Ohio State Buckeyes Quarterback Being Compared to Joe Burrow

Once upon a time, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was a member of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Burrow spent two years in Columbus between 2016 and 2017 before ultimately transferring to LSU, where he went on to win a national championship.

Burrow has since established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, so any time a young signal-caller lands a comparison to the superstar, it's definitely a massive compliment.

Well, a current Ohio State quarterback just received such flattery, but it's not the one you think.

We know that Julian Sayin is the favorite to win the Buckeyes' starting quarterback job, but his edge over Lincoln Kienholz is not as significant as most anticipated. In fact, head coach Ryan Day even said that the two were neck and neck back in the spring.

ESPN's Rece Davis discussed Ohio State's quarterback situation during a recent podcast, and he revealed someone told him that Kienholz reminds them of Burrow.

"I even heard someone say — they weren't comparing level of talent or saying he was going to be this. They were simply talking about the trajectory of the development and compared it to Joe Burrow," Davis said. "... They said that growth pattern was on a similar trajectory in terms of needing to develop."

Davis was sure to specify that no one said Kienholz was as good as Burrow but that the way he is being handled by the Buckeyes may be eerily similar.

Kienholz is entering his junior season at Columbus and has thrown a grand total of 22 passes, all of which came in 2023.

Ohio State's fall camp begins Thursday, so we will see if Kienholz has a real chance of beating out Sayin for the starting job before the Buckeyes face Texas on Aug. 30.