Who is Devin Brown? Meet Ohio State’s backup quarterback for 2023

Ohio State coach Ryan Day named Kyle McCord the starting quarterback for the season opener against Indiana on Sept. 2. 

Day also said backup Devin Brown will play, so the battle to replace by two-time Heisman Trophy finalist C.J. Stroud might spill into the first month of the season. 

After all, Brown missed the Ohio State spring game with a finger injury, and McCord has been the Buckeyes' backup quarterback each of the last two seasons. Brown and McCord have been battling for the starting job throughout fall camp.

Here is more on Brown and what it means for Ohio State's quarterback room in 2023 and beyond. 

Who is Devin Brown? 

Brown was a four-star recruit and an early enrollee in the class of 2022. He started two years at Queen Creek High School (Gilbert, Ariz.) for former Ohio State quarterback Joe Germaine before spending one season with Corner Canyon (Draper, Utah). Brown threw for 8,000 yards and 85 TDs in high school, and he also rushed for 430 yards and eight TDs as a senior. 

That added mobility might have been a difference-maker in the battle with McCord in fall camp. 

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Why does Devin Brown wear No. 33? 

Brown's jersey number is going to stand out right away. He switched from No. 15 to No. 33 this offseason, and it's a homage to NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Sammy Baugh. 

"It just kind of came through my family," Brown said via Cleveland.com. "My dad had always talked about it and so I put it on when I was seven years old and had never taken off until high school."

Extra points for the historical reference? There is no obvious connection other than Brown is a fan of Baugh – who played at TCU from 1934-36 and was ranked No. 10 on SN's list of the 10 greatest college football quarterbacks of all time. Baugh went on to be a two-time NFL champion as a part of a Hall of Fame career. 

Ohio State QB depth chart for 2023

McCord was a four-star recruit who made one start in the 2021 season when Stroud was injured. McCord hit 13 of 18 passes for 319 yards, two TDs and an interception against Akron. McCord took the majority of the first-team reps in the spring game and hit 18 of 34 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown. Despite not winning the starting job, Brown should see reps in Ohio State's first three games against Indiana, Youngstown State and Western Kentucky. 

Tristan Gebbia – a graduate transfer from Oregon State – is the other experienced quarterback on the roster. Four-star freshman quarterback Lincoln Kienholz (T.F. Riggs, Pierre, S.D.) is fighting for that third-string job and signed a NIL deal with Tommy John.

Ohio State does have a commitments from 2024 four-star quarterback Air Noland (Langston Hughes, Fairborn, Ga.) and 2025 four-star quarterback Tavien St. Clair (Bellefontaine, Ohio). 

Ohio State QBs and the Heisman Trophy 

McCord will be expected to perform at a Heisman Trophy-contending level given that Ohio State's last four starting quarterbacks have finished in the top five in the voting for that award at least once. 

J.T. Barrett finished fifth in 2014. Dwayne Haskins finished third in 2018. Justin Fields finished third in 2019 and seventh in 2020. C.J. Stroud finished fourth in 2021 and third in 2022. 

That run mostly coincides with Day, who was hired by Urban Meyer as co-offensive coordinator in 2017 and took over as head coach after the 2018 season. Since 2017, Ohio State's starting quarterback has averaged 3,563 passing yards, 39 TDs and six interceptions – numbers that undoubtedly would be higher if not for the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. 

That's a high bar for a first-time starter – which also is high. 

Haskins, Fields and Stroud combined to average 4,329.7 passing yards, 45 TDs and 5.7 interceptions in their first season as a starter. That is a high bar for Brown to match – but it helps to have All-American receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka and tight end Cade Stover. 

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