Ohio State coach Ryan Day inched closer to declaring a front-runner in the Buckeyes' quarterback battle while praising the progress of Will Howard.

"I will say that he has taken command of the huddle at the line of scrimmage," Day said of the grad transfer from Kansas State. "I think he's much more confident out there."

However, he then added: "No decisions have been made."

Day said Howard and Devin Brown have separated themselves from the three freshmen, and the team plans to scrimmage on Saturday.

"By then, we'll take an evaluation and see where we're at," Day said. "Both guys are getting reps with the 1s. But I will say that Will really has taken some strides in the last couple of practices, making plays on third down again. He hasn't won the job, but we have seen positive play there."

As he did Sunday, Howard took the first reps with the starters in 11-on-11 drills in Thursday's practice, which was conducted in front of a Big Ten Network crew, parents and reporters.

Ohio State has five scholarship quarterbacks. Howard has been considered the front-runner due to his experience, but he had a bit of a shaky spring. He weighed 249 pounds in January and struggled early on while he was adjusting to a new environment.

Devin Brown, who's in his third year in OSU's system, had a strong spring practice. Day and new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said before camp that there was no front-runner, and Kelly repeated that on Tuesday.

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Howard has reshaped his body, losing about 15 pounds. He refined his passing technique and said he now is comfortable in the offense.

“I’ve tweaked some things in my mechanics,” Howard said this week. “I’m getting a deeper level of coaching than I ever have. I have a deeper understanding of the offense and what the defense is doing.”

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Day agreed.

"This preseason you've noticed a total command of the offense," he said. "He's put some work in this summer, not only on his body − I think it was 2% body fat that he changed − but also understanding the offense."

True freshman Julian Sayin, a transfer from Alabama, showed much promise in spring practice but has had some growing pains in training camp. Redshirt freshman Lincoln Kienholz and true freshman Air Noland are not considered contenders to win the job.

Howard said on Tuesday that he was not fretting about where he stood in the competition.

“That’s not my decision,” Howard said. “I’m just going to be myself and keep fighting to be the best version of myself every single day and make the most out of my reps and show this team I’m going to give it my all. That’s all I can do.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OSU coach Ryan Day inches closer to naming a front-runner at QB