In his first season as OSU’s starting QB, Julian Sayin showed enough power to finish the 2025 campaign as a Heisman finalist. The redshirt freshman even led the Buckeyes to an undefeated regular season, ending the four-loss streak of ‘The Game.’ Despite that, he was unable to lead his team to postseason victories, something his predecessor, Will Howard, did not have problems with.

“My only other knock was that he [Julian Sayin] was not Will Howard in the short-running game, where they could just run the quarterback on fourth and short and get a first down and pick it up. He struggled on the quarterback sneak,” said Joel Klatt, Fox Sports analyst. “It hurt them in general offensively because they weren’t great in short yardage, whether it was trying to pick up a first down and/or goal-to-go situations. I don’t know if that’s necessarily going to improve.”

There’s no doubt about Sayin’s capability, and Klatt put him at No. 3 in his Top-10 QB list for the 2026 season. But his struggle against Indiana in the Big 10 title game and then against the Hurricanes in the CFP quarterfinal last season can’t be ignored. Both games that OSU lost. His 6’1″ and 208 lb frame wasn’t enough to score in a crucial moment at 4th-and-1 or 3rd-and-1, which former OSU QB Will Howard did effectively during his time in Columbus.

In the 2024 Championship game against Notre Dame, Howard showed off his rushing game to success, as he recorded 56 yards on 16 attempts. Prior to that, in the first round of the playoffs, he rushed for 37 yards against Tennessee.

Sayin lacks a similar level of understanding in the rushing game, as he recorded 42 rushing attempts for -44 yards in 2025. This is one problem that Ryan Day has focused on in the offseason. Signs of improvement have already started, as Sayin had a rushing touchdown in the OSU Spring game. Ryan Day also made his side clear on what he thought about the rushing game for a QB.

“That’s the X-factor,” Day said in an interview with the Bucknuts. “And it’s something he knows that some of the games he did this year, and I think going into this season, there’s going to be opportunities for him to do that, and that can be at a big point of the game. And so, I think there’s two ways to do that. One is when it breaks down, escaping the pocket, keeping your eyes downfield, or then escaping and getting a few yards. In the rivalry game (against Michigan), he had a big scramble down the sideline for a first down. That was huge.

“So, yeah, the more of that, the better. And then there’s also the run game, where, whether it’s a design run or he’s reading somebody in the box, equating numbers (and deciding whether to keep it). So, the more we can do that, the better. Again, is that going to be the first thing we do with him? No, but he needs to be able to do that. All of our quarterbacks do.”

In the game against the Hoosiers, Sayin was sacked five times, rushing for -29 yards. Even against Miami, he faced the same issues.

He needs to learn the QB sneak; otherwise, like last season, the Buckeyes’ national title dream could end in 2026 too. Here’s where Klatt brings the light of hope, stating, “I have heard and seen that Julian has done a lot of work in the weight room, and he’s a little bit bigger. So, if he can just be proficient in the sneak game, in particular in short yardage, that will help the entirety of the offense, and certainly, it’ll be good for him.”

In addition, the redshirt sophomore QB gets a stable offensive line this season. The Buckeyes have WRs like Jeremiah Smith and Chris Henry Jr., and for the running game, they have Bo Jackson. But if Julian Sayin doesn’t use his leg and falls short during a high-pressure situation, that would cost Ryan Day’s squad big.

Day has confidence in his QB1, as he knows Sayin’s dedication to his growth. Even Klatt praised OSU for this QB a year ago.

Joel Klatt had previously also praised Julian Sayin

In 2025, during OSU’s season-opener against the Longhorns, Julian Sayin made history. He led the Buckeyes as a QB1 to a 14-7 victory against No. 1 Texas. Since 1984, that was the first time a QB in his debut start won a matchup over a top-ranked team. Watching the QBs play, Joel Klatt didn’t hold back from making a bold prediction.

“Quarterback Julian Sayin looked incredible. For all the talk about them not trusting him, or not being aggressive down the field in the passing game in Week 1, how about the aggressiveness in Week 2? He looked great. If he’s playing like that the rest of the year, Ohio State might go back-to-back. So they’re my No. 1 team in the country,” said Klatt in September 2025.

In that season, Julian Sayin led his team in the regular season. However, his late-season struggle raises questions about his ability to lead Ryan Day’s OSU to a 2026 title run. Yet, the head coach is tension-free and shows his confidence in the QB, saying, “We feel like we have the best quarterback coming back in college football next year,” during his February 2026 appearance on The Ryan Day Show.