Julian Sayin (born July 23, 2005) is an American college football quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He is a former five-star recruit who began his career as an early enrollee for the Alabama Crimson Tide before transferring to Ohio State.
Sayin grew up in Solana Beach, California and attended Carlsbad High School in Carlsbad.[1][2] Sayin sat behind his brother, Aidan, his freshman season. He became the Lancers' starting quarterback entering his sophomore year and finished the season with 2,769 passing yards with 34 touchdowns and five interceptions.[3] Sayin passed for 2,708 yards and 27 touchdowns as a junior.[4] On June 27, 2022, Sayin was announced as one of the quarterbacks to play in the 2024 Polynesian Bowl.[5] He participated in the finals of the 2023 Elite 11 quarterback competition and was named the tournament's MVP.[6][7][8] Sayin also participated in the QB retreat competition in 2023 with Steve Clarkson.[9] Sayin was named captain of the football team before the 2023 season.[10] In his final season, he had 2,369 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and one interception, adding four additional rushing touchdowns.
| Name | Hometown | School | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julian Sayin QB |
Carlsbad, CA | Carlsbad High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Nov 2, 2022 | |
Recruit ratings: Rivals:  247Sports: ESPN: (91)
| ||||||
Sayin was rated a five-star recruit and the second-best quarterback prospect in the 2024 class.[11][12][13][14] He received his first scholarship offer when he was in 8th grade from Kenny Dillingham, then the offensive coordinator at Florida State.[1] Sayin committed to play college football at Alabama during his junior season after considering offers from Georgia and LSU.[15][16] He had other notable offers from Notre Dame, Texas, and Florida.[17]
| Season | Passing | Rushing | Season | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | TD | Win | Loss | |
| 2020 | 7 | 14 | 50.0 | 124 | 1 | 0 | 104.5 | 3 | 57 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 181 | 253 | 71.5 | 2,769 | 34 | 5 | 138.7 | 35 | 208 | 2 | 11 | 1 |
| 2022 | 163 | 245 | 66.5 | 2,708 | 27 | 4 | 133.5 | 26 | 154 | 3 | 10 | 2 |
| 2023 | 160 | 212 | 75.5 | 2,369 | 24 | 1 | 147.3 | 29 | 186 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| Career | 511 | 724 | 70.6 | 7,970 | 86 | 10 | 140.6 | 93 | 605 | 9 | 30 | 4 |
Sayin began practicing as an early enrollee with Alabama during the 2023 season in preparation for the 2024 Rose Bowl.[18] On January 19, 2024, Sayin entered the transfer portal following the retirement of Nick Saban.[19]
On January 21, 2024, Sayin announced he was transferring to Ohio State.[20] On January 31, he signed a name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal with Panini America, a trading card company owned by Panini Group.[21] On February 14, 2024, Sayin signed another NIL deal this time with an Ohio State-driven collective known as The Foundation.[22] Sayin threw his first collegiate touchdown against Western Michigan on September 7, 2024. Sayin made a couple more appearances throughout the season, and was part of the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship team.
On August 18, 2025, Sayin was named the starting quarterback as a sophomore following the departure of Will Howard to the 2025 NFL draft.[23]
| Season | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2023 | Alabama | 0 | 0 | — | Early enrollee | |||||||||||
| 2024 | Ohio State | 4 | 0 | — | 5 | 12 | 41.7 | 84 | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 128.0 | 2 | 24 | 12.0 | 0 |
| 2025 | Ohio State | 4 | 4 | 4–0 | 78 | 99 | 78.6 | 987 | 10.0 | 10 | 3 | 189.8 | 10 | 5 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Career | 8 | 4 | 4–0 | 83 | 111 | 74.8 | 1,071 | 9.6 | 8 | 3 | 189.4 | 8 | 17 | 2.1 | 0 | |
Sayin's older brother, Aidan, is currently the starting quarterback at the University of Pennsylvania.[24] His older sister, Bailey, played soccer at the University of Chicago.[25]
