$2.4 Million QB Ranked Top Returning Quarterback After Historic College Football Season

A six-month wait separates the end of February from the opening weekend of the 2026 college football season.

Many of the stars from the 2025 college football season declared for the 2026 NFL draft, but several still have chapters to write in their college football careers. One of the top returning players in college football is Ohio State starting quarterback Julian Sayin, who enters his third season with the Buckeyes.

The 6-foot-1, 208-pounder ranked as a five-star prospect when he committed to Alabama's 2024 signing class. A few days after Sayin enrolled at Alabama, longtime Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement from coaching.

Sayin entered the NCAA transfer portal and committed to Ohio State in late January of 2024.

Sayin redshirted during Ohio State's run to the College Football Playoff National Championship game in the 2024 season. He appeared in four games and completed five of 12 pass attempts for 84 yards and touchdowns, and carried the ball twice for 24 yards.

Will Howard passed the baton to Sayin as the Buckeyes' starter in 2025. Sayin completed 77% of his passes for 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions in his first season as a starter.

Julian Sayin during Ohio State's game at Michigan. — Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin (10) looks to pass against the Michigan Wolverines | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sayin earned a handful of honors for his efforts in 2025. The Big Ten named Sayin its Freshman of the Year and to the All-Big Ten Second Team. Nationally, Sayin won the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award and was one of the four Heisman Trophy finalists.

Sayin's return to an offense full of proven commodities has earned him copious amounts of attention heading into the 2026 college football season. Max Chadwick of Pro Football Focus ranked Sayin as the No. 1 quarterback returning to college football in 2026 on his list of the 10 best returning quarterbacks he released on Tuesday.

"Sayin was historically accurate in his first season as Ohio State’s starting quarterback. The redshirt freshman completed 77.0% of his passes, which ranked as the third-highest rate in college football history and narrowly trailed the record set by Bo Nix in 2023 and Mac Jones in 2020 (77.4%)," Chadwick wrote.

"Sayin’s 74.2% accurate throw rate also set the new single-season PFF College record. He led all FBS quarterbacks in PFF grade (92.9) and only graded below a 70.0 once all of last season."

Sayin led the Buckeyes to the perfect mark of 12-0 in the 2025 regular season. However, a Big Ten Championship loss to eventual national champion Indiana and a season-ending loss to Miami in the Cotton Bowl left a bitter taste in the mouths of a team that hoped to repeat as national champions.

Ohio State's 2026 schedule should challenge it more than its 2025 schedule. The Buckeyes play a pair of College Football Playoff participants in Oregon and Indiana and travel to Texas for the back end of their home-and-home with the Longhorns. Maryland is the only Power Four team on Ohio State's schedule that did not participate in the 2025 postseason.