COLUMBUS, Ohio — There has been a pecking order established on the depth chart.
Ohio State isn’t randomly cycling through its options, it isn’t swapping out different guys every other series and it’s certainly true that Urban Meyer isn’t running what would widely be viewed as a two-quarterback system.
But the Buckeyes are obviously playing both Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett, and after a month of training camp and three games, it appears to be time to stop. Picking a starter and showing a bit more patience is probably the easiest way to solve a problem that is bogging down arguably one of the most talented offenses in the nation.
“I did go with one guy,” Meyer said during his news conference Monday. “The guy didn’t perform well so we went with the backup. There was no set thing saying we were a two-quarterback system, and we’re not.
“The backup is a very good player, whoever that may be. We are going with a guy.”
What the Buckeyes didn’t do is stand firmly behind that guy, either in the sloppy win over Northern Illinois or during a rocky second quarter the week before against Hawaii. And if Ohio State is going to reach its potential as perhaps one of the most dominating attacks in recent memory, allowing either Jones or Barrett to stake a permanent claim to the position even after a couple missteps has to be a better option than watching an offense that looked lost on Saturday.
Based on the evidence already on hand, the best bet looks to be riding with Jones and giving Barrett a true backup role instead of viewing him as a ready-made reliever whenever something goes wrong in the first half.
Continue Reading: Time for Ohio State to pick a QB, and Cardale Jones is the best bet
