He's college football's fourth-ranked QB, but can Julian Sayin truly elevate Ohio State to championship contention? Doubts linger about his game-changing ability.
Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin had big shoes to fill last season after Will Howard led the program to a College Football Playoff national championship in 2024.
The sophomore from Carlsbad, California, threw for 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He helped lead the Buckeyes to the Big Ten championship and an appearance in the CFP.
Ohio State's only two losses last season came to Indiana and Miami, the two teams who played in the national championship.
If Sayin can elevate his game as a second-year starter, OSU could get back to the CFP national championship in 2026.
Ari Wasserman of On3 ranked Sayin as the No. 4 quarterback in college football before the 2026 season. He's one spot ahead of Indiana's new quarterback, Josh Hoover, who transferred from TCU.
Sayin was ranked as the No. 2 Big Ten quarterback, as Wasserman ranked Oregon's Dante Moore as No. 2 quarterback in the sport.
During a recent episode of Andy & Ari On3, Wasserman praised Sayin for his accuracy but suggested his wide receivers had to do the bulk of the work last season.
"The one thing I would neg him on – and maybe I’m being overly nit-picky here… all the spectacular plays that Ohio State made this year, I felt like, were more because the receiver was awesome than it was because of who was delivering it," Wasserman said.
“I don’t know if I felt like Julian Sayin was the quarterback that was putting Ohio State on his back and moving and willing that team down the field. I thought that the people that were around him were more of the driving force or the inertia that Ohio State possessed, than it was him."
Wasserman is skeptical that Sayin can win Ohio State a game at this point. If that's the case, it's curious why he ranked Sayin at No. 4 this year.
One would think he'd have to be a game changer to be that high in the discussion for the best quarterback in college football.
Sayin will have a chance to show how special he is early in the season. Ohio State will travel to play Texas on Sept. 12. He'll likely have to outplay quarterback Arch Manning to win the game.