There are advantages to having a seasoned quarterback in a Ryan Day offense. Well, and an Arthur Smith offense, too.
Thus far in his Ohio State tenure, Day has had three men under center who entered a campaign with a full season of starting experience or more: Justin Fields in 2020, C.J. Stroud in 2022 and Will Howard in 2024. The return for each of those situations? An increased ability to make checks at the line of scrimmage and have an extra coach-like set of eyes at field level.
As Julian Sayin enters his second season as the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback in 2026, his role in the offense and getting Ohio State in the correct looks at the line of scrimmage is increasing – and he’s working to improve his mobility, too.
“I think we've done a lot (of) giving the quarterback a lot of responsibility at the line of scrimmage within our new kind of – what we've been running these past few days,” Sayin said. “I think there's that, and then it also comes with just having more leadership out there and really taking command of the offense and, ‘Hey, this is the route that I want you at and this is the depth and this is the timing, because I'm the one out there throwing it to you and this is how it's going to go.’”
Sayin had a searing redshirt freshman campaign through Ohio State’s 12-game regular season. He posted the third-best completion percentage in a single season in NCAA history in 2025, connecting on 77% of his passes for 3,610 yards with 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Sayin led the Buckeyes to a 12-0 regular-season record and earned an invite to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist. But Sayin’s play in the Buckeyes’ postseason games did not quite meet the same standard.
A significant portion of the problem came from the offensive line, as Ohio State allowed a combined 10 sacks against Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game and in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals against Miami. But for a quarterback who displayed elite pocket presence and bailed himself out of pressure the entire season to that point, Sayin didn’t always evade the rush and get the ball out as well as he could.
Sayin also threw three combined interceptions in those two games, though the Hurricanes’ critical first-half pick-six can hardly be blamed on him. It was a bubble screen, a play where his job is to turn and fire immediately. Miami defensive back Keionte Scott made an excellent read, Jeremiah Smith whiffed on his block and the rest is history. Sayin went a combined 43-of-64 (67.2%) for 545 yards and two touchdowns with the three picks against Indiana and Miami.
“For me, I'm not really focused on what good plays I made (last season),” Sayin said. “I'm focused on the few plays that I wish I would have made that would have given us a chance to win those games. So, you definitely think about that. But I'm chasing to be the best version of myself. So, how can I improve in those areas?”
There were also opportunities both in those games and throughout the season for Sayin to take off and scramble, as he finished the season with minus-44 rushing yards, which only moves up to 66 yards on 26 carries (2.5 yards per attempt) when removing the 16 sacks he took. He came up short on a couple of crucial quarterback sneaks, including a 4th-and-1 at the Indiana 5-yard line with 1:38 left in the third quarter.
“His strength, as we all know, is that the ball comes out accurately in throwing the football. But making an impact with his legs when appropriate, we know that that's the X-factor that has to show up this year.” Day said of where Sayin can improve this offseason. “And he's aware of that, and been working hard in the offseason.”
Sayin said he’s packed on five to 10 pounds to improve the power in his legs, as well as working to add more burst to his athletic profile.
“I've done a lot of stuff with Coach Mick (Marotti) this offseason, getting stronger, getting more powerful and being able to run through tackles and things like that,” Sayin said. “That's definitely been a focus of our offseason. So, I'm looking forward to improving that this spring.”
As for gaining a feel of when to take off and run, it comes down to experience and pocket presence.
“You just have to feel the rush and feel when the pocket's breaking down,” Sayin said. “It definitely comes with experience from being in the fire, being in games. But you just have to feel that pocket because you have to be looking at the defense and seeing your guys down the field. So I think it's just having a good feel for the pocket and your pocket presence.”
Turning the focus back to Sayin’s goals in taking more command at the line of scrimmage, working with an NFL veteran in offensive coordinator Arthur Smith will undoubtedly yield benefits. Sayin and Smith have already held a line of meetings together, breaking down his strengths, where he can grow from last year and catching up on any new verbiage that comes with Smith’s play calls. Sayin was “really excited” when he learned of the hire.
It seems that there’s an equal level of excitement from Smith to work with the California-raised quarterback.
“The one thing that Arthur, the minute he spent some time with Julian, he just (said), ‘Boy, he's really intelligent,’” Day said. “He can process a lot of high levels of information. And I think we've shared that before. It's one of the things that jumps out about Jules to me. And so there's certain areas that now he's got to take the next step. Like we say, level up.”
That’s the message from Day to Sayin this offseason – level up. Then his legs and brain can add a new dimension to Ohio State’s offense that will, hopefully, bear better postseason fruits this fall.
“Anybody within the program, they have to level up in terms of their football IQ,” Day said. “And the more information you have, the slower the game goes. And so that's a big thing for him in finding the right things that we can do to help get us into the right play and all the things that come with that.”
