Ohio State’s gamble in the transfer portal last go around worked out perfectly. The Buckeyes brought in Will Howard and he was the quarterback and leader the team needed.

After one season as the quarterback in Columbus, Howard is out of eligibility and moving on to the NFL. Ryan Day will be faced with having a new starting QB for a fourth straight season.

Julian Sayin is expected to be the starter for Ohio State in his second year of college football next year. However, the Buckeyes will have a spring competition at quarterback that could carry over.

Day recently commented on the 2025 quarterback room following the National Championship win over Notre Dame.

"These guys are going to compete their tails off. And we have some good quarterbacks in the system, you know, I shared with all of them that you know now, this was the week leading up to the national championship game that you know you had an opportunity to watch. And so you’ve got to really utilize that because that's exactly what we're looking for in a leader here at quarterback."

When Ohio State starts workouts back up in a few weeks, Day expects to see something different about the next guys up.

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"When you guys come back in about two weeks, you gotta look different, you gotta walk different, you’ve gotta act different because now you are fighting to become the starting quarterback at Ohio State. We have some really talented guys in that room, and, you know, looking forward to seeing what the competition brings."

Sayin is the favorite to take the job and is a player who transferred over after Nick Saban decided to retire before his freshman season. As a prospect, Sayin was the No. 1 QB and No. 6 overall player, according to 247 Sports.

As of right now, Lincoln Kienholz is ideally the backup and has the most experience in the room. Kienholz is entering his third season with the team in 2025 and is a redshirt sophomore. Kienholz has completed 10-of-22 passes for 111 yards in his career.

The quarterback room went from C.J. Stroud to Kyle McCord to Howard and now Sayin appears to be the next guy in line. Expect the spring to be a big period for the room in general as the guys start to get first-string snaps for the first time in their careers.

Day has usually had a really good presence at quarterback while with the Buckeyes. Expect that to again be the case in 2025. 

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