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Jake TrotterJul 22, 2025, 09:03 PM ET
- Jake Trotter is simply a elder writer astatine ESPN. Trotter covers assemblage football. He besides writes astir different assemblage sports, including men's and women's basketball. Trotter resides successful the Cleveland country with his woman and 3 kids and is simply a instrumentality of his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder. He covered the Cleveland Browns and NFL for ESPN for 5 years, moving backmost to assemblage shot successful 2024. Previously, Trotter worked for the Middletown (Ohio) Journal, Austin American-Statesman and Oklahoman newspapers earlier joining ESPN successful 2011. He's a 2004 postgraduate of Washington and Lee University. You tin scope retired to Trotter astatine jake.trotter@espn.com and travel him connected X astatine @Jake_Trotter.
LAS VEGAS -- Ohio State manager Ryan Day reiterated Tuesday that the Buckeyes didn't instrumentality successful a transportation portal backmost this offseason due to the fact that they privation to make the 3 talented passers they already person connected campus.
Sophomore Julian Sayin is battling inferior Lincoln Kienholz and existent freshman Tavien St. Clair for the starting occupation arsenic the Buckeyes look to regenerate Will Howard. After transferring from Kansas State successful January 2024, Howard quarterbacked Ohio State to its archetypal nationalist title successful a decennary successful his lone play with the Buckeyes.
"When we person to, oregon erstwhile we're near successful that situation, we volition [bring successful a transportation quarterback]," Day said during Big Ten media days. "But we privation to make guys, and these are 3 guys we privation to proceed to develop."
Sayin was the nation's top-rated backmost successful the 2024 recruiting class. After primitively signing with Alabama, the 6-foot-1, 203-pound Sayin transferred to Ohio State erstwhile manager Nick Saban retired.
"Julian surely gets the shot retired quickly," Day said. "He's had a bully offseason. He's intelligent. He's precise competitive. He's got bully athleticism. He's accurate."
The 6-foot-3, 207-pound Kienholz, however, pushed Sayin successful the outpouring and volition person an accidental successful the preseason to triumph the occupation arsenic well. Kienholz, conscionable the 2nd subordinate to motion with the Buckeyes from the authorities of South Dakota, was a multi-sport prima successful precocious school.
"Just a tremendous athlete," Day said of Kienholz, who has been successful the programme for 3 years. "You prime a sport, helium tin bash it. He's similar a 4 handicap (in golf). He tin deed the (baseball) retired of the park. He was a major-league shot prospect. He tin windmill dunk. He tin bash a batch of things."
Because helium lone arrived astatine field earlier this year, St. Clair remains down successful the competition. But helium was the nation's No. 10 wide enlistee and the gem of Ohio State's incoming recruiting class.
"He surely has the size, the makeup," Day said of the 6-foot-4, 225-pound St. Clair. "He's a large young man. He's precise intelligent. He's athletic. He tin propulsion the ball. I deliberation he's got a truly agleam aboriginal up of him.
"... They're each breathtaking guys."
Day declined to springiness a timetable of erstwhile helium mightiness denote a starter up of the Buckeyes' blockbuster opener against Texas connected Aug. 30 -- a rematch of past year's playoff semifinal.
"I deliberation it's important for the locker country to judge successful whoever that is," Day said. "When the locker country believes successful that guy, that's the close time. ... So we'll spot wherever this goes."
