Ohio State’s $1 million star quarterback is expected to be a third-stringer.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are set to start a new quarterback in 2025 after Will Howard’s national championship-winning lone season under center, but the indications are it will not be their five-star recruit at the position from last season’s class.

Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz and Tavien St. Clair are set to compete to succeed Howard.

Sayin is viewed as the frontrunner after the Alabama transfer played sparingly in relief last season. However, there has understandably been a lot of hype around St. Clair, the freshman out of Bellefontaine, Ohio, who was the fourth-ranked prospect in the entire 2025 class in On3’s industry rankings.

Yet the 18-year-old, who carries an On3 NIL valuation of $1 million, is likely to have to play a waiting game.

Indeed, On3’s Spencer Holbrook projects St. Clair to start the 2025 season as the third-string quarterback.

He wrote of the quarterback competition: “There’s a reason Sayin generated so much buzz during the spring and summer of his freshman season. That, of course, cooled off as the players on the field were chasing a championship, but Sayin kept working in the background and improving.

“Now it has picked back up this offseason, with former Buckeyes stars Denzel Burke, Emeka Egbuka and Will Howard all raving about Sayin’s potential when speaking at the NFL Combine a couple of weeks ago.

“Sayin won’t be handed the job; Lincoln Kienholz will push him for the spot as Tavien St. Clair likely learns in his first season. But as long as he has a good spring showing, Sayin should be the front runner to take over for Will Howard – and inherit an offense that features elite skill talent around him.”

It is no surprise that the Buckeyes aren’t prepared to hand over the keys to the offense to a freshman.