COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State’s had a pretty impressive run when it comes to how its future quarterbacks have performed at the Elite 11 competition, and its 2024 commit has a chance to be next.
Four-star quarterback Air Noland is among the 20 people invited to spend a few days in Los Angeles competing in the nation’s most prestigious high school quarterback competition. He isn’t the first future Buckeye to do it and he won’t be the last. But given who he’ll be going up against, his performance may end up being the most important when put into the context of his story. Especially when discussing those who’ve gone on to play for Ryan Day.
Recommended Buckeyes stories
- Is Ohio State gearing up to land a 5-star running back from California? Buckeyes Recruiting
- Ohio State football’s ‘surprise’ defensive line breakthrough four years in the making
- What Jaylen McClain’s commitment means to Ohio State football: Buckeyes Recruiting
Justin Fields spent the 2017 offseason leading up to his senior year turning himself into a five-star recruit. By the time he arrived at the competition, it was clear he was the only person who could challenge Trevor Lawrence for the top spot in the 2018 recruiting class. He would eventually beat Lawrence out for MVP honors. It sparked a rivalry that would follow them to OSU and Clemson — even if Fields had to make a pit stop at Georgia — where the two split College Football Playoff wins.
Now both are starters in the NFL.
C.J. Stroud backdoored his way into the 2019 competition even as a late-blooming 2020 prospect. He’d spent most of his life watching Bryce Young and DJ Uiagalelei get all the attention while he stood in the shadows, but that summer in Dallas was his time to shine. He, too, took home MVP honor thus beginning his descent up the rankings, peaking as the third-best quarterback and 42nd-best player while getting on OSU’s radar.
He was a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist before being the second pick in the NFL Draft in April.
Kyle McCord was up next in 2020 as a 2021 five-star, though he didn’t have nearly as much to prove and his time there was just a normal part of his journey. He made the final 11 but didn’t win MVP honors.
Then came Quinn Ewers and Devin Brown the following year as 2022 recruits. Ewers showed up being tasked with living up to a perfect rating he didn’t necessarily ask for, while Brown was trying to prove he belonged. Both ended up making the final 11 while neither won MVP. But Brown accomplished his goal, turning himself into a top 100 recruit who’d eventually flip from USC to Ohio State. Meanwhile, Ewers’ journey brought him to Columbus a year early for a career that lasted six months before he bolted home for Texas.
Now Ewers comes into his second year as the Longhorns’ starter while Brown is battling McCord to succeed Stroud.
No one represented Ohio State in the 2023 class — either directly or indirectly as was the case with Fields and Brown — which brings us to Noland as the No. 59 player and No. 6 quarterback in the 2024 class. The player who came before him were either trying to prove something or make a name for themselves. Noland will arrive looking to do both while adding a third variable the others didn’t have to deal with.
Noland wasn’t the Buckeyes’ first choice. He knows that even if he doesn’t care about it. He probably wasn’t even their second choice when you rehash the timeline of how he ended up in the class in the first place.
Jadyn Davis was the first person to wear the “Potential Ohio State 2024 QB commit” name tag when he came to Columbus twice during the summer of 2021 then again for the Oregon game that fall. But the two sides never turned that momentum into anything more, and now he’s Michigan’s future as the next five-star quarterback to take part in the rivalry.
Dylan Raiola did turn his momentum into something as the guy who was supposed to be the centerpiece of the class while establishing himself as the nation’s best player. Then somewhere along the way, things went sideways and now he’s headed to two-time reigning national champion Georgia.
Those two will also be in Los Angeles for the competition, which brings us to that third task that puts more pressure on Noland to perform. Whether he likes it or not, what Noland does over the next few days will be compared to what those two do.
Davis and Raiola will spend the next three-to-four years representing what could’ve been. It’s Noland’s job to make sure that it doesn’t matter. In the midst of doing so, he might just convince the world that he deserves to be viewed as a five-star talent as well.
“I don’t understand why my guy’s not a five-star guy,” Noland’s high school coach Daniel Williams told cleveland.com. “You can’t tell me that Air hasn’t shown enough in his growth.”
To see Ohio State’s full 2024 recruiting class, click here.
If you or a loved one has questions and needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call the Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-589-9966 or the National Council on Program Gambling Helpline (NCPG) at 1-800-522-4700 or visit 1800gambler.net for more information. 21+ and present in Ohio. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.