Julian Sayin bernama QB1 di Ohio State-keputusan yang berakar pada era Win-Now
Michael Cohen
College Football and College Basketball Writer
From the moment former five-star prospect Julian Sayin committed to Ohio State on Jan. 19, 2024, just two days after he entered the transfer portal following the shocking retirement of Alabama head coach Nick Saban, there was a widespread presumption about how the remainder of his career with the Buckeyes would unfold.
Julian Sayin, #10 of the Ohio State Buckeyes, jogs out for fall camp at Woody Hayes Athletic Center. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)
Sayin, who was the highest-rated quarterback in the country coming out of high school, would spend his true freshman season learning and developing behind Will Howard, an experience that wound up providing the youngster a front-row seat to the national championship. From there, Sayin was expected to wrest control of the starting job in 2025 and keep it for however long he remained in Columbus before vaulting to the NFL, handing the keys to Tavien St. Clair — the program’s next blue-chip quarterback — on his way out the door.
For those who subscribed to this succession plan, it didn’t matter that the Buckeyes had previously signed another ballyhooed quarterback from the same recruiting cycle in four-star prospect Air Noland, the No. 56 overall player and No. 4 signal-caller in the country. Nor were they deterred by the existence of Lincoln Kienholz, a developing veteran who had already spent multiple years in Ohio State’s system, learning the ins and outs of playing for head coach Ryan Day. Those were little more than footnotes in a strongly worded thesis that vehemently believed Sayin was next in line — period.
Shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Monday, with fewer than two weeks remaining until third-ranked Ohio State hosts top-ranked Texas in one of the most anticipated season openers in recent memory (Noon ET, Aug. 30 on FOX), Day proved those droves of prognosticators correct when he announced that Sayin, a true sophomore, would be the team’s starting quarterback. The competition between Sayin and Kienholz, a former four-star prospect in his own right, dragged on a touch longer than most people anticipated given the lofty expectations that have surrounded the former for several years, particularly after he was named Most Valuable Player at the Elite 11 Finals two summers ago.
But in the end, when it came time for Day to decide which quarterback should spearhead the Buckeyes’ defense of their national title, he chose the player for whom this opportunity has always felt somewhat preordained. And in doing so, Day perpetuated the most en vogue trend of modern college football wherein the shiny transfer quarterback almost always trumps the in-house options.
“In a perfect world,” Day said at his news conference, “we would love to recruit high school players, develop them in the program for a few years and then watch them grow and build. But there’s no time to play the game, to mess around. I mean, you’ve gotta win now. So the best players play, and that’s how we look at it. We want to make sure we’re recruiting the best players in the country and developing them and retaining them, because that’s how you keep a culture in place. But you win games right now by playing the best players, so that’s the balance that you need to find.”
Quarterback Julian Sayin, #10 of the Ohio State Buckeyes, runs with the ball during the fourth quarter against Purdue. (Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images)
To most observers of Ohio State’s program, it seemed inevitable that Sayin’s pure talent would eventually prevail, especially considering how the career arcs of both quarterbacks had been framed by Day and other members of the coaching staff dating back to the spring of 2024, shortly after Sayin arrived from Alabama. A native of Carlsbad, California, which is less than an hour north of San Diego, Sayin has always been viewed as the prototypical West Coast quarterback, the kind of player with a sweet release and effortless control to complement his flowing mane of surfer-esque locks. He was ranked as a top-15 player in the country regardless of position from March 2022, when he entered the 247Sports Composite rankings at No. 5 overall, all the way through the conclusion of his high school career. And along the way, Sayin threw for 7,824 yards with 85 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions as a three-year starter.
Eventually, he surpassed Florida commit DJ Lagway and Nebraska commit Dylan Raiola to become the No. 1 quarterback in the country before enrolling early at Alabama in January 2024.
The brevity of Sayin’s stint with the Crimson Tide — he entered the portal less than two weeks after classes began — meant that he was essentially just as green as Ohio State’s other high school signees by the time he got to Columbus in late January. And while Sayin (6-foot-1, 203 pounds last year) was noticeably shorter and skinnier than the statuesque Howard, who measured 6-4 and 236 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this year, it didn’t take long for the freshman to impress with his lightning-quick delivery and pinpoint accuracy as a traditional pocket passer. Chip Kelly, who was the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator at the time, lauded Sayin last spring for being a “very fast processor” of all the different looks and wrinkles thrown at him during practice. That description was echoed by new Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia earlier this week when asked about Sayin being named the starter.
“It was really what I saw in decision-making when I’m showing different looks or having different coverages,” Patricia said, “or [when] Kami meluncur melalui praktik tanpa skrip, Anda tahu, di mana hal -hal akan bergerak dengan sedikit kecepatan yang berbeda. Mampu menangani tempo pelanggaran dan hal -hal seperti itu, penyesuaian kerumunan di garis scrimmage, Anda tahu? Kami semacam melemparkan banyak hal yang berbeda pada mereka. Dan saya pikir ketenangannya, kemampuannya untuk melihat pertahanan dan kemudian juga membuat keputusan yang sangat cepat [was a step ahead].
