Ohio State got everything it could have hoped for out of Will Howard in 2024.
After transferring in from Kansas State to limited acclaim, Howard broke the Buckeyes’ single-season completion percentage record (73%), threw for 4,010 yards and 35 touchdowns and ran for seven scores while guiding OSU to a national championship.
With Howard off to the NFL after his five-year collegiate career and his backup Devin Brown transferring to Cal, what remains in the Ohio State quarterback room is a trio of unproven but talented players attempting to thrive in Ryan Day’s complex passing attack.
Redshirt freshman Julian Sayin is considered the favorite to be the Buckeyes’ next man behind center, but he’ll get all the competition that redshirt sophomore Lincoln Kienholz and incoming freshman Tavien St. Clair can muster. They’ll be working with a new offensive coordinator, Brian Hartline, and a new quarterback coach, Billy Fessler.
“We're going to let those guys compete, and we're going to let those guys go have equal opportunities,” Fessler said. “We are really far away from the start of fall camp and getting into the season. So more than anything, I'm just excited to watch them compete. I'm excited to watch them grow.”
In Line to Start: Julian Sayin
The risk of Day bringing Sayin in from Alabama last offseason was that he could lose the top-60 prospect he already signed at quarterback from the recruiting class of 2024, Air Noland, to the transfer portal. One year later and Noland is off to South Carolina while Sayin, the composite No. 1 quarterback in their class, is the favorite to quarterback Ohio State’s offense in 2025.
Sayin’s release and the most pinpoint of his throws impressed in practices open to the media last spring and summer, but a disappointing outing in the spring game and a 5-for-12 mark in limited opportunities to throw the ball during the season haven’t flashed as much in front of fans.
So consistency will need to improve for Sayin as he aims to lock down the starting job this spring and summer. Added weight would be a plus, too, as he braces for the punishment quarterbacks can take under center. He was just 180 pounds when he arrived at Ohio State last year, though he was listed at 203 during the season.
Spring Position Previews
“I saw him continue to grow throughout the year,” Fessler said. “I saw him learn from Will, and to get to a point this year where now he can step up and be more of a vocal leader. And that's something that I've seen growth from him as well. He's put on some weight, and he looks good, and he's definitely attacked his time in the winter. And so that's been awesome.”
Sayin will have the help of the nation’s best receiving corps with Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss in line to start out wide. Max Klare will be a dynamic weapon at tight end. If Sayin delivers on his recruiting pedigree, Ohio State’s passing offense could be the best in college football in 2025.
Competing to Start: Lincoln Keinholz, Tavien St. Clair
Kienholz is a natural-born competitor and isn’t going to let Sayin win the job easily, especially with an extra year of experience to his credit. This is a player who was named USA TODAY’s High School Boys Athlete of the Year in his senior year of high school as a three-sport superstar at T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre, South Dakota.
His quarterbacking numbers were ridiculous as he tossed for 3,422 yards and 46 touchdowns with just six interceptions and rushed for an eye-popping 1,436 yards and another 24 scores as a senior. That’s 70 total touchdowns. He set the South Dakota state record for career passing yards.
But Kienholz was also a three-time All-State selection in both basketball and baseball. As a junior on the diamond, he hit .472 with six home runs and had an ERA of 1.24 on the pitching mound. Sayin may have passed him on the depth chart last year, but the bandana-wearing ball-slinger isn’t backing down from this season’s challenge.
“There's no question that Lincoln's a special athlete,” Fessler said. “Guys that have that background that have been successful in multiple different sports, one way or another, it’s going to translate to the game of football. So I think that we’re continuing to see that from Lincoln. I think the more that he is in position to understand and learn the game in which we saw all last year, he continued to grow. And so to take that into spring and combine that with his athletic ability, I'm excited to see. I think it'll be a really good competition.”
Then there’s St. Clair, who arrives on campus as a midyear enrollee. An Ohio State commit since June of 2023, he shot up the recruiting rankings throughout his final two years of high school to go from a three-star prospect to the No. 7 player in the composite rankings. A lifelong Buckeye fan from the Buckeye State, he’s gotten a head start on learning the offense by spending lots of time at Ohio State over the past two years, but there’s still an acclimation process he will need to go through as a freshman.
“His days are pretty jam-packed, and it's definitely new for him,” Fessler said. “But his commitment to wanting to be great and wanting to be to the level where he can go out and compete in the spring has been really impressive.”
St. Clair’s 6-foot-4 frame and whip of an arm make him an exciting prospect, but it might be hard to catch up to Sayin and Kienholz in year one. Still, it isn’t completely off the table.
