Spring Preview: All Eyes On The Ohio State Quarterbacks

Overview

The Ohio State quarterback room has combined for 34 career passes thrown — and half of them came in a 14-3 Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri at the end of the 2023 season. Those 34 career attempts have led to 15 completions and just one career touchdown pass. Of the three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster currently, only one of them threw a pass last season.

Scholarship Roster

Lincoln Kienholz, rSoph, 6-3 207
Did not throw a pass last year for the Buckeyes.

Julian Sayin, rFr, 6-1 203
Won the third-team job last year as a true freshman.

Tavien St. Clair, Fr, 6-4 225
One of the top two or three quarterbacks in the 2025 recruiting class.

For Starters

The Buckeyes must replace starting quarterback Will Howard, who threw for 4,010 yards and 35 touchdowns last year while also leading the Buckeyes to a national title. Backup Devin Brown is also gone, having transferred to Cal. This is a very inexperienced quarterback room for the Buckeyes, and yet the majority of teams in college football are still looking upon it right now with envy.

New Additions

True freshman Tavien St. Clair (6-4 225) is the new addition but he’s been around the program for a couple of years now. Playing high school ball an hour away, he was on campus and at practice as much as he could be last year. St. Clair was ranked the No. 7 player in the 2025 recruiting class and the No. 3 quarterback overall. He threw for 5,619 yards and 66 touchdowns in his last two seasons at Bellefontaine High School. He is an early enrollee and should get more spring reps than a true freshman quarterback typically receives. As such, the impact of spring ball could be greater for him than most true freshman quarterbacks.

Spring Depth Chart

10	Julian Sayin OR
3	Lincoln Kienholz
9	Tavien St. Clair

What’s The Latest

At last week’s NFL Combine, former Buckeyes Denzel Burke and Emeka Egbuka were singing the praises of Julian Sayin. Egbuka said he’s never seen such arm talent from a true freshman. Burke said he was looking forward to the quarterback competition between Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz, adding that Sayin has great zip on the ball and great pocket presence. While the first spring practice is still 11 days away, it’s hard to deny that Sayin’s stock is up after hearing such reviews from his former teammates.

Expectations

There will be plenty of snaps to go around this spring. Last year, the Buckeyes had to figure out how to get reps for five scholarship quarterbacks. That often led to the fifth QB going off with another position group to throw passes in individual drills. This year, however, all three quarterbacks will be together and they’ll be repping as much as they can handle. When the Buckeyes have had quarterback competitions, head coach Ryan Day has never named a starter in the spring. That likely won’t change this year. Expect both Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz to get reps with the ones, but also expect the ones and twos to be mixed and matched all camp long.

One Question Needing An Answer

Is Lincoln Kienholz ready to play at this level? This is his third year on campus, so can he show more command of the offense this spring now that he’ll have the opportunity? When it comes to the competition, how apparent will it be where Kienholz stands? He’s a great all-around athlete, but now it’s time to start showing what kind of quarterback he can be. Another question for the quarterback position: will the Buckeyes add a veteran via the transfer portal? It will likely have to be somebody who doesn’t need to start, but who thinks maybe he could. Ryan Day wants four scholarship quarterbacks if possible. One way or another, however, the Buckeyes can’t drop below three.

Breakout Candidate

Julian Sayin can already be found among the various Heisman odds lists floating around right now. While that’s a bit wild for a redshirt freshman who has never started a game, it’s not exactly unwarranted. Whoever wins this job is going to be in the spotlight, and throwing to the likes of Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate is the football version of open-book testing. If Julian Sayin is what his former teammates and coaches say he is, then a breakout here is a virtual certainty.

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