C.J. Stroud is not going to be a Georgia Bulldog. 

The first big potential UGA surprise of early signing day went to Ohio State in a big way. The Buckeyes picked up the commitment of the nation’s highest-rated undecided QB and pulled him away from Georgia to do so.

When he chose the Buckeyes, he did so and quickly unraveled a huge banner of him on his official visit to Ohio State. He spelled out the O-H-I-O script on that banner. 

“Ohio State was definitely the best choice for me I felt,” Stroud said on the live ESPNU broadcast.  

Stroud had 15 universal predictions to choose Ohio State from on the popular 247Sports “Crystal Ball” feature. 

But Stroud chose the opportunity to follow a lineage that now includes NFL rookie Dwayne Haskins and Heisman Trophy finalist Justin Fields.

The 6-foot-2.5, 195-pounder was a three-star recruit earlier this year. 

Then came the climb. Stroud rose to a 4-star recruit, won the Elite 11 MVP honor this year at the Opening finals and climbed all the way to his status as a top 100 recruit. 

The 247Sports Composite standard currently rates him as the nation’s No. 2 pro-style QB and the No. 83 overall prospect for the 2020 cycle. He is now the second 4-star QB signee in the class in Columbus. 

The Ranco Cucamonga senior (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) completed 265 of his 402 passes for 3,878 yards in 13 games this season. He completed 66 of his passes while compiling a 47:9 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 2019. Those senior season stats are available on Maxpreps.com.

He’s not a burner. The 4-star prospect clocked a 4.85 in the 40-yard dash during his testing at the Opening finals back in July, but he can make some plays with his legs. He shows good escapability on film plus the ability to throw well on the move and extend plays.

That led to 130 rushing yards and four scores on the ground as a senior.