"There are some things that were a little bit inconsistent": CFB analyst weighs in on Julian Sayin's role as QB1 for Ohio State 

Julian Sayin is in contention for the Ohio State starting quarterback job for the 2025 college football season. The redshirt freshman is competing with redshirt sophomore Lincoln Kienholz to replace Will Howard, who led the Buckeyes to the national championship last season.

In his appearance on the “Crain and Company Podcast” on Thursday, On3’s J.D. Pickell weighed in on Sayin’s performance in Ohio State's spring game. The analyst was impressed with the quarterback's outing but cited what was a bit of concern.

“To me, I go back to the spring game, and we all got to see that on national television,” Pickell said. "And when the lights were on, national TV was there. Julian Sayin, to me, was dealing. There were some things that were a little bit inconsistent, first time starting at quarterback.”

(Timestamp: 6:22)

Pickell went on to praise Sayin's decision to transfer to Ohio State from Alabama. The quarterback had enrolled early in Tuscaloosa in January 2024. However, after Nick Saban announced his retirement, he joined the waves of players who transferred out of the program.

“I am so impressed by the fact that he decided to go to Ohio State after Saban retired. Because I think for him, a guy from the West Coast, it would have been easy to transfer back to USC or Oregon or somewhere closer to home,” he added.

J.D. Pickell discloses Julian Sayin reached out to Ohio State after Nick Saban's retirement

Speaking further on the same podcast, Pickell made it known that it was Julian Sayin who reached out to Ohio State for transfer opportunities after Nick Saban retired.

“The way that it was described to me is he called Ohio State, ‘Hey, y'all got room for me?'" Pickell said. "And so to be a lot of bit confident in yourself to say, ‘I want to go where I get developed, go where the best are and go somewhere that's not close to home. I got to go somewhere else across the country.’

“That told me a lot about the way he's wired upstairs. And that, paired with the spring game I saw, I'm like, ‘Okay, I'm in on Julian Sayin, as in as you can be without seeing him start a game,'" he added.

(Timestamp: 6:54)

Sayin's transfer to Ohio State would see the Buckeyes’ class of 2024 five-star quarterback, Air Noland, transfer away from the program this offseason.