Ohio State’s starting QB is experiencing the Trent Dilfer treatment after the Ravens won the Super Bowl. Dilfer was cast aside as being the beneficiary of Hall of Fame talent on other positions in the roster. Ryan Day’s excellent team building and talent development at Columbus has come back to bite his signal caller.

Julian Sayin’s big numbers have not stopped the debate around him, with critics saying Ohio State’s weapons make life too easy for the young quarterback. Former Heisman winner Cam Newton, however, believes it is totally unfair to punish a quarterback just because he was “dealt” an incredible hand and knows how to play with it.

Newton put Sayin at No. 5 on his top-five quarterback list and said great receivers can make any passer look polished. His point was simple: a quarterback should be judged on how he makes use of the surrounding support.

“You can’t get mad at Julian because he got dealt Ace of Spades, King of Spades, Queen of Spades, Jack of Spades, Father Spade, Three of Spades, and two a Spades, and Ace high,” Newton said on his 4th and 1st podcast.

He also pointed to Matt Leinart, who played on a USC team loaded with stars like Reggie Bush, LenDale White, Dwayne Jarrett, and Mike Williams, which made him look unstoppable in college. Even though his NFL career didn’t pan out the way it was supposed to, it’s not his fault that he played with some of the best receivers of his time and made the best out of his college career.

The lesson was the same. Big names around a quarterback do not cancel out the work he still has to do. That is why some preseason lists have Sayin outside the top three, even after a strong 2025 season. The Athletic snubbed him from their preseason list. On3’s Aaron Murray had him all the way at the 8th spot. Some anonymous Big Ten scouts even labeled him a glorified game manager who gets carried by his wideouts.

The former All-American LB David Pollack has put Arch Manning ahead of him on his board, which absolutely infuriated Buckeye fans since Sayin and Ohio State literally beat Manning and Texas 14-7 the previous season, and Manning wasn’t even the best QB in the SEC last season.

Critics still point to the playoff film. When the pocket broke down, Sayin looked hurried and uncomfortable, and that has become the cleanest argument against him.

He struggled significantly in the final two games of the 2025 postseason, suffering 10 combined sacks and tossing three costly interceptions across consecutive losses to Indiana and Miami. After navigating an undefeated 12–0 regular season with supreme pocket composure, the redshirt freshman quarterback was consistently rattled by the intense defensive pressure brought by Cignetti and Cristobal.

Due to the mounting sack yardage, Sayin finished the Indiana game with a net total of minus-29 rushing yards. Against Miami, he threw a disastrous 72-yard interception returned for a touchdown by Miami’s Keionte Scott. Under duress, his completion percentage dipped to 62.9%, well below his average.

This is where the numbers tell another side of the story. Last season, he led the Buckeyes to an impressive 12-2 record while putting up 3,610 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, and only giving up eight interceptions. 4 of them aren’t even his fault.

Of all his records, the most impressive one was his 77.0% completion percentage. Not to mention, he averaged 9.1 yards per pass attempt. If anything, it proves that he wasn’t just throwing safe little screen passes to his playmakers. Pro Football Focus even gave him a 92.9 overall grade, making him the highest-rated returning quarterback in the country, even if his negative-two rushing yards show he isn’t much of a running threat.

Meanwhile, that old Ohio State pressure is back again. With Carnell Tate gone and Jeremiah Smith now the main proven target, Sayin has to answer the same hard question Buckeye quarterbacks always face: whether he can carry the load when the stage gets bigger.

The good news is that he has worked on his running game and showed it in the Spring game. Sayin is heading into the new season with a massive chip on his shoulder and plenty of motivation to silence the doubters who think he is just a product of his environment.

Now that Carnell has already headed to the NFL, Sayin has only Jeremiah Smith as his proven S-tier pass-catcher. If he can execute at that same historic level and handle the pressure unlike the last postseason, there’s no doubt he wouldn’t go in the first three overall in 2027’s NFL Draft, yes, if he opts for it.