The Sun Shines Brightly on Ohio State QB on Day One of Spring Ball

The Ohio State Buckeyes are off and running on Spring Ball 2025, and today marks the beginning of a new quarterback era.

Ohio State Buckeyes quarterbacks, from right, Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz and Tavien St. Clair take snaps during spring football practice at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on March 17, 2025. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One moment stands out above the rest from the Ohio State Buckeyes’ first Spring Ball practice of 2025. Buckeye Huddle photographer Tom Orr captured the sun shining just perfectly on potential future quarterback Julian Sayin during Monday’s practice.

Julian Sayin with the receivers during practice this morning. pic.twitter.com/EutXhLhnBB

— Tom Orr (@TomOrr4) March 17, 2025

The picture is potentially symbolic of the future as the Buckeyes begin their search for the next quarterback following Will Howard. 

Howard’s one-year stint as Ohio State’s quarterback finished as well as it possibly could with the Buckeyes hoisting the National Championship trophy in Atlanta, Georgia in January. Since that moment, the Buckeyes knew they would be back at the drawing board trying to find the next signal caller.

The offseason leader is Sayin, who transferred from Alabama. The former five-star quarterback enrolled at Alabama in 2023 before transferring to Ohio State in January of 2024. He spent the entire year behind Howard and Devin Brown on the Buckeyes’ depth chart. His potential is sky-high and he has Ohio State fans dreaming of a repeat in 2025.

If it isn’t Sayin, it will likely be Lincoln Kienholz, who is entering his junior season in Columbus. Kienholz had his “welcome to Ohio State” moment in the 2023 Cotton Bowl when he was thrust into action after Brown was injured in his first drive against Missouri. 

To say his debut appearance went poorly would be putting it lightly. Ohio State only put up three points in his debut and it left a bad memory for a lot of fans as they look towards the future. That was over a year ago now and if given a clean slate, Kienholz can show that he has the ability to be the next great Buckeyes’ quarterback.

Last, but certainly not least, is incoming freshman quarterback Tavien St. Clair, who has already enrolled at Ohio State and participated in his first practice with Ohio State. St. Clair is a five-star recruit from the state of Ohio and he comes with as much hype as you could possibly have. 

His first chance to win the job is going to be in March. If he shows that the hype behind him is real, the Buckeyes could be set up for several years of excitement.

The quarterback competition is going to be at the forefront of this spring and fall camp. What happens over these next four weeks will set the tone for the start of fall camp in August.