From the moment former five-star prospect Julian Sayin committed to Ohio State on Jan. 19, 2024, just two days after he entered the transfer portal following the shocking retirement of Alabama head coach Nick Saban, there was a widespread presumption about how the remainder of his career with the Buckeyes would unfold.
Julian Sayin, #10 of the Ohio State Buckeyes, jogs out for fall camp at Woody Hayes Athletic Center. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)
Sayin, who was the highest-rated quarterback in the country coming out of high school, would spend his true freshman season learning and developing behind Will Howard, an experience that wound up providing the youngster a front-row seat to the national championship. From there, Sayin was expected to wrest control of the starting job in 2025 and keep it for however long he remained in Columbus before vaulting to the NFL, handing the keys to Tavien St. Clair — the program’s next blue-chip quarterback — on his way out the door.
For those who subscribed to this succession plan, it didn’t matter that the Buckeyes had previously signed another ballyhooed quarterback from the same recruiting cycle in four-star prospect Air Noland, the No. 56 overall player and No. 4 signal-caller in the country. Nor were they deterred by the existence of Lincoln Kienholz, a developing veteran who had already spent multiple years in Ohio State’s system, learning the ins and outs of playing for head coach Ryan Day. Those were little more than footnotes in a strongly worded thesis that vehemently believed Sayin was next in line — period.
Shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Monday, with fewer than two weeks remaining until third-ranked Ohio State hosts top-ranked Texas in one of the most anticipated season openers in recent memory (Noon ET, Aug. 30 on FOX), Day proved those droves of prognosticators correct when he announced that Sayin, a true sophomore, would be the team’s starting quarterback. The competition between Sayin and Kienholz, a former four-star prospect in his own right, dragged on a touch longer than most people anticipated given the lofty expectations that have surrounded the former for several years, particularly after he was named Most Valuable Player at the Elite 11 Finals two summers ago.
But in the end, when it came time for Day to decide which quarterback should spearhead the Buckeyes’ defense of their national title, he chose the player for whom this opportunity has always felt somewhat preordained. And in doing so, Day perpetuated the most en vogue trend of modern college football wherein the shiny transfer quarterback almost always trumps the in-house options.
“In a perfect world,” Day said at his news conference, “we would love to recruit high school players, develop them in the program for a few years and then watch them grow and build. But there’s no time to play the game, to mess around. I mean, you’ve gotta win now. So the best players play, and that’s how we look at it. We want to make sure we’re recruiting the best players in the country and developing them and retaining them, because that’s how you keep a culture in place. But you win games right now by playing the best players, so that’s the balance that you need to find.”
Quarterback Julian Sayin, #10 of the Ohio State Buckeyes, runs with the ball during the fourth quarter against Purdue. (Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images)
To most observers of Ohio State’s program, it seemed inevitable that Sayin’s pure talent would eventually prevail, especially considering how the career arcs of both quarterbacks had been framed by Day and other members of the coaching staff dating back to the spring of 2024, shortly after Sayin arrived from Alabama. A native of Carlsbad, California, which is less than an hour north of San Diego, Sayin has always been viewed as the prototypical West Coast quarterback, the kind of player with a sweet release and effortless control to complement his flowing mane of surfer-esque locks. He was ranked as a top-15 player in the country regardless of position from March 2022, when he entered the 247Sports Composite rankings at No. 5 overall, all the way through the conclusion of his high school career. And along the way, Sayin threw for 7,824 yards with 85 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions as a three-year starter.
Eventually, he surpassed Florida commit DJ Lagway and Nebraska commit Dylan Raiola to become the No. 1 quarterback in the country before enrolling early at Alabama in January 2024.
The brevity of Sayin’s stint with the Crimson Tide — he entered the portal less than two weeks after classes began — meant that he was essentially just as green as Ohio State’s other high school signees by the time he got to Columbus in late January. And while Sayin (6-foot-1, 203 pounds last year) was noticeably shorter and skinnier than the statuesque Howard, who measured 6-4 and 236 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this year, it didn’t take long for the freshman to impress with his lightning-quick delivery and pinpoint accuracy as a traditional pocket passer. Chip Kelly, who was the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator at the time, lauded Sayin last spring for being a “very fast processor” of all the different looks and wrinkles thrown at him during practice. That description was echoed by new Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia earlier this week when asked about Sayin being named the starter.
