‘Next year’s quarterback class will be better,’ we’ve been told every year. In 2026, that didn’t come to fruition, but in 2027, it should because the biggest reason the 2026 class wasn’t strong at the most important position was the number of draft-eligible QBs who went back to school.
Dante Moore, Arch Manning, and Brendan Sorsby, who all could have been fringe first-round picks if not surefire first-rounders, all returned. Sorsby’s situation is messy, but Moore, Manning, Darian Mensah, Jayden Maiava, and Trinidad Chambliss will all likely be heading for the 2027 draft while a crop of young guys, Notre Dame’s CJ Carr, Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker, and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, will all be eligible for the first time.
We’re far from a consensus on the class, and early in the process, Sayin has emerged as one of the most polarizing names. Some view him as a potential No. 1 overall pick, while others, like Yahoo Sports’s Nate Tice, see a third or fourth-round talent. That may mean another year of Sayin in Columbus, but if Tice’s evaluation is closer to the truth than those who see the glass as half full, it’s bad news for the former five-star’s NFL future.
Julian Sayin is a really good college quarterback. Is he a high-level NFL prospect? pic.twitter.com/RKDleRQXoW
— Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) May 4, 2026
Nate Tice doens’t see Julian Sayin as a high-level NFL prospect
“I understand the appeal of him as a college player,” Tice told Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman on Monday. “But it’s a big jump from how he wants to play to what he would have to do in the NFL. He’s very accurate, I understand that, but that accuracy wanes when he has to push the ball.”
In his first year starting for the Buckeyes, the redshirt freshman QB finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting after completing 77 percent of his passes for 3,610 yards and 32 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. He was hyper-efficient leading a stacked offense, but as Tice pointed out, at just 6-foot-1, 208 pounds, he was impacted by pressure and struggled against the best defenses he faced.
Tice’s concerns about Sayin’s ability to push the ball downfield are a case where the numbers clash with the eye test. From the tape, Tice sees a quarterback with a limited ability to hit tight windows downfield and threaten defenses vertically. The numbers say that Sayin had the highest completion percentage in the country on throws over 20 yards downfield at 62 percent, and the highest yards per attempt at 23.9.
Sayin’s detractors would chalk much of that success up to having Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith on the receiving end of those passes. That’s hard to argue with, but so is Sayin’s efficiency. While he’ll still have Smith on the outside this year, 2026 should paint a clearer picture of who Sayin is as a quarterback and if that type of player, with limited physical tools, can succeed in the NFL.
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