Julian Sayin will be a veteran QB -- right when a veteran QB might be a necessity

The best 15 teams in the country have veteran quarterback starters lined up, and after Year 1 with Sayin last year, the Buckeyes will be led by a vet in 2026.

COLUMBUS — The 2018 College Football Playoff featured four first-year starting quarterbacks.

True freshman Trevor Lawrence led Clemson to the national title over Alabama and sophomore Tua Tagovailoa. Notre Dame and third-year QB Ian Book, and Oklahoma and fourth-year QB Kyler Murray (both were first-year starters) were knocked out in the semis.

Four quarterbacks, all new to the job.

In the seven playoffs since then, a total of seven first-year starters have reached the final four of the playoff. That’s 25 percent.

So what Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin was trying to do last year — make the final four as a first-year starter — has only happened with one-quarter of playoff teams since 2019.

And what Sayin was specifically — a second-year player and first year-starter — well, that type of quarterback has reached the final four three times in the last seven years.