COLUMBUS, Ohio — At the NFL scouting combine last month in Indianapolis, Ohio State’s draft hopefuls talked about Julian Sayin as the likely choice to be the team’s next starting quarterback.
“Julian’s that guy, to be honest with you,” cornerback Denzel Burke told reporters.
“Now it’s his time,” added quarterback Will Howard, the man Sayin and two others will try to replace for the defending national champions.
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But Sayin isn’t viewing the starting job as his quite yet. The redshirt freshman is focused on spring practice, which kicked off Monday, and operating in a quarterbacks room that has been reduced by Howard’s exit and the transfers of Devin Brown (Cal) and Air Noland (South Carolina). Junior Lincoln Kienholz and freshman Tavien St. Clair, a midyear enrollee, were the other two quarterbacks practicing Wednesday.
“You have to block out the noise,” said Sayin, who transferred to Ohio State from Alabama after Nick Saban retired in January 2024. “I’m just focusing on spring practice and just getting better.”
Quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler said Ohio State is “a long way away” from even discussing the closeness of the competition. Fessler, promoted to quarterbacks coach after serving as an offensive analyst last season, is evaluating how the three quarterbacks handle more practice reps, plus areas such as consistency and toughness.
He’s confident any of the three can handle being Ohio State’s starting quarterback and the magnitude of the job, even though none has the experience Howard brought in when he transferred from Kansas State.
“A lot of that was done in the recruitment process,” Fessler said. “I’m confident all three of them could be the guy. Those guys already check that box. So now it’s just a matter of who goes out and wins the job. And again, we are so far away from that point.”
Sayin, ESPN’s No. 9 recruit in the 2024 class, has been praised for a lightning-quick release. He appeared in four games last season, completing 5 of 12 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown.
“We continue to work to build that arm strength, to strengthen his core, to work rotationally, because he is such a rotational thrower, to be able to maximize his movements, both between his lower half and his upper half, so you can get that ball out with velocity and be successful,” Fessler said. “So he definitely has a quick release, but there’s so much more to playing the position.”
Sayin added about 10 pounds during the offseason and checks in at 203 for spring practice. He’s working to master on-field skills and the intangible elements, where Howard thrived, saying, “There’s a lot that comes to being a quarterback here besides what you do on the field.”
Kienholz, a three-star recruit, saw the field in 2023, mostly in a Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri, where he completed 6 of 17 pass attempts. He also added weight in the winter, going from around 185 pounds to 207.
“The past few years, I’ve had older guys in front of me and just getting to learn from them on how to be a leader and how to take control,” he said. “Now I’m the oldest guy in the room, so I feel that now, and I kind of feel more confident.”
Buckeyes coach Ryan Day has challenged the quarterbacks to be the hardest workers on the team and to sustain that ethic.
“I know every single one of them saw that quote by Coach Day, which is pretty awesome,” Fessler said. “It’s so real. It’s who we have to be — the toughest guys in the building, and the hardest-working guys in the building.”
