Things must have been extra heavy for Julian Sayin. First, he was handed the QB1 baton for Ohio State, the defending champions. Secondly, Sayin fills the shoes of his predecessor, Will Howard. As Sayin said in an interview in March, “He (Howard) was someone who everyone kind of could relate to, and (Howard was) liked by everyone… everyone would have good things to say about him. So I think that’s something that … I’m trying to take that approach.” While we have yet to figure out where Sayin reached Howard’s level athletically, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback held the torch to help Sayin easily overcome the dark path.

Like Howard, Sayin was not lucky enough to have the safe shelter of Ohio State offensive coordinator guru, Chip Kelly. In February 2024, the Buckeyes hired a former UCLA head coach for the role, shelling out $2.1 million per season. And the Kelly and Howard team paid off as Day’s former quarterback crushed Oregon in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal with his 326-yard effort. All this happened after listening to Kelly’s advice. But now that Kelly has moved out of Day’s squad, the former quarterback has been kind enough to pass it down to Sayin. 

Howard was invited on the September 17th episode of the Not Just Football with Cam Heyward podcast. That’s when he was asked about his golden advice for Sayin. The Steelers quarterback said, “I have a bunch of conversations with Julian, too, just one-on-one. Really, what I told him is, ‘Don’t be the hero, man. You don’t have to be the hero. Take care of the football and let the game come to you.’ That was the biggest thing that Chip Kelly told me last year when I was really going through that whole process of kind of becoming the Buckeyes QB.”

The moral is that Sayin does not have to be Superman for Day and the Buckeyes. Back when Howard brought more agony than entertainment for the top-seeded Ducks (13-1) over the next two quarters, putting up 269 yards, Kelly had dropped some sage advice, which is now passed down to Sayin. The former quarterback recalled, “He said, ‘Let the game come to you.’ Don’t make anything happen. Just let it happen. I’ve learned over the last year that I don’t have to be Superman and I don’t have to do anything special.”

Sayin has stepped in for champ Howard and hasn’t flinched. Replacing a national title QB isn’t easy. But Sayin has made it look like a routine- 77.2 QBR and 79% accuracy through three games. Maybe these pearls of wisdom help Sayin find his light as he gets hit with a brutal Howard reality. 

Julian Sayin hits a slump in the Heisman race

On3’s J.D. PicKell came up with a wake-up call, “They’re going to ask more of Julian Sayin at Ohio State than they asked of Will Howard last year because you lose Quinshon Judkins, you lose TreVeyon Henderson, you lose Emeka Egbuka from that offense, and I think you’re going to throw it more than you did last year with Will Howard.” Already, the situation has been scary enough for Day’s quarterback.

On one hand, there was the pressure to live up to Howard’s expectations. On the other hand, Ohio State lost three key offensive weapons, so the proven playmakers went missing. Since the run game and reliable receivers are weaker, the team would likely lean on Sayin’s arm more heavily than Howard’s last year. The ex-QB’s words took the weight off Sayin’s shoulders and poured enough fuel into his tank to keep grinding.

We have seen how Julian Saying caught up with the Heisman buzz. But there, too, he has been pushed far, so much so that there are nine quarterbacks before him. The ones ahead of him, as per Mike Rodak’s analysis, are Carson Beck at +825 odds, John Mateer at +850 odds, Dante Moore at +1100 yards, Garrett Nussmeier at +1200 odds, Gunner Stockton at +1300 odds, Behren Morton at +1600 odds, Ty Simpson at +1600 odds, Devon Dampier at +1600 odds, and Tommy Castellanos at +1600 odds. Howard’s message might be the wind at Sayin’s back for the long journey ahead.