Ohio State Buckeyes QB Named To Davey O'Brien Award Watchlist

Ohio State's Will Howard has been named to the Davey O'Brien Award watchlist.

Aug 1, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterbacks, from left, Devin Brown (33), Air Noland (12), Will Howard (18) and Julian Sayin (10) work on a drill during football camp at the Woody Hayes Athletic Complex. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Even though Kansas State transfer Will Howard has not yet been named the starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes, the experienced college quarterback continues to receive some preseason honors. Howard has been battling with Devin Brown for the starting job in the spring and so far in fall camp. The general expectations are that Howard will ultimately win the job perhaps sooner rather than later.

With the starting Ohio State quarterback job comes high expectations. The plethora of dangerous weapons surrounding the quarterback in this offense only helps with the ability to perform well during the season. Not only has Howard already been named to the Walter Camp Award watchlist, but as of Thursday, he has been named to the Davey O'Brien Award watchlist as well.

We are ready to start watching some football! Here's our Preseason Watch List of three dozen quarterbacks we have our eyes on. More QBs will be added to our list through our weekly Great 8 honors as we look to crown our 2024 National Quarterback Award winner! #DaveyQBs

READ:… pic.twitter.com/PWeV2zc7dc

— Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award (@daveyobrien) August 8, 2024

The Davey O'Brien Award is annually given to the best quarterback in college football. This is not the first time Howard has been named to the watchlist. He was one of 35 quarterbacks named to the preseason watchlist prior to his final season with the Wildcats.

Howard then went on to lead Kansas State to a 9-4 overall record, while completing 219 passes for 2,643 yards and 24 touchdowns. On the ground, he also carried the ball 81 times for 351 yards and nine touchdowns.

With TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins rotating in the backfield, that should take some immense pressure off of Howard this season. Howard will be tasked to use his experience to just manage the game and distribute the football to numerous talented receivers such as Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate, Jeremiah Smith and Brandon Inniss.

As for when the official announcement for the starting quarterback position will come, that is still unknown. Head coach Ryan Day did say at the start of fall camp that he hoped someone would take complete control in the first week to 10 days. That time window is right about now at the time of this announcement.