Where does Julian Sayin rank among college football's best quarterbacks? Our rankings, plus a poll and a video

Doug and Bill explain their Top 10s and ask you to vote for your top QB.

Where should Julian Sayin rank among college football quarterbacks going into the 2026 season. (Photo by Sandra Fu for The Bill and Doug Show)

COLUMBUS — Of college football’s 68 power conference teams, 43 should have a starting quarterback this season with at least 12 career starts, or the equivalent of a full season under his belt.

That’s nearly two-thirds of major teams relying on a QB who has been there and done that. Julian Sayin fits that category for Ohio State, as do 15 of 18 projected Big Ten quarterbacks. Among the teams in USA Today’s post-spring football Top 25, there are 20 with quarterbacks with at least that much experience. (The five teams that don’t have that are Alabama, Texas Tech if Brendan Sorsby doesn’t win his gambling lawsuit, Tennessee, Iowa and Clemson).

It’s a good year to have a guy who’s done it.

A year ago, six of the top eight teams in the preseason had quarterbacks who did not meet that 12-game mark: Texas, Ohio State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon and Alabama. One of the reasons people were high on Penn State and Clemson was that they were the only teams in the Top 8 with veteran quarterbacks — but Drew Allar and Cade Klubnik had disappointing seasons, and both teams went 7-6.

Two veteran quarterbacks did meet for the national title, though, in Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza (19 career starts entering last season) and Miami’s Carson Beck (25 career starts).

Maybe leaning toward old QBs wasn’t wrong; it was just the incorrect teams.

If last year a veteran starter at quarterback was rare for the blue boods, this season it’s almost a necessity. The fact that so many of these quarterbacks have played a lot should make ranking them easier, but most of them mixed great moments with iffy ones last season. Count Sayin in that group as well.

Last week, Bill and I were joined by Matt Fortuna on a national edition of The Bill and Doug Show for a draft of the Top 15 quarterbacks in the power conferences. If you have already watched this show, or you don’t ever plan to, I’ll drop how the draft unfolded below the video.

Bill and I will follow that below with our own full lists of the Top 10 quarterbacks right now, with a bit of explanation. The purpose of this for Ohio State fans is primarily to put Sayin in context. If the Buckeyes were leaning on a new starting quarterback this season, I think we’d have a different view of the 2026 season. It’s a good season for Sayin to be a Year 2 starter.

But this is also to remind you that there are some high-level quarterbacks at major programs out there who might not be sure things, but who have a mix of talent and experience that should allow them to provide excellent QB play for top teams this season.