“Lincoln juga seorang atlet yang hebat. Dia melakukan pekerjaan dengan baik melawan kita, jelas. Tapi Julian, kurasa, hanya kemampuannya untuk melihat pertahanan, membuat keputusan dan mengeluarkan bola dengan cepat, aku pikir itu salah satu hal yang kamu inginkan dalam quarterback yang keluar dari sana di panggung besar dalam pertandingan besar di sini.”
Mungkin tanpa sadar, Patricia, yang bergabung dengan Buckeyes pada bulan Februari, telah mengajukan apa yang bisa dibilang penjumlahan yang sempurna tentang bagaimana Day & Co. selalu melihat kompetisi quarterback tahun ini antara Sayin, The Natural, dan Kienholz, sang atlet. Di mana Sayin telah menghabiskan sebagian besar karir asuhan dan sekolah menengahnya yang didedikasikan untuk bermain sepak bola penuh waktu, sebuah kemewahan yang diberikan kepadanya di iklim hangat California Selatan, Kienholz tetap menjadi bintang tiga olahraga yang mengesankan melalui hari-hari terakhirnya di TF Riggs High School di Pierre, South Dakota.
Sebagai quarterback, Kienholz melempar untuk 9.100 yard dan 104 gol dalam tiga tahun untuk menjadi pelintas terkemuka sepanjang masa negara. Sebagai pemain bola basket, ia rata-rata 19,9 poin dan 7,3 rebound per pertandingan selama tahun pertamanya untuk mendapatkan penghargaan tim utama all-state. Beberapa bulan kemudian, pada berlian bisbol, ia mencapai 0,472 dengan enam home run dan pergi 3-0 dengan 1,24 ERA sebagai pelempar yang menonjol. Dia awalnya berkomitmen untuk Washington sebelum membalik ke Ohio State pada 14 Desember 2022.
Keputusan Kienholz untuk menyelesaikan musim senior bola basket dan baseball di South Dakota, daripada mendaftar lebih awal di Negara Bagian Ohio, dengan cepat menjadi salah satu alur cerita yang menentukan yang melekat pada karirnya di perguruan tinggi. Day mengingatkan wartawan berkali -kali bahwa Kienholz, yang sekarang menjadi junior, setengah tahun lebih muda dari beberapa teman sekelasnya dalam hal waktu yang dihabiskan dalam program Buckeyes dan beberapa tahun lebih muda dalam pengembangan posisi daripada quarterback lain yang hanya fokus pada sepakbola. Kienholz, tidak seperti Sayin, hampir selalu digambarkan sebagai atlet yang sangat baik masih mempelajari poin -poin yang lebih baik dari bermain quarterback. Dan ketika rekan satu tim diminta untuk membedakan antara dia dan mengatakan selama beberapa bulan terakhir, hampir semua dari mereka menyebutkan mobilitas Kienholz sebelum berbicara tentang lengannya.
“Lincoln benar -benar telah melakukan beberapa hal hebat,” kata Day. “As you guys know, he's a tremendous athlete. He's only still scratching the surface on what he can be. And so he's going to continue to grow. And I think he knows that. I think when you get around him, you'll feel that. If it was a quarterback who had been around football his entire life and he was kind of tapped out and hit a ceiling, he'd be more frustrated [with the outcome of this year’s quarterback competition]. Saya pikir dia tahu dia masih punya banyak landasan pacu di sini untuk kariernya. Jadi dia tumbuh dan menjadi lebih baik setiap hari. Anda bisa melihatnya. “
Julian Sayin #10 dan Lincoln Kienholz #3 dari Ohio State Buckeyes mempraktikkan latihan selama kamp musim gugur di Woody Hayes Athletic Center. (Foto oleh Jason Mowry/Getty Images)
Mengingat set keterampilan yang kontras antara Sayin dan Kienholz, sangat mungkin Buckeyes dapat menemukan cara untuk memanfaatkan yang terakhir sebagai ancaman berjalan dalam paket-paket tertentu musim gugur ini, seperti yang mereka coba dengan mantan quarterback Devin Brown pada tahun 2024. Hari itu diakui sebanyak mungkin selama musim sepoi-punggung. Ada juga kesenjangan yang jelas antara Kienholz dan St. Clair, mahasiswa baru bintang lima, untuk pekerjaan cadangan.
Tetapi pengurapan Sayin sebagai starter Buckeyes memastikan akan ada lebih sedikit dan lebih sedikit repetisi yang mengalir ke Kienholz dalam beberapa bulan mendatang, pil yang sulit untuk ditelan untuk pemain yang karirnya di perguruan tinggi lebih dari setengah jalan. Tekanan olahraga yang keras untuk menang membuat hidup sebagai quarterback perkembangan lebih sulit daripada sebelumnya.
“Kami jelas ingin seseorang yang dapat mengoper bola dan memiliki akurasi bawaan,” kata Day. “Itu pasti sesuatu yang harus terjadi.”
Michael Cohen Meliputi sepak bola perguruan tinggi dan bola basket kampus untuk Fox Sports. Ikuti dia di @Michael_cohen13.
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