Five-star recruits have become second-year stars in Columbus. Former five-star recruit in the class of 2024, Julian Sayin, is primed to be the next one for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Julian Sayin Left Alabama for Ohio State
When Sayin committed to play for the Tide in 2023, he envisioned learning from legendary head coach Nick Saban. However, that wasn’t the case.
Just weeks after his commitment, Saban decided to retire; Sayin was at a crossroads.
“I would say we were caught by surprise — I loved Coach Saban. I really wanted to go play for him.”
Sayin, a California native who was the top ranked quarterback in his class needed to make a decision. It was either stick it out in Alabama or use the 30-day transfer portal to find another school
Just nine days later, he was a Buckeye.
“There was definitely a lot of emotions… but I had my family to lean on. They helped me through it, and I was able to make the right decision — Really, I just wanted to be at a school with a great tradition, great quarterback history, and somewhere I could develop”.
Now, after the Buckeye’s just captured their ninth national championship, Sayin is the frontrunner for being Ohio State’s new QB1.
Sayin Could Be the Next Buckeyes Sophmore Sensation
With Will Howard declaring for the NFL Draft, he chimed in on Sayin’s ability as a quarterback; “Julian’s one of the most accurate quarterbacks I’ve been around, and the ball just looks so pretty coming out of his hand.”
That’s high praise for someone who led his team to a national championship, but confirmed by many talent evaluators and coaches around the country.
While Sayin is unproven as a starter, appearing in just four games as a backup for the Buckeyes, history shows that players can step into the quarterback position at Ohio State with little to no experience.
Current Houston Texan, former Heisman Finalist and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, CJ Stroud, was a redshirt freshman at Ohio State. He didn’t attempt a single pass before capturing the starting job in his first healthy season.
Former first-round draft pick and current New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields never started a game before transferring to Ohio State from Georgia. Like Stroud, he was also a Heisman Finalist and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.
Both Terrelle Pryor and Braxton Miller racked up the accolades and found success with the Buckeyes. Pryor led Ohio State to the Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl victory, while Miller captured Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and finished 5th in Heisman voting.
Sayin is primed to follow in the footsteps on these Buckeye greats. Cornerback Denzel Burke chimed in, reflecting on his experience being around Sayin in practice; “Julian’s that guy, to be honest with you.”
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Sayin will face competition from redshirt sophomore Lincoln Kienholz and true freshman Tavien St. Clair, who’s also a five-star recruit. With no Buckeye quarterback having completed a pass at the collegiate level other than Sayin, the stars seem aligned for him to win the job.
As the quarterback prepares for the 2025 season, he reflects on what his coaches have taught him and how they’ve prepared him for the job; “They’ve taught me a lot about understanding defenses and just kind of seeing everything… I think this offseason will be big, I’ll be with Coach Mick in the weight room.”
We’ll have to wait and see the quarterback battle play out, but I’d be surprised if Sayin didn’t win the job… just sayin’.
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