No. 2: Second-year player, former five-star recruit.

• No. 3: Fifth-year player, transfer, previously at two other Big Ten schools.

• No. 4: First-year player, three-star recruit.

It wasn’t just Sayin and St. Clair I was thinking about when I asked Ryan Day, in his last news conference of spring football, how he felt about the quarterback room as a whole.

“I feel like the room is strong,” Day said. “I feel like we have an opportunity to build some depth behind Julian and then build a future with the guys that are in the room. We’re working to build these guys up every day, but they have to realize and understand that certainly Julian’s a starter, but they’re one play away from playing in these games.

“And we all know the history of guys getting injured and having guys step up. So depth is important at every position, but we know how important it is at quarterback. So there has been a lot of growth in that room. But we all know what the expectation is. The expectation is to step in and play at a championship level.”

With that thought as the guide, let’s run through the pecking order of the quarterback room and compare it to the first seven years of the Day Era, to see how it stacks up for Year 8.