Who are the best Ohio State quarterback recruits ever to sign? Here are the OSU rankings
Ohio State football has had quite the run of great quarterbacks in recent years, and the arrival of talent doesn't appear to be stopping any time soon.
The Buckeyes landed five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola on May 9. The Arizona product is one of the top players in the 2024 recruiting class and is the first commit of the class.
Raiola, the son of former Nebraska center Dominic Raiola, is the top player on some recruiting sites in the 2024 class.
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And he won't the be the first top player of a class to commit to Ohio State. In fact, it happened just last year, when quarterback Quinn Ewers arrived at Ohio State as the highest-rated recruit to head to Ohio State since the 247 Sports rankings began in 2000.
Ohio State has twice landed a recruiting class's best quarterback. Here are the top five quarterbacks to sign with Ohio State:
Quinn Ewers and Ohio State football: A match made in NIL heaven
Ewers was the highest-rated player to ever commit to Ohio State, according to 247 Sports' rankings. The 6-foot-3 quarterback from Southlake Carroll High School near Dallas had committed to Texas originally, but decommitted and committed to Ohio State.
Ewers, who was supposed to be apart of the 2022 class, received quite the incentive to graduate high school early when name, image and likeness was instituted in college athletics in the summer of 2021.
He enrolled at Ohio State in August and joined the Buckeyes.
Ewers had NIL deals as soon as he joined Ohio State.
Following a 2021 season in which he was on the travel roster for just a handful of games, Ewers decided he wanted to be a Longhorn, after all. He transferred to Texas, who had a new coach, and he's now in the running to be the starting quarterback in 2022.
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What if NIL was around when Terrelle Pryor was the Ohio State quarterback?
Terrelle Pryor, from Pennsylvania, was the No. 1-ranked quarterback of the 2008 recruiting class and the No. 2-ranked player in the class according to 247Sports. At 6-6 and 233 pounds, Pryor was an athletic marvel. He became the starting quarterback his freshman year, playing in 13 games.
Pryor beat out Todd Boeckman, who had led Ohio State to the national championship game the season before.
Pryor's career at Ohio State ended in scandal. He was caught trading memorabilia for tattoos along with several other players. The scandal ended his college football career and Jim Tressel was eventually fired as coach.
Pryor finished his career with 6,177 yards passing and 57 touchdown passes.
Dylan Raiola would currently be ranked here. But for now, it's Kyle McCord
There's a good chance, since recruiting rankings fluctuate over the years, months, weeks, days, hours and seemingly minutes, that Raiola will either rise or fall in the rankings before his national signing day.
But on May 10, 2022, Raiola would be the third-highest rated quarterback to join Ohio State.
For now, though, Kyle McCord, the backup quarterback to Heisman Trophy finalist and one of the top returning players in the country C.J. Stroud, is No.3.
McCord dismissed rumors that he would transfer this offseason and seems set to play the long game. Like Pryor, McCord is from Pennsylvania, but hails from the east side of the state. The Philadelphia area product was Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his game against Akron, which Stroud missed due to injury.
McCord was the No. 28-ranked player in the 2021 class.
With Terrelle Pryor gone, Braxton Miller saved the day for Ohio State
Braxton Miller arrived at Ohio State in 2011 as the No. 29-ranked player in the 2011 class, the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the nation and the No.1 player in Ohio. The Dayton Wayne star was thrust into the spotlight.
Following the dismissal of Pryor and Tressel, interim coach Luke Fickell named Miller the starting quarterback. Miller played in 12 games and threw for 1,159 yards and rushed for 715 more as a freshman.
Urban Meyer became the coach in 2012 and Miller was the starting quarterback for the undefeated 2012 team and the two-loss 2013 team. Entering his senior year, Miller got hurt in the first game and missed the rest of the national championship winning season.
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Miller moved to receiver as J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones competed for the starting job in 2015 and Miller caught 25 passes and rushed for 261 yards.
He finished his Ohio State career with 5,295 yards passing with 52 touchdowns.
Massillon star Justin Zwick makes the list for Ohio State
Justin Zwick was the No. 5-ranked pro-passer in the 2002 recruiting class. The Massillon Washington High School star (he started his high school career at Orrville, High School where he won a state championship) would back up Craig Krenzel on the national championship team and eventually became the starting quarterback.
It didn't last long. An injury allowed Troy Smith to take over the quarterback job. Smith, the 2006 Heisman Trophy winner, was suspended at the end of the 2004 season and it carried over to the 2005 season. Zwick started the season as the starter, but following a loss to Texas, Zwick was replaced by Smith as the starter.
The top-10 Ohio State football quarterbacks to sign
Quinn Ewers, Class of 2021, Southlake Carroll High School
Terrelle Pryor, Class of 2008, Jeannette High School
Kyle McCord, Class of 2021, St. Joseph's
Braxton Miller, Class of 2011, Dayton Wayne School
Justin Zwick, Class of 2002, Massillon Washington High School
Devin Brown, Class of 2022, Corner Canyon High School
C.J. Stroud, Class of 2020, Rancho Cucamonga High School
Tate Martell, Class of 2017, Bishop Gorman High School
Dwayne Haskins, Class of 2016, The Bullis School
J.T. Barrett, Class of 2013, Wichita Falls Rider High School
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Best Ohio State football quarterback recruits ever to sign
