Neimann Lawrence Intrigued By 'Rich QB History' Of Ohio State

Elite 2028 quarterback Neimann Lawrence was at Ohio State on Tuesday participating in OSU’s final one-day camp of the year.

The day not only allowed Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler, and offensive coordinator Brian Hartline to get another up-close look at Lawrence, but it also allowed Lawrence to get an up-close look at what it would be like to be coached by this trio of Ohio State coaches.

“Today was great,” Lawrence said after the camp. “Just being able to work out with Coach Fessler and then Coach Hartline throughout the day. You can really see how they focus on development.”

The day began with quarterbacks throwing to spots and going through individual drills. Then it moved to “routes on air” with a very talented group of receivers. Finally, the end of the day brought some one-on-ones with the QBs throwing to receivers who were being covered by the defensive back campers.

It was a full day for Lawrence and the rest of the QBs, and it provided something for the talented quarterback from Miami Northwestern High School to take back to Florida with him.

“The mechanical things,” he said. “The things that they were helping me with that I was kind of struggling with today, and then I’ll take that home and adjust and be ready so that it can help me in my future.”

Overall, Lawrence was very good on the day. He only missed a couple of throws, but it was those couple that stuck with him.

“Just a couple throws I wish I could have back,” was his assessment. “You know, my parents always pushed me to be perfect, even though it’s not really human-like, but it’s just always about being at the best I can be.”

Neimann Lawrence had an abundance of great throws, with many of them going to 2028 receiver Eric McFarland. McFarland, who attends IMG Academy, was a standout at OSU’s camp both this year and last year. The pair actually traveled to Ohio State together this week.

“We call ourselves a duo,” Lawrence said. “We were here to show off a little piece of our duo today.”

McFarland already has offers from everywhere, including Ohio State. Yes, they are talking about playing together.

“Oh, yeah, for sure,” Lawrence said. “Right now those conversations are a little early for us, but we’re definitely mapping out the schools that we see ourselves playing together at.”

What is it about Ohio State that allows Lawrence to envision himself in the Scarlet and Gray?

“Just their rich QB history,” he said. “For the past five or six years, they’ve had the best quarterbacks come out of here. Justin Fields, CJ Stroud, Dwayne Haskins. So just the QB development and the quarterbacks they have helped raise to the next level is definitely what stands out for me.”

Neimann Lawrence has paid special attention to CJ Stroud.

“His level of being poised and just very accurate, it’s just very important,” he said. “I take that and try to model that from his game just because I think poise and accuracy are two main factors in being a great quarterback.”

Lawrence showed the accuracy on Tuesday. The poise is more of an 11-on-11 thing. He describes himself as “a young, confident quarterback” who has more experience than most rising sophomores. He has been playing varsity football since the eighth grade, after all.

The game is clearly important to him, which is another reason why Ohio State has been one of the schools that he continues to take very seriously.

“I can tell that there’s reason for that success with those quarterbacks,” he said of his experience at camp. “Just being here for the past two hours, I knew I had to come up here and get to work with these guys. They’re very hard on you, and I can tell that they’ll get everything out of you.”