Julian Sayin or Jeremiah Smith for Heisman? Making the case for both Ohio State stars' candidacy

Enhanced email blasts and social media spreaders have started at Ohio State for this college football season's Heisman Trophy race. The top-ranked and unbeaten Buckeyes are campaigning for two potential finalists in the conversation -- quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith -- and are trying to become the eighth team since 2000 to send multiple players to New York for the ceremony.

Troy Smith became Ohio State's sixth Heisman winner in 2006 and is the last Buckeyes player to earn the prestigious honor despite producing a couple of finalists and national championships since.

According to FanDuel Sportsbook's updated odds entering Week 11, Sayin, a redshirt freshman, is the frontrunner with his teammate a few players behind him.

Locked in a legitimate competition with redshirt sophomore Lincoln Kienholz during spring camp and the early portion of fall practice, Sayin was Day's pick to lead based on a year-long evaluation that went well beyond arm strength and accuracy.

Sayin needed to be a dependable facilitator given Ohio State's weaponry, like Smith, and be able to move around the pocket given the Buckeyes' changes along the offensive line. His numbers have impressed through eight starts -- 2,188 yards passing and 23 touchdowns -- and Sayin's become even more lethal as the season has progressed.

Teams with multiple Heisman finalists since the turn of the century include 2020 Alabama with DeVonta Smith and Mac Jones, the 2019 Buckeyes with Chase Young and Justin Fields, 2016 Oklahoma with Baker Mayfield and Dede Westbrook, 2004 and 2005 USC with Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, 2004 Oklahoma with Jason White and Adrian Peterson and 2002 Miami with Ken Dorsey and Willis McGahee.

The case for Sayin

This is what quarterbacks in Day's system do -- spread the football with heightened accuracy while finding themselves at the top of the Heisman picture thanks to maximum individual and team success. 

Sayin leads the FBS in passer rating (197.1), completion rate (80.7%) and ranks third in yards per attempt (10.0). The last Heisman winner at quarterback, former LSU star Jayden Daniels, led college football in passer rating (208.0) and yards per attempt (11.7).

If Sayin's current completion percentage holds, he would eclipse former Oregon signal caller Bo Nix's single-season record after he was true on 77.5% of his throws in 2023 for the Ducks. Nix finished third that season in Heisman voting behind Daniels and Washington's Michael Penix Jr.

Sayin's current eight-game pace exceeds Joe Burrow's mark of 78.8% in 2019 when he led LSU to a national championship and won the Heisman in a historic landslide.

Sayin has 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions against Power Four competition this season and hasn't turned it over through the air since a couple of errant throws in his third career start against Ohio in Week 3. Consecutive four-touchdown outings against Penn Sate and Wisconsin -- two winless teams in Big Ten play -- have summoned momentum in the race.

Looking closer, most of Sayin's 27 incompletions in Big Ten play are explainable. Five were throwaways, three were tipped near the line of scrimmage and one was dropped by Smith against the Nittany Lions. Only a third of Sayin's misfires in the Big Ten as a first-year starter have been uncatchable, off-target throws.

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Chip Patterson

The case for Smith

If the Buckeyes ramp up the targets for Smith over the next four games and make him the featured option in the Big Ten Championship Game, the nation's most-talented wideout would likely best the numbers he posted last season as a freshman.

Smith finished with 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 scores in 2024, but much of that total came after the Heisman ceremony and over four playoff games. Smith hauled in 19 receptions for 381 yards and three touchdowns in the postseason.

If Smith merely hits his season averages -- 6.9 catches, 90.6 yards per game every week — over his final four starts of the regular season along with a title game appearance, that statistical projection would sit at 89 catches for 1,178 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Now, those aren't numbers that would win the award, but if he dominates down the stretch and has a monster outing or two, the conversation changes completely.

He's Mr. Consistent when it comes to production, regardless of how opposing defenses try and take him out of the game plan. In last week's win over Penn State, Smith beat quarters coverage with a 57-yard reception after beating a cornerback off the line before running past a safety.

That's not supposed to happen against that look, neither was his one-handed snare at the goal line on a tipped pass that went for a touchdown.

This speaks to his athleticism as the total package at the position and how much confidence Sayin has in the sophomore alongside another extremely productive talent, Carnell Tate.

When Alabama's DeVonta Smith won the Heisman in 2020 and became the first wide receiver to take the award in nearly three decades, he did so as the top target of a trifecta of sorts that included John Metchie III and Jaylen Waddle. So it can be done despite a wide dispersal in the passing game.

DeVonta Smith's quarterback, Mac Jones, finished third in Heisman voting that season behind Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and like Sayin, led the country in passer rating (203.1) and completion rate (77.4).

Smith briefly touched on his Heisman candidacy before the season while maintaining his laser-like focus on defending Ohio State's crown.

"I definitely want to win it," Smith said. "But I'm just all about the team first. I just want to win that big one, that national championship. That's all I really care about. We've gotta repeat and win it again."