“It was really what I saw in decision-making when I’m showing different looks or having different coverages,” Patricia said, “or [when] we’re rolling by practices with out scripts, you understand, the place issues are going to be shifting at slightly little bit of a distinct tempo. With the ability to deal with the tempo of the offense and issues like that, the huddle changes on the line of scrimmage, you understand? We sort of threw a bunch of various issues at them. And I feel his poise, his means to sort of see the protection after which additionally make actually fast selections [was a step ahead].
“Lincoln is a good athlete, too. He did an awesome job in opposition to us, clearly. However Julian, I feel, simply his means to sort of see the protection, decide and get the ball out fast, I feel that’s one of many stuff you need in a quarterback that’s going on the market on a giant stage in a giant recreation right here.”
Maybe unknowingly, Patricia, who joined the Buckeyes in February, had put forth what’s arguably the right summation of how Day & Co. have at all times considered this 12 months’s quarterback competitors between Sayin, the pure, and Kienholz, the athlete. The place Sayin had spent a lot of his upbringing and highschool profession devoted to enjoying soccer full-time, a luxurious afforded to him in Southern California’s heat local weather, Kienholz remained a powerful three-sport star by his ultimate days at T.F. Riggs Excessive Faculty in Pierre, South Dakota.
As a quarterback, Kienholz threw for 9,100 yards and 104 touchdowns in three years to turn into the state’s all-time main passer. As a basketball participant, he averaged 19.9 factors and seven.3 rebounds per recreation throughout his junior 12 months to earn first-team all-state honors. A couple of months later, on the baseball diamond, he hit .472 with six residence runs and went 3-0 with a 1.24 ERA as a standout pitcher. He was initially dedicated to Washington earlier than flipping to Ohio State on Dec. 14, 2022.
Kienholz’s choice to finish his senior seasons of basketball and baseball in South Dakota, fairly than enrolling early at Ohio State, shortly grew to become one of many defining storylines hooked up to his collegiate profession. Day reminded reporters again and again that Kienholz, now a junior, was half a 12 months youthful than a few of his classmates by way of time spent within the Buckeyes’ program and a number of other years youthful in positional improvement than different quarterbacks who’d targeted solely on soccer. Kienholz, not like Sayin, was virtually at all times described as a superb athlete nonetheless studying the finer factors of enjoying quarterback. And when teammates have been requested to distinguish between him and Sayin over the previous few months, virtually all of them talked about Kienholz’s mobility earlier than ever speaking about his arm.
“Lincoln actually has accomplished some nice issues,” Day mentioned. “As you guys know, he’s an incredible athlete. He’s solely nonetheless scratching the floor on what he could be. And so he’s going to proceed to develop. And I feel he is aware of that. I feel whenever you get round him, you’ll really feel that. If it was a quarterback who had been round soccer his complete life and he was sort of tapped out and hit a ceiling, he’d be extra pissed off [with the outcome of this year’s quarterback competition]. I feel he is aware of he’s nonetheless acquired lots of runway right here for his profession. So he’s rising and getting higher day-after-day. You possibly can see it.”
Julian Sayin #10 and Lincoln Kienholz #3 of the Ohio State Buckeyes follow a drill throughout fall camp at Woody Hayes Athletic Middle. (Picture by Jason Mowry/Getty Photographs)
Given the contrasting talent units between Sayin and Kienholz, it’s fairly potential the Buckeyes can discover methods to make the most of the latter as a working menace in sure packages this fall, very like they tried with former quarterback Devin Brown in 2024. Day acknowledged as a lot throughout his information convention earlier this week when explaining that Ohio State wants each of its quarterbacks wholesome to navigate the ever-lengthening school soccer season. There’s additionally a transparent hole between Kienholz and St. Clair, the five-star freshman, for the backup job.
However Sayin’s anointment because the Buckeyes’ starter ensures there might be fewer and fewer reps trickling right down to Kienholz within the coming months, a troublesome capsule to swallow for a participant whose collegiate profession is greater than midway accomplished. The game’s unyielding stress to win makes life as a developmental quarterback more durable than it is ever been earlier than.
“We clearly need somebody who can go the ball and has innate accuracy,” Day mentioned. “That’s actually one thing that has to occur.”
Michael Cohen covers school soccer and school basketball for FOX Sports activities. Comply with him at @Michael_Cohen13.
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