What adding five-star quarterback Julian Sayin means for Ohio State recruiting

By Andrew Gillis,
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State’s addition of five-star Julian Sayin appears to do little, at least in the short-term, for the outlook of the 2024 quarterback depth chart.
The Buckeyes have fifth-year Will Howard as the presumptive starter, Lincoln Kienholz and Devin Brown as veterans already onboard and fellow five-star Air Noland joining Sayin in Columbus.
Even accounting for at least one transfer on the depth chart, something would have to go supremely right, or perhaps supremely wrong, for Sayin or Noland to see major playing time so early into their careers next season.
Beyond the 2024 season, though, and things get interesting with quarterback recruiting.
Howard, who joined the team from Kansas State as a transfer, has just one year of eligibility left. He will depart college football no matter what after his season is over. That much is certain. What’s uncertain is everything else.
Brown is a 2022 signee, while Kienholz is a 2023 signee. And common sense indicates that one, if not two, of Ohio State’s current quarterbacks won’t be around to see the first game of the season against Akron in late August. Additionally, it’s hard to assume that both Noland or Sayin will finish their playing careers at Ohio State so long as one of them seizes a full-time, undisputed starting job.
In adding two 2024 quarterbacks, Ohio State has essentially taken the insurance with Sayin that one of the two incoming freshmen will live up to the billing of their recruiting ranking. If and when that happens, some changes on the depth chart will be in order. And that’s natural and healthy for quarterback recruiting in today’s day and age.
Still, it’s certainly a rarity to take two quarterbacks in a class. The last time Ohio State did so was 2021, and that was only because Quinn Ewers decided to reclassify late in the process. He was gone from Columbus in a matter of months.
Nebraska, which signed the No. 2 quarterback in the 2024 cycle in Dylan Raiola, was the only other program to sign a five-star signal-caller with another quarterback in the class. Daniel Kaelin, the second quarterback commit for the Cornhuskers, is a three-star prospect rated No. 560.
In other words, don’t expect this to be a yearly deal for the Buckeyes, because it doesn’t happen much everywhere — and bringing in two five-star quarterbacks is basically unheard of. The last team, sans Ohio State after the Ewers reclassification, to bring in two five-star quarterbacks in the same class was Florida in 2007. The Gators signed Cam Newton and John Brantley that year.
Tavien St. Clair, Ohio State’s 2025 commit at quarterback, is rated as a four-star player and the No. 48 overall recruit in the 247Sports composite rankings. He’s now set to join a Buckeye roster that could be completely jammed at quarterback, or one that could have some spots open for key reserve roles.
The additions of Sayin and Noland were, in a handful of ways, an aggressive fix for quarterback play that, simply, wasn’t good enough in 2023 for Ohio State. This puts the room back on track in 2025 and beyond with the addition of St. Clair to come in a year.
But as Ryan Day and the Buckeyes have proven with the Sayin addition, they’re not afraid to be aggressive when it comes to quarterback recruiting. If that means taking the best quarterback they can and letting the rest sort itself out, then so be it.
Don’t expect that to change moving forward, especially in the world of the transfer portal.