I think Howard is more of a dual threat than McCord. He's a big QB as well 6'5 240. An upgrade I am not sure about though. I believe McCord was told he was going to have to compete again to be the number 1 QB in 2024 rather than Day letting him have the job outright (despite being 11-2 as a starter). That along with the DWFandom of the Buckeyes and what seemed to be a high level of hate and disdain for McCord are probably the two biggest factors that made McCord transfer. Stroud lost 4 games in two seasons a starter, Fields was 20-2 and as a 2 year starter and neither recieved the amount of blame and gried McCord did. The Buckeyes fanbase wants black QBs - plenty of anti-White racism against McCord and the other White QBs could be observed on social media during their bowl game matchup last week. All of this despite McCord doing just as good if not better than the two black quarterbacks that preceded him.
Some more notable White commitments from the portal:
DE Anton Juncaj to Arkansas
https://www.on3.com/db/anton-juncaj-218881/
RB Bryce Duke to Old Dominio - escaped the caste hellhole of Va Tech
https://www.on3.com/db/bryce-duke-15758/
DE Jordan Mayer escapes the rapidly darkening Wisconsin roster and head to PSU
https://www.on3.com/db/jordan-mayer-150260/
LB Stone Blanton leaves cuck beamer's underwhelming, overrated South Carolina program for Miss St
https://www.on3.com/db/stone-blanton-109177/