Ohio State Buckeyes football head coach Ryan Day sees in Julian Sayin what he once saw in Justin Fields, C.J. Stroud, Kyle McCord, and Will Howard before handing over the reins to his offense in Columbus.
Obviously. Sayin is Day's next-man-up under center.
But the Buckeyes' starting quarterback position is a hard one to win. One of the hardest, in fact. Day routinely gets multiple QBs that could start for a mid-tier Big Ten program and become stars at the Group of Five/FCS levels.
Cleveland.com's Stephen Means was able to explain the intangibles that set Sayin apart from the competition, just as his predecessors under Day -- who are all in the NFL right now in varying roles -- did before him.
"Justin Fields was the obvious choice in 2019, yet Day didn’t interrupt this process to cater to that feeling. C.J. Stroud was at least the favorite in 2021, yet the same process played out. Same goes for Kyle McCord in 2023 and Will Howard last summer," Means wrote.
"Four quarterbacks, one process.
"Most of that process revolves around performance on the football field:
"Can you lead touchdown drives?
"Do you take care of the ball?
"Are you making the right reads?
"That stuff matters the most, but there is another element that’s less about what Day thinks of his quarterbacks and more about what everyone else thinks. He needs to see how you command a huddle and rally a team around you. That’s an answer that needs third-party input; hence, having a direct timeline for naming one is never concrete."
Sayin sees that. He pointed out that quality as something he admired in Howard during their one shared season, their 2024/2025 CFP-winning campaign, in the same QB room.
“I think Will [Howard] was such a great leader to learn from,” Sayin said, per Eleven Warriors. “He was someone who was able to get the entire team around him — get the entire building to rally around him.”
Day and Sayin being on the same page is dangerous for the B1G and college football at large.
That Sayin understands his purpose makes the Buckeyes a live threat to repeat. As does their New York Yankees-esque payroll.