Ohio State's Julian Sayin 'has a different look in his eye'; Jeremiah Smith is chasing legends like Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady
CHICAGO — There was Justin Fields and then C.J. Stroud and now Julian Sayin. Those are the three second-year starting quarterbacks Ryan Day has had throughout his soon-to-be eight-season tenure as Ohio State's full-time head coach.
Fields became the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Stroud went second off the board in 2023. Fields led the Buckeyes to a national title game appearance. Stroud came excruciatingly close to taking Ohio State to that stage.
Day described carrying a returning starting QB as a "big deal" Wednesday at Big Ten media days at Hilton Chicago. He also mentioned that Sayin, now a redshirt sophomore who's coming off a Heisman Trophy campaign, "has a different look in his eye."
"When you look in his eye now, you see a different person," Day said. "You see a different body. He's worked hard. He's gotten stronger. He's found his voice even more."
That look is one Day's seen before, from his previous second-year starting quarterbacks in Columbus.
"I think when you're first starting, you're doing everything for the first time," Day told reporters. "And then after a while you can find yourself in a Heisman race, you can find yourself doing different things, and you can quickly get distracted on what really matters. I think when you come back for that second year, all you want to do is win.
"You know that if you win, you're going to have an opportunity to get awards and have an opportunity to get drafted and all those things. And you kind of push all that stuff to the side."
Day added: "Not that [Julian] was worried about that last year, but just when you're into that [second] year and you're experienced more, all you're worried about is winning. And that's what he's going to be worried about or focused on."
Sayin was thrust into the Heisman conversation midseason last year. His sky-high completion percentage — which ended up being a nation-leading 77% — as well as his impressive deep-ball ability and Ohio State's winning, including against rival Michigan, made him a contender for the sport's most prestigious honor.
But he finished fourth in voting after he and the Buckeyes fell short to eventual national champion Indiana in the Big Ten championship. Sayin combined for just two touchdown passes and a consequential set of three interceptions — notably one pick-six — in Ohio State's postseason losses to the Hoosiers and Miami, the second of which knocked the Buckeyes out of the 12-team playoff they won the year before.
That said, as Day remarked Wednesday, Sayin is off the emotional roller coaster that most first-year starter's ride, even those as cool, calm and collected as the Carlsbad, California, native.
"I mean, there's no substitute for experience," Sayin said. "So to be able to have your past experiences — you've played some ball now, and you kind of know what it looks like and you know your routine, you know how to study with the coordinator and things like that.
"It just gives you more confidence."
The newest coordinator Sayin is working with is former Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith, who most recently served as the Pittsburgh Steelers' OC the past two seasons. Smith has gone from coaching a 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers to developing a 21-year-old Sayin. Still, the first-year Buckeyes assistant is trusting Sayin to pilot his offense.
Sayin explained to assembled media Wednesday that Smith's permitted him freedom at the line of scrimmage, specifically the opportunity to choose from a batch of plays called in some instances where Sayin's tasked with reading what the defense is giving him.
"When you look in his eye now, you see a different person."
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) July 29, 2026
Ryan Day on @OhioStateFB QB Julian Sayin entering Year 3 👇 pic.twitter.com/1C9W9WFiwx
Not long following Sayin's transfer to Ohio State — after he initially enrolled at Alabama prior to Nick Saban's retirement — Day touted the young passer's processing skill set. He's been ahead of the curve from a mental standpoint. His physical traits have had to catch up.
It seems like they've made up some ground this offseason. While Sayin remains 6-foot-1 and is listed at 208 pounds, he's stronger than in years past. That shows up in arm power, as Sayin said he's throwing the ball harder.
He's been lifting with superstar junior wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, a 6-foot-3, 223-pound touchdown maker who's built like an action figure. That weight-room pairing was constructed by design. The architect is Ohio State's strength and conditioning extraordinaire Mick Marotti.
"We've been pushing each other. Me and Coach Mick have been pushing him very, very hard this offseason," Smith said Wednesday. "Y'all gonna see a different Julian this year."
Smith recounted a conversation in which Marotti asked him who the toughest player on the Buckeyes was. Smith said he responded, "Who?" Marotti answered, "Julian Sayin," per Smith, who then shared that Sayin played through an ankle issue last season.
Smith himself has quietly endured pain. The quad injury that forced him to miss time during the 2025 campaign caused him trouble walking the week of the Michigan game, according to Day. Yet Smith suited up and caught a touchdown, on fourth-and-5 no less.
Smith authored his second 1,000-yard receiving season last year. He caught 87 passes and piled up 1,243 receiving yards to go along with 12 touchdown grabs. The season before that, as a freshman, he logged 76 catches, 1,315 receiving yards and 16 total scores, one of which arrived amid the Buckeyes' national championship victory over Notre Dame.
Even so, he has his sights on an even grander finale to his Ohio State career. Although he hasn't come out and said it outright, 2026 will likely be his last go-around in the collegiate ranks. He's penciled in as a top-five pick in next year's NFL Draft. Before he leaves Ohio State, he has some items to check off his wish list this season.
When asked to paint a successful final Buckeyes season in his view, he named winning the Biletnikoff Award — given annually to the nation's best receiver — and earning recognition as a Heisman finalist as his individual goals. In terms of team aspirations, Smith is aiming for a Big Ten title and another national championship.
Altogether, "that's what the perfect season look like," he said.
He's a football magnet. The ball finds its way into his orbit. He doesn't have to demand it, nor does he particularly want to. Introverted by nature, Smith leads by example more than by words; however, he's made a concerted effort to diversify his methodology.
"He doesn't do a lot of speaking to the team, but when he speaks, everybody listens," Day said. "And I think he's seeing guys who are freshmen, young receivers in that room … and he's taken more of a leadership role with them."
"For somebody who gets as much attention as he does, it'd be very easy for him to be selfish about touches and [asking] why is the ball not coming to me. But he looks at it from a bigger lens and a wider lens. It says a lot about who he is as a player and he is a leader. He's the elder statesman in the room, and everybody on that team is looking up to him."
More than anything, Smith wants to win. He hates to lose, and he holds himself to the highest of standards, higher than the vertical he uses to pluck 50-50 balls.
"I watch a lot of Kobe [Bryant] videos about his mindset, Tom Brady as well," Smith said. "Michael Jordan, LeBron James, guys like that who just had a crazy mindset and always wanted to be the best at what they do."
Does he have a chance to join legends like them someday?
"I think I do, but it takes time," Smith said. "Them guys did it for decades and decades. So that's what I'm chasing. That's the standard of everything."
Sayin is already a Heisman finalist. Smith is already a national champion and projected Day 1 NFL star. They have more in mind.
Ohio State is returning a collection of starters on offense, such as offensive linemen Luke Montgomery, Carson Hinzman and Austin Siereveld and running back Bo Jackson.
Sayin and Smith, though, are arguably the best QB-WR tandem in the country. They're at the apex of the program's pursuit for a second national title in three years.
