It was a foregone conclusion that Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud would enter the 2023 NFL draft after last season. From the start of the season all the way through his massive performance against Georgia in the College Football Playoff and until the last day he could declare for the draft, it was assumed he was off to the next step in his football career.
However, a funny thing happened on the way to opening that door. Stroud did not immediately make his decision known. Underclassmen had until Jan. 16 to declare for the NFL draft. As each day passed and the deadline drew closer, rumors started circulating that Ohio State’s No. 2 all-time leader in passing yards might actually return to the banks of the Olentangy for another ride. He finally announced his intentions to enter the draft on the last day he could.
If you thought that was all smoke and a way of simply dragging things out for drama’s sake, apparently, think again. According to head coach Ryan Day, Stroud really wrestled with the decision. When asked whether he had hope that No. 7 would run through that tunnel again, Day, too, was holding his breath.
“I mean, I was hoping, yeah. I was hoping,” Day said when speaking to the media in an offseason update after national signing day.
If you know anything about Stroud at this point as an Ohio State fan, there’s no denying how grounded and unassuming he is. He’s mature beyond his years and really cared about his teammates and the competition of the Buckeyee brotherhood. He’s the last person that would take as long as he could to make a decision just because of theater or grandstanding. Apparently, there was a real chance that we could have seen him in the scarlet and gray for another year.
“I won’t speak for C.J. but I know that there was a lot of back and forth for him,” Day continued. “And I know that there was — he loves his teammates — and he loves Ohio State, and he took a long time to try to balance it out, to figure out the positives and the negatives and all those types of things. … But, again, you’ll have to ask him, but I’m sure making that decision wasn’t easy. He took about as much time as he could and was really thoughtful in the process, and I thought he was very thorough.”
In the end, Stroud made the decision everyone thought he would, but it’s clear it wasn’t as easy as hitting Marvin Harrison Jr. on an out route.
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