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.

“If there was one knock, there were really just two things that I felt like held Julian back a year ago,” said Klatt on his show, The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast, during his June 22 appearance. “The first one is that I feel like, even though you’re watching some long passes here on YouTube, he was at times a little bit hesitant to let it rip down the field. There were multiple times when I’d be watching film in preparation for Ohio State games, and I would pause the film and be like, “The throw is there. He’s got to take that shot. He’s got to take that.” In particular, with the accuracy that he has.”

Howard played his final collegiate season for the Buckeyes. And the ex-OSU QB, who led Ohio State to its 2024 national title victory, finished his season with 226 rushing yards and 7 TDs on the ground. His 6’4″ and 236 lb frame at that time helped the QB to make short-yardage plays. In contrast, Sayin showed a huge lack in this area during his game against the Hoosiers. As a result, he 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.