Julian Sayin is surprising Ryan Day and the Ohio State football team

It's expected that Will Howard will start at quarterback for the Ohio State football team this year. He came in from the transfer portal after playing four years at Kansas State. He chose Ohio State because he wanted a shot to win a national championship.

Howard didn't come to Ohio State to ride the bench in his final year of eligibility. Yet if Julian Sayin has anything to say about it, that's exactly what he'll do. The true freshman who transferred in from Alabama after Nick Saban retired has been impressing Ryan Day.

Sayin just shed his black stripe and is looking to play a year earlier than expected. Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Ryan Day said that Saayin is competing hard. He said that he is not willing to name a starter yet because of some of the impressive quarterback play.

Of course, this is always what Day was going to say. What else is he going to say? He's trying to foster competition and wants to get the best out of his guys in every practice. He's not going to say that no matter what Sayin does, he's got no chance to beat out Howard, even if that might be the case.

I tend to think that Howard is going to start. But if you take Day at his word, things are closer than we all expected. Sayin is a very talented player who has a bright future ahead of him. That future might be a little sooner than expected. He certainly has the talent to push Howard.

Knowing that this could be Day's last year of coaching the Ohio State football team if things don't go well, I don't think that he is going to give the keys to the team to a true freshman. My guess is that he trusts Howard to lead the Buckeyes' offense.

That being said, it's incredibly encouraging to see Sayin playing so well so soon into his collegiate career.