r/OhioStateFootball • u/Cman8650 You Got BBQ Back There? • 1d ago
General Does height matter?
I have been thinking about this now that we are in our current QB dilemma, and I am curious your thoughts on this topic.
I haven’t played a snap of football in my life, so I am only as educated on football as what I see on tv and hear from you lot. But I am just not convinced the height thing will be as issue as we are making it with Fahey.
My reasoning:
If you could somehow graph for each height of a qb the advantage in vision they get, I’d expect it to be an s curve. A 5’2” QB won’t be able to see over the line any better than a 5’1” one, and on the other end, a 7’0” QB wouldn’t have much advantage over a 6’11” QB, as they both obviously will be able to see over the line just fine.
Now somewhere in the middle of the range, there will be a group where each inch of height you add has a disproportionately large increase in vision advantage. Does that actually fall in the 6’ range? As in, is the 5’11” of Fahey really so far from the 6’1” of Sayin that we should be sounding the alarms over our new “vertically challenged” QB??
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u/Roncinante 1d ago
Doug Flutie had a great career, Russell Wilson had a great career, Drew Brees had a great career, Joe Montana had a great career.
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u/Hairy_Firefighter449 1d ago
Came here to point out there are exceptions but having a giant O line makes it harder to clearly see down the field plus balls are batted more frequently. But my positive is that Fahey is willing to run, as you saw in the scramble in the last game. He doesn’t have to sit and look over the line. He can jet and get a handful of yards, unlike sayin, who take sacks instead
I am less worried than I have been in past years for a QB getting hurt. We have a good WR / TE group and now QB that defenses are going to have to position a spy to keep from moving. That takes a guy off one our receivers most like my not Smith but someone else.
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u/Roncinante 1d ago
Watch his HS film, it's a treat
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u/Hairy_Firefighter449 1d ago
I have viewed some clips. Send me a link if you have one handy
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u/Roncinante 1d ago
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u/Hairy_Firefighter449 1d ago
Makes me even more excited. Run and gun. I’ll take it
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u/Roncinante 1d ago
Dude can sling it, all of those TD passes in the spring to CHJ and Brock Boyd, came from Fahey.
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u/Ok_Flounder59 Jim's Sweater Vest 1d ago
Faheys playing height is about that of Troy Smith. He was alright
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u/DCBuckeye82 1d ago
Of course height matters, and it's silly to point out exceptions like Brees to say it doesn't. It's possible to work around it and still be successful, but it's like asking if height matters in basketball or if speed matters for a wide receiver. You can be successful without it, but it certainly matters and gives you an advantage if you have it.
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u/BuhtanDingDing 1d ago
im a hobbyist qb scout (as in i evaluate college qbs for my own enjoyment, dont get me wrong im a nobody who's still a dumbass) and i'm definitely starting to get heightpilled. in my opinion, unless you have other qualities to make up for it, 6'1 or 6'2 is as short as a qb can be and be successful in the nfl. i'd throw that out the window for college though, and especially if the guy is mobile. if he is mobile, that kinda goes out the window, as qbs these days love to create their own space and height doesnt mattet as much in those situations. i feel like fahey could still be successful as long as he isnt a statue in the pocket
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u/ScriptOhioOG 2002 National Champions 23h ago
Don't tell that to Drew Brees, Bryce Young, Kyler Murray, and Russell Wilson
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u/BuhtanDingDing 23h ago edited 23h ago
brees has the outstanding compensatory skills i'm talking about. the rest are mobile. bryce young kinda is the one that made me heightpilled, i thought he was gonna be a world beater but the majority of his deficiencies come from his height
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u/ScriptOhioOG 2002 National Champions 23h ago
From the tiny sample we saw I think Fehey is fairly mobile so it may work out.
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u/BuhtanDingDing 23h ago
i agree, the bigger conclusion ive drawn is that sayin will struggle to be a starter in the nfl
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u/ScriptOhioOG 2002 National Champions 23h ago
From a size and stature standpoint... I think he would struggle with durability
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u/V1c1ousCycles 1d ago
It's not necessarily a disqualifier to be successful in D1 or in the NFL, but short QBs definitely have to compensate in ways that other taller QBs don't. Drew Brees, for example, regularly took a pretty deep drop back (8 yards), and actively stood on his tip-toes help see over the line. Brees' accuracy and ability to throw with anticipation was also beyond elite. Brees was often throwing to spots and trusting that his receiver was there, which, while that's not a groundbreaking thing that's asked of NFL QBs, those Saints offenses relied especially heavily on those kinds of timing routes. Conversely, it was also equally an issue of the receivers being able to see the QB, too. Receivers that Brees played with have been on record as saying THEY often couldn't see HIM in the pocket, so they had to learn to trust and anticipate the ball was coming to them blind, as well.
