Ohio State is one of the top colleges with former players in the NFL — the Buckeyes currently have 48 players on active rosters. They sit behind only Alabama and Georgia and have two starting quarterbacks in the league currently.
Ohio State Quarterbacks in the NFL
Both Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields and Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud spent their college years at Ohio State and are the starting quarterbacks on their respective teams.
Combined, Fields and Stroud had three College Football Playoff appearances and four top-10 Heisman Trophy finishes at Ohio State from 2019-2022.
The Buckeyes have not produced many QBs who have had much success at the professional level, but Fields and Stroud will continue to try and change that.
Fields was a five-star recruit who spent his first college season as a backup at Georgia. In his two years at Ohio State in 2019 and 2020, he completed 68.4 percent of his pass attempts for 5,373 yards, 63 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He also rushed for 817 yards and 15 TDs, leading the Buckeyes to the College Football Playoff in both seasons.
He finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2019 and seventh in 2020 and posted a 20-2 record in his two seasons with the team.
The Bears selected Fields with the No. 11 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. He is currently 7-26 in his NFL career.
This season, Fields has completed 61.7 percent of his pass attempts for 1,201 yards, 11 touchdowns, and six interceptions. The Bears are currently 2-7 and sit at the bottom of the NFC North standings.
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Stroud was the starter for two seasons at Ohio State. He finished with 8,123 passing yards, 85 TDs, and 12 interceptions, finishing fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2021 and third in 2022.
Houston took Stroud with the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. So far, he has impressed with the Texans, as he’s completed 62 percent of his passes for 2,270 yards, 14 touchdowns, and just one interception.
The former Buckeye has led Houston to a 4-4 record, as they sit in second place in the AFC South rankings behind the 6-2 Jacksonville Jaguars. Last season, the team only had three total wins. While playoff hopes may be a long shot, Stroud has been phenomenal in his NFL debut.
His best performance came in Sunday’s matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he completed 71.4 percent of his passes for 470 yards, five touchdowns, and no picks en route to a 39-37 win and an NFL rookie record (most passing yards in a game).
Should he continue to play at the level he is now, Stroud may be able to end the narrative that Ohio State has never produced a successful NFL quarterback.
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