Ohio State QB Decision Will Also Be A Locker Room Decision

Whoever wins the starting quarterback job for Ohio State next month will also be the best leader among the candidates.

Redshirt freshman Julian Sayin and redshirt sophomore Lincoln Kienholz are “neck and neck” per head coach Ryan Day, and with fall camp starting in exactly one week, somebody is eventually going to have to win out.

Both players have been competing for the job since winter workouts started back in February. Neither has much experience, and everything they do is measured and evaluated. What they do in fall camp, however, will be what ultimately sets them apart.

“It’s hard to make any progress unless you’re actually on the field playing football,” Day said this week at Big Ten Media Days. “But I think both guys have gotten stronger. We’re interested to see, once we get done with our summer program with [strength coach] Mick [Marotti] next week, who are gold and who’s Iron Buckeyes. That’ll be big for the leadership.”

Being in the gold during summer workouts is great. Being an Iron Buckeye, however, is the elite next level. But according to Day, both guys have taken on leadership roles. They also coordinate passing sessions with the receivers, and Day is always checking in with the receivers on their thoughts, and the reviews continue to be positive.

The next step is seeing how both Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz react and respond to everything they’re put through in fall camp.

“So we’re going to put them in as many competitive situations as we possibly can to figure out who handles that the best, because we’ve got to be on point week one. We can’t be messing around,” Day said.

There is also the fact that this is a long season, so both players are expected to play this year, which means both will need to be leaders.

“I know that we’ll need all of those guys in that room this year,” he said. “When you look at Will [Howard], he was a guy who was an older guy, was experienced, and he was able to sustain the entire season. That’s not always the way it is. So we have to build depth in that room as well. So I’ve got a feeling they’ll all play throughout the season. But it’ll be a fierce competition to be who the starter is.”

As to when Day will name a starter, that always depends on the quarterbacks. Even as those on the outside can look at the quarterback battle most years and have a strong feeling how it’s going to go, the reality is that assumptions do not come into play.

“I’ve never really had a feel for when the right time is,” Day said. “I think it’s important for the locker room to believe in whoever that is. I think that’s, for me, being a quarterback and being around it, when the locker room believes in that guy, that’s the right time.”

And if the locker room is still waiting to believe in somebody?

“If the locker room doesn’t believe in one, then you kind of keep trying to give them opportunities for someone to grab onto the team,” he said. “It didn’t happen for Will until he got into the preseason last year, and then everyone in that program knew that it was his team. So we’ll see where this goes. I think everything that they do in July and June and May has led up to where we are right now, but they’ve got to do it on the field.”