“Why you lyin?” Burrow shouted with a smile on his face.
The Ohio State Buckeyes quarterbacks enjoyed themselves in the first week of practice — if you can have fun in 90-degree weather with humidity making Columbus feel like the Amazon rain forest. The redshirt junior Barrett and redshirt freshman Burrow are taking snaps without the tension that existed last season when Barrett and Cardale Jones dueled for the starting job all the way to the day of the season opener at Virginia Tech.
Everyone knows Barrett will start. Burrow expects to be the No. 2 quarterback. True freshman Dwayne Haskins (6-3, 220) also is competing to back up Barrett.
The backup quarterback has turned out to be a very important person on the roster the last three seasons. Kenny Guiton replaced an injured Braxton Miller in 2013 and led the Buckeyes to three wins. In 2014, Barrett replaced Miller, when he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in August. Then Jones replaced Barrett, who broke his ankle in the regular-season finale against Michigan, and led the Buckeyes to three victories and the national championship.
Last season, Jones won the starting job at the beginning of the season only to lose it to Barrett.
“We all just know we have to be ready,” Burrow said. “It’s a backup’s job to be ready, and if I’m not ready, then I’m not doing my job.”
“It’s definitely important,” Barrett said. “When it comes to backup positions, you’ve got to make sure you know who the backup quarterback is just in case. It could be anything. Something could happen to me seriously, or my helmet comes off or my shoelace is undone. I think they’re both doing well. Dwayne is trying to soak it all in.”
Burrow is the No. 2 quarterback now, quarterbacks coach Tim Beck said. Haskins’ chances of moving up the depth chart improved when redshirt sophomore Stephen Collier tore his ACL in spring practices.
“Obviously we lost Stephen, so that’s one of the things in terms of experience where Joe has the upper hand,” Beck said. “He’s really improved. He’s got great toughness. He’s really smart and understands our offense really, really well. He’s gotten bigger and stronger as you would expect for most freshmen going into their redshirt freshman or sophomore season. All of those things kind of come through, and he works extremely hard.”
Burrow came to Ohio State from nearby Athens. Scout.com ranked him the 13th-best quarterback in the country in the class of 2015.
Despite being named Ohio’s Mr. Football in 2014, Burrow has been an underdog of sorts on Ohio State’s roster because of the talented quarterbacks around him. Haskins ranked 63rd in the country among all recruits in 2016 and fourth among quarterbacks, according to ESPN.
“From the start in high school recruiting, I was under the radar,” Burrow said. “I was from Athens, Ohio. Where is that? That’s kind of how I’ve played my entire career. I’ve played with a chip on my shoulder about where I’m from, how I was recruited. I wasn’t highly recruited, but I ended up here. And I’ve kind of always just played that way.”
If Burrow plays, he’ll be different than Barrett, who can win games with his feet and his arm. Barrett has thrown for 45 touchdowns and rushed for 22 in his career.
“I can’t be a run-first guy,” Burrow said. “I can break one for 15 or 20, but I won’t break one for 40 or 50. I can be effective, but I can’t break a big one.”
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