After being named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, C.J. Stroud has continued the Ohio State tradition that Garrett Wilson started the previous season.

Wilson and Chris Olave advanced the conversation about the wide receiver renaissance taking place in Columbus when they received the award in 2022, when Wilson was a member of the Jets. Next year, Jaxon Smith-Njigba followed, and this spring, Marvin Harrison Jr. is expected to be ready. However, Stroud emphasizes a point that Ryan Day arrived at the Buckeyes in 2017 to make.

Day wants OSU to be the quarterback recruiting destination of choice. In order to accomplish this, he would first need to improve the players play on the roster. He first produced the best J.T. Barrett anyone has ever seen, then the next year he made Dwayne Haskins a record-breaking one-and-done Heisman Trophy finalist. A Buckeye quarterback hadn’t been selected in the first round since the Colts selected Art Schlichter fourth in 1982, until Haskins, who went to Washington, was the 15th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Then, after a career that concluded with a defeat to Alabama in the national championship game, Justin Fields made it two in a row when the Bears selected him eleventh in 2021.

In the NFL, Ohio State quarterbacks aren’t seen as success stories. The majority would tell you to stay away from them, as they never work out. They may have stunted their development because they played with such talent in college that they never learned to adapt to a world where they weren’t as good as everyone else.

By having a record-breaking rookie season with the Texans, who selected him higher than any previous Buckeye at No. 2, Stroud put an end to that storyline. Some wonder if it was a wise decision for the Panthers to pass on him in the first place because of how well he played.

In addition to finishing 9-6 as a starter and even winning a game against the Browns in the playoffs, he threw for 4,108 yards, including a league-best 273.9 yards per game, 23 touchdowns, and just five interceptions while completing 63.9% of his throws. In the divisional round, the Ravens would defeat him.