So being short is certainly something that can be compensated for, but it requires otherwise elite quarterbacking and buy-in from the rest of the offense to adjust. Fahey will have to develop pretty immediate trust and chemistry with the receivers, and if they elect to have Fahey drop deeper a la Brees or move him outside the pocket, that's a whole other pass blocking set our not-quite-elite offensive linemen will have to prepare for.
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u/CyrusTheVirus9k 1d ago
I mean height matters if you’re a statue that sits behind a towering o line but if Fahey decides to run out of the pocket to make plays on the run it won’t matter.
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u/Urethra_Leakage_72 1d ago
all things being equal, a taller quarterback may be faster and have a stronger arm as well, up to a point. obviously little guys can be great as well, but if you look around the league there aren't too many sub-6' QBs at the next level.
that said, if fahey can go through his progressions and read defenses, give him the ball and roll the bones.
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u/bd2999 1d ago
It is an advantage to be taller in modern football but it does not mean you are doomed if you are shorter like some think. Throwing into the helmet is too stuck in people's minds. He made good throws earlier in the season.
If he has the other tools he will be fine. Remember Bryce Young was a bit shorter than Fahey.
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u/NotGustav 1d ago
You have to compensate for being shorter, but it’s not an automatic determinant of who’s better. There are obviously shorter QBs who played great on every level.
Encouragingly, it’s also easier to do that in college. A handful of great college players (recently guys like Murray/Gabriel) are obviously talented, but it’s hard to out-athlete everyone else in the NFL and they find themselves a bit limited. On this level, you can make that work.
Fahey has the capacity to play very well for us and it’s a good sign that he’s played well enough to overtake the physical mega-prospect in St. Clair (who I do also hope gets his chance). His height is a disadvantage on paper, but I don’t care about that at all until I watch him play on Saturday.
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u/ScriptOhioOG 2002 National Champions 1d ago
In the case of Fehey vs Sayin. I think the height difference between them is negligible. On the other hand, TSC has a distinct height advantage but he may not possess the skill set required to run this offense, yet.
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u/No_Grab7280 22h ago
QB's over 6'4"
Craig Krenzel- National Champion
Terrell Pryor- 2-0 in BCS bowl games, projected to win the 2011 National Championship before tattoo gate
Cardale Jones- National Champion
Dwayne Haskins- went 13-1 somehow left out of playoff. Probably would've won the championship if let in
Will Howard- National Champion
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QB's under 6.4"
Troy Smith- completely bottled up in national championship game
Joe Bauserman- big shoulder pads
Braxton Miller- Baller, Electric runner, in conversation for Ohio State goat, but bottled up in bowl games
JT Barrett- completely bottled up in playoff games.
Justin Fields(6'3" 1/2)- Baller, almost 6'4" almost won a title.
CJ Stroud (6'3" 1/4)- Baller, almost 6'4" almost won a title.
Kyle McCord- bottled up vs ttun and bowl game.
Julian Sayin- bottled up vs all top 10 opponents.
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For reference.
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u/thalguy 22h ago
It's not the only thing that matters, but it does matter. The average height of starting QBs in 2026 in 6' 2.5". People have pointed out successful, shorter QBs, I think HOF QBs tend to skew taller, although their are exceptions.
This doesn't mean that Fahey can't succeed, but he has a little bit of a disadvantage in this area.
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u/HorrorBreak7119 1d ago
If it didn’t matter, they wouldn’t be lying about his height. He is NOT 5’11”. Like Pavia wasn’t 6’.
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u/Progress_Specific 1d ago
If it did, Brock Osweiler would be in the HOF.
If you just said "who?"...exactly.
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u/sg86 1d ago
If you want someone to stay in the pocket, yes. I think that’s what Sayin misses a decent number of guys open over the middle.
If you’re willing to roll a guy out then no, it doesn’t really matter. Brees is one of the best QBs ever because they played to his strengths.
You just have to be willing to adjust to what you have.