Where ESPN ranks Ohio State's quarterback situation entering the 2025 season shouldn't be a surprise

ESPN recently ranked all 136 FBS quarterback situations into tiers and where they placed the Ohio State Buckeyes' quarterback situation shouldn't come as much of a surprise to fans.

The quarterback situation rankings from ESPN include over 20 different tiers, ranging from "top of the class" to "nowhere but up"

ESPN placed Ohio State's situation in tier four (the "young pups" tier).

Other programs in this tier include Michigan, Notre Dame, and Washington.

Ohio State landed in this tier because Julian Sayin, the favorite to win the job, has never started a game. He spent the 2024 season behind Devin Brown. Lincoln Kienholz has 10 more career passing attempts than Sayin but didn't attempt a pass last year.

Sayin and Kienholz are the primary contenders with true freshman Tavien St. Clair also joining them. Ohio State also added graduate transfer Eli Brickhandler this week.

Four schools with playoff hopes turn to young QBs with elite recruiting backgrounds. Not long ago, this wouldn't seem like a wild premise, but in the era of the transfer portal, the notion that programs with as much talent as Notre Dame or Ohio State are putting their fates into the hands of QBs with no on-field experience feels akin to handing your teenager, who has his learner's permit, the keys to your new Ferrari.

This is certainly a fair ranking for the Buckeyes' quarterback situation. All three scholarship quarterbacks on Ohio State's roster have talent. But Sayin and Kienholz are barely more experienced on the field than true freshman St. Clair.

Is it possible that at least one of Ohio State's three quarterbacks could emerge as a star in the SECBig Ten?

Absolutely, and the expectation is for Sayin and St. Clair to be excellent in time.

But we have no idea whether that will be the case until we see each of them under the bright lights.