First-year Ohio State Buckeyes offensive coordinator Arthur Smith needs a mobile quarterback to unlock his RPO-based, personnel-heavy playbook. Could Julian Sayin be that guy in 2026, after being dinged for -44 yards last season?
Land-Grant Holy Land's Alex Frank not only worries about the offensive line needing some personnel shifting, with Ian Moore potentially starting at right tackle if the position isn't sorted ahead of him, Austin Siereveld is probably at his best playing either guard spot, but may need to start at left tackle again, but also about Sayin making an adequate leap with his legs."
"Julian Sayin hasn’t shown, yet, that he’s a quarterback who can extend plays with his legs and make plays outside the pocket. Maybe he’ll add that to his game this season. Sayin is a terrific pocket passer, and that’s great. But as we saw in the Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff, the pocket collapsed so many times, and Sayin looked unsure of himself. I’m still concerned about that going into this season," Frank wrote.
Julian Sayin bullish on his ability to take off from the pocket
Sayin spoke in March about improving at making things happen in broken plays and knowing when to run the ball after going through his reads. Sayin was confident that he would be able to become a more versatile signal-caller.
“That's definitely been a focus of our offseason,” Sayin said. “I’m looking forward to improving that this spring.
“I’m very comfortable with having that clock in my head ... knowing when this ball needs to get out, or nothing's there, you got to take off. I’m still improving, but I’m very comfortable in that aspect of having that internal clock.”
While Sayin was brilliant airing it out, and should be even better in that regard with a deeper receiving corps to work with, it may not be enough if he is still somewhere between a statue and a QB who gets rattled when pressure reaches the backfield.
Sayin's improvement at all facets of being a QB will determine team success in the short-term, and NFL interest in the big picture.