Julian Sayin Looks To Use Spring To Improve With His Legs And As A Leader

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Julian Sayin may have been a Heisman Trophy candidate as a first-year starter last year, but he knows he has plenty of room for improvement in the spring. Sayin proved as much during the postseason last year when he still made the sort of throws that vaulted him into the Heisman conversation in the first place, but also threw a couple of interceptions that proved costly for a Buckeye team that lost to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship and to Miami (Fla.) in the Cotton Bowl.

Sayin said he still thinks of those mistakes over two months later.

“I think, as a competitor, you definitely have plays you just want back,” Sayin said on Thursday. “For me, I’m not really focused on what good plays I made. I’m focused on the few plays that I wish I had made that would have given us a chance to win those games. I definitely think about that, but I’m looking to chase to be the best version of myself.”

One relative weakness Sayin had last year was that he often struggled to make plays with his legs. Not only did the Carlsbad, Calif.- native miss opportunities to pick up yardage on the ground, but he also took 10 sacks in the Buckeyes’ two postseason losses.

Although Sayin said he is comfortable with his feel of the pocket and the opposing rush, he admitted he wants to continue to improve his pocket presence this season.

“I think I’m very comfortable with having that clock in my head, of knowing when the ball needs to get out, or knowing that you have to take off,” Sayin said. “I think I’m still improving that, but I think I’m very comfortable in that aspect of having that internal clock in my head and knowing when the pocket is breaking down.”

Sayin’s quest to become a better runner started in the weight room, where he gained five to 10 pounds. He said the added weight makes him feel stronger than he was last year.

“I’m just getting bigger, stronger, faster with (strength and conditioning coach Mick Marotti), he’s obviously the backbone of our program and someone that brings the best out of us every day. … He’s also been pushing me to be a leader.”

Sayin’s urge to boost his leadership was apparent during the Buckeyes’ second spring practice open to the media. Before the practice, he gave a brief but impassioned speech to his teammates.

“I’m trying to step up in the leadership role more,” Sayin said. “We have some returning guys on offense who have all been trying to do that.”

The other most prominent returner on the offensive side of the ball is Sayin’s favorite target, junior receiver Jeremiah Smith. Sayin said he likes how the pairing has grown together during their time in Columbus.

“It’s been cool. We came in during the same year as freshman and now we’re juniors getting ready for the season,” Sayin said. “It’s been fun and we have a good connection, and we’ve been working to get even better on the field. We’ve been working to be able to kind of know what each other’s thinking out there so that we can be even better.”