Ohio State insider reveals chances Buckeyes pursue SEC star QB in transfer portal
The surprise announcement that Carson Beck is opting to transfer away from Georgia instead of returning or enter the 2025 NFL Draft. Immediately, three teams were linked to Beck from On3's Pete Nakos: Miami (FL), Texas Tech, and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Miami is not a surprise, given Beck dates Hurricanes star basketball player Hannah […]
The surprise announcement that Carson Beck is opting to transfer away from Georgia instead of returning or enter the 2025 NFL Draft. Immediately, three teams were linked to Beck from On3's Pete Nakos: Miami (FL), Texas Tech, and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Miami is not a surprise, given Beck dates Hurricanes star basketball player Hannah Cavinder and they have the money to replace Cameron Ward with a veteran like Beck. But Ohio State is a surprise, and one Ohio State insider was quick to address it.
"Can say fairly comfortably that there is zero chance Ohio State pursues Carson Beck, fwiw," wrote Jeremy Birmingham of THE Podcast and Rivals. Birmingham is one of the top recruiting insiders on the Buckeyes beat.
Ohio State does indeed need a veteran presence or two as they're losing Devin Brown, Will Howard, and Air Noland. Lincoln Kienholz appears ready to compete, but admitted he could leave in the spring if he doesn't win the starting job. That leaves Julian Sayin and freshman Tavien St. Clair.
The Buckeyes will bring in a few bodies if that's how it all shakes out. But Beck is too qualified to be Sayin's backup, and bringing in an injured Beck only muddies what could happen. Should Beck win the job, Sayin would be a transfer risk as St. Clair would be a viable contender for the 2026 opening.
With Beck dealing with a blown elbow that could force Tommy John surgery (we don't even know all of the details on the severity of the injury yet), the Buckeyes should have little to no interest in spending big on a transfer quarterback who has a long list of flaws and limitations. Taking Howard made sense because he merely needed to be a good game manager and had shown those capabilities at Kansas State.
Beck is better than Howard at his best, but next year's Buckeyes will be a young team that would benefit more from growing a foundation with a multi-year starter, and not keep playing the one-year stopgap game.
Texas Tech was a random inclusion that seems impossible because that's a mediocre program, so it's illogical Beck would leave the starting Georgia job for the Red Raiders.
