Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Tavien St. Clair has Ryan Day's attention this spring. Day believes his effort day in and day out makes him the future of the Buckeyes' room once Julian Sayin moves on to the NFL.
St. Clair has more than just Day's attention, though. The redshirt freshman QB clearly has Cleveland.com's Stephen Means' attention as well after his performance at the 2026 spring game this past Saturday at the "Shoe."
Per Means, "The 2026 Spring Game was a chance for a proper introduction. In it, you saw just how high his ceiling was, whether on deep balls to Chris Henry Jr. or on his legs to keep plays alive. You also saw how far he still had to go to reach that ceiling, which explains why he completed only nine of his 21 passes for 166 yards. But that ceiling is enticing. You look at the arm talent and athleticism packed into a 6-foot-4, 230-pound frame, and it can get your juices flowing. He’s what No. 1 NFL Draft picks look like, and Saturday, the fan base got to join in on his journey to get there."
A future No. 1 pick, huh? That's quite the expectation for St. Clair, who was the No. 3 QB from the 2025 recruiting cycle coming out of Bellefontaine. Maybe it's not unfounded, though.
Tavien St. Clair may have higher ceiling than Julian Sayin
It might not be a stretch to say that St. Clair has a higher ceiling, on paper, than Sayin. St. Clair is more mobile, able to make plays out of the pocket with his legs and while throwing on the run. Sayin's desired improvement in that area is both one of the biggest stories this offseason and the potential key to a national championship run.
Is it possible that Sayin never makes those improvements and never leads the Buckeyes to the promised land? Of course it is. It'll take truly bad play to knock him out of the QB1 spot because he led Ohio State to a 12-0 regular season record last season and was highly efficient (32 touchdowns, eight interceptions) last year, though.
St. Clair could be the next championship QB in Columbus if Sayin isn't, though, assuming the six-foot-four signal-caller makes good on his unbelievable potential. It'll be interesting to see if Day has any considerations to kickstart the St. Clair era this fall if Sayin falters in any way.
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