The Ohio State Buckeyes have traversed “Mount CFB” and are sat atop the zenith. Yet, an impending roster turnover means there’s no time for the program to rest on its laurels and revel in its achievement. The focus has already pivoted towards defending their proverbial throne. The 1-year stopgap solution under center worked wonders with Will Howard. However, a new dawn is imminent, and with it comes a new face. Peep over the horizon and Julian Sayin is standing there, waiting to ascend through the depth chart. 

Julian Sayin is not at all in an envious position. Sure, he’s the frontrunner for being the new Ohio State QB1. That’s where the positives end, though. Sayin is tasked with taking the reins over a National Champion right off the bat. He’s going from 0 starts right into the deep end. That is if he even wins the job over Tavien St. Clair. However, this transition from a bonafide vet in Howard to the inexperienced Sayin may not be as challenging as you’d expect. Footage of him airing the pigskin has quickly spread with virality across the social media sphere. The initial assessment is that Ryan Day’s got himself one. In fact, Julian Sayin already has a media-manufactured nemesis before ever starting a game.

Over on X, “NFL Rookie Watch” posted a montage of Julian Sayin zipping it around. The account relayed a very positive outlook on the player to its 162k followers. They even shared some intel via those inside the building. “Julian Sayin is able to SLING IT like no other QB in college football. Multiple NFL scouts reportedly believe Sayin ‘has the talent’ to be a Top-5 pick in the NFL Draft one day.” they said. Sayin was a 5-star recruit coming out of high school and the no.1 player in his class. So this discernment of his potential is not hyperbolic. The post proceeded to say, “Multiple people within the Ohio State building reportedly believe Sayin ‘has the potential’ to be the greatest Buckeye QB of all-time.” Now that’s some really lofty praise. Of the recent lot, Justin Fields probably has the biggest case for that elusive moniker.

The caption also read, “Many of Sayin’s past and current teammates believe he has the ‘quickest release’ they’ve ever seen. Luckily, Sayin will begin his career with Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate as his WR1 and WR2.” This will definitely help smoothen the transition between Howard and Sayin, however NFL-bound leader of the receiving corp. Emeka Egbuka will be missed. In summation, the post said, “Ohio State has themselves a STUD at QB.” The timing of this post is particularly intriguing. It comes mere days after Jake Crain of  “Crain & Company” claimed Julian Sayin will leave Texas’ Arch Manning in the dust when it’s all said and done.

“[Manning] is going to be a good player for Texas. He’s gonna be in Steve Sarkisian’s offense but Julian Sayin, I think, could actually be the generational young player in this group of young guys across the country,” said Crain on his YouTube channel. Arch Manning has already got his feet wet on the collegiate level and definitely has a head start right now. But he’s also only now becoming the starter, so the comparisons are fair. With so much fervor and reverence already, some will say Julian Sayin is being set up to fail with these expectations. Others will say it comes with the territory of being a quarterback for a blueblood, let alone the champions. Fans of all persuasions chimed in with their thoughts on Sayin in the comments/quotes of the aforementioned X post. Some were impressed, some not quite.

CFB sphere is split on Julian Sayin’s highlight package and overall talent

Generally, opinions on Julian Sayin diverged people into 3 categories, with some crossover. Specimen 1 was people who fully bought into the hype. “Idk if the jump throw provides any advantage but the arm talent actually is hella nice,” wrote one person who’s clearly seen signs in the montage. A similar sentiment was also shared by another, saying, “This would explain why all the QBs left OSU.” One Alabama fan wrote, “I really wish he would’ve stayed at Bama. He’s going to be good.“ Julian Sayin was an early enrollee at Bama but left under the cloud of Nick Saban’s own departure.

Not everybody was as impressed, though. Specimen 2 – the skeptics. “…he has a bad throwing motion…lot of those he is side arming it. That’s BAD,” wrote one person. Unconventional throwing mechanics are not always a bad thing, though. As long as it’s effective, which was relayed in “Arm looks strong than Will [Howard], hopefully the accuracy is close to Will.” Another skeptic said, “A lot of people can sling a ball without pads and defenders.” Sayin’s tendency to jump was a prominent feature of the discourse, with one fan writing, “Jumps on every throw? This said a majority of people were proponents of showing patience.

Specimen 3 – Those treading with caution.

“I’m a huge Buckeye fan, but kool your jets. Sayin needs to win the job and show it on the field. Hope you are right, but very premature.” wrote one fan, summing up the consensus notion. Sayin has been in the system one more year than true freshman St. Clair. Hence, he’s more likely than not to get the nod from Ryan Day. An off-season deserving of rest beckons for most people in Columbus. But for Julian Sayin, the work is only just beginning.