\n Welcome to the Skull Session. <\/p>\n
\n\tNorthwestern gave media members an inside look at the ongoing construction of its new football stadium on Tuesday, and former Ohio State\/new Northwestern offensive coordinator Chip Kelly\u00a0was dressed for the occasion:\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\tThe latest at new Ryan Field, set to open Oct. 2 when Northwestern hosts Penn State. pic.twitter.com\/49JSEZ8ord<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) July 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\t\tChip Kelly. Purple vest. Hard hat. Football guy. pic.twitter.com\/34NcAEaSqn<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Sammy P (@spshoot) July 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tHave a great Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0COLLEGE FOOTBALL\u2019S FIFTH-BEST QB.\u00a0After surveying roughly three dozen coaches, general managers, personnel directors, scouts and front office staffers from around college football, The Athletic\u2019s Antonio Morales and Sam Khan Jr.<\/a> ranked every projected starting quarterback in the FBS from No. 1 to No. 138.\n<\/p>\n \n\tOhio State\u2019s Julian Sayin was one of eight quarterbacks who earned a spot in Tier 1, which The Athletic categorized by the following description:\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tThe best of the best. They have a strong combination of proven production and elite traits and are among the Heisman Trophy frontrunners. Coaches want to build their teams around them.\n\t<\/p>\n \n\tDespite being the only returning Heisman finalist from last season and the reigning national leader in completion percentage, however, Sayin was only ranked as college football\u2019s fifth-best quarterback behind Ole Miss\u2019 Trinidad Chambliss, Oregon\u2019s Dante Moore, Notre Dame\u2019s CJ Carr and Miami\u2019s Darian Mensah.\n<\/p>\n \n\tKhan and Morales wrote that deciding where to rank Sayin was \u201cone of the most polarizing debates,\u201d as they received \u201ca wide range of opinions as to whether Sayin is an elite quarterback or just a product of Ohio State\u2019s system and the talent around him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\u201cHe\u2019s just a game manager. Overrated,\u201d a Big Ten general manager said. \u201cNot a guy who can win them the title.\u201d Meanwhile, an ACC front office staffer said, \u201cI think people are criminally low on Sayin. I think Sayin is a top-two or -three quarterback, and anyone else who doesn\u2019t have him there is wrong.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n \n\tPersonally, I agree with the unnamed ACC staffer. Outside of Fernando Mendoza, no quarterback in all of college football was more efficient than Sayin last season \u2013 and that was as a first-year starter who had played zero meaningful snaps at the collegiate level before last year. He\u2019s not as athletic as Chambliss and Moore, but no quarterback in college football is more consistently accurate, and the narrative that he\u2019s merely a game manager overlooks how excellent he was throughout the regular season a year ago.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThat said, if I\u2019m Ryan Day, I\u2019m showing him the quote from the Big Ten GM first. Sayin already has a chip on his shoulder<\/a> because of how last season ended, and opinions like that should only fire him up more to lead Ohio State to a national championship, which would be the ultimate way to prove his doubters wrong.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0DGG\u2019S DECISION DAY.\u00a0The most anticipated recruiting announcement of the summer will take place this evening when five-star running back David Gabriel Georges announces his commitment to either Ohio State or Tennessee at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n \n\tGabriel Georges has been Ohio State\u2019s clear-cut top target at running back in the 2027 class for more than a year, as the Buckeyes have focused nearly all of their recruiting efforts at the position for this cycle on landing the 2025 MaxPreps National High School Football Player of the Year. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, tonight\u2019s announcement appears likely to be bad news for Ohio State, as several national recruiting insiders have made predictions over the last few days that Gabriel Georges will commit to Tennessee.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tCommitment tomorrow at 5h30pm EST https:\/\/t.co\/C8LotAZn6k<\/a>@247Sports<\/a> @TomLoy247<\/a> @BaylorSchoolFB<\/a> @ErikKimrey<\/a> @jay_agenor<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 David Gabriel Georges (@DavidGG27) July 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tAssuming tonight\u2019s announcement goes as expected, it will be the most disappointing loss of the 2027 recruiting cycle for Ohio State. There\u2019s no denying that, as Carlos Locklyn made it no secret how badly he wanted DGG in his room and the Buckeyes don\u2019t have a clear Plan B at the position after going all in on their top target.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThat said, Ohio State shouldn\u2019t be accused of not trying hard enough to win this recruitment. The Buckeyes have been as aggressive as they\u2019ve ever been in any recruiting battle with their efforts to court Gabriel Georges, sending their entire offensive coaching staff<\/a> to visit him at his high school this spring and reportedly offering him an NIL deal<\/a> worth more than $1 million per year.\n<\/p>\n \n\tBut there is a limit to just how far Ohio State will go in bidding for a high school prospect. According to On3\u2019s Chris Low<\/a>, Tennessee is offering Gabriel Georges a deal in the range of $2 million per year. The Volunteers can also promise Gabriel Georges the chance to compete for an immediate starting spot in 2027, which the Buckeyes can\u2019t because Bo Jackson, Isaiah West and Legend Bey \u2013 who Ohio State landed after another highly publicized recruiting battle with Tennessee<\/a> \u2013 will all be back at Ohio State next season, assuming no transfers.\n<\/p>\n \n\tEven without Gabriel Georges, Ohio State has one of the nation\u2019s top recruiting classes, led by loaded classes along the defensive and offensive lines<\/a> and another five-star wide receiver in Jamier Brown<\/a>. That said, the Buckeyes will need to go back to the drawing board quickly and figure out how to fill the absence of a running back in their class if Tennessee is DGG\u2019s pick tonight.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a019 OF THE NATION\u2019S TOP 1000. After 25 Ohio State players were selected in the last two NFL drafts, the Buckeyes have\u00a0plenty of draft prospects on NFL scouts\u2019 radars once again entering the 2026 season.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe Shriners Children\u2019s East-West Bowl (formerly known as the East-West Shrine Bowl) released its annual 1,000-player preseason watch list on Tuesday, identifying the top 2027 NFL draft prospects it\u2019s watching from all levels of college football. Nineteen draft-eligible players from Ohio State made the list.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t1\ufe0f\u20e39\ufe0f\u20e3 Buckeyes land on the 2027 @ShrinersBowl<\/a> 1000 Watch List. pic.twitter.com\/nt3LRRwmj9<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) July 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tOn the offensive side of the ball, Sayin is joined on the watch list by wide receivers Jeremiah Smith, Brandon Inniss and Devin McCuin, tight end Bennett Christian, and offensive linemen Austin Siereveld, Luke Montgomery, Carson Hinzman and Phillip Daniels.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tThey\u2019re joined on the list by 10 defensive upperclassmen who are expected to play major roles for Ohio State this season: defensive ends Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Beau Atkinson, defensive tackles Eddrick Houston, James Smith and John Walker, linebacker Christian Alliegro, cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. and safeties Earl Little Jr., Jaylen McClain and Terry Moore.\n<\/p>\n \n\tWhile\u00a0Jeremiah Smith is Ohio State\u2019s\u00a0only slam-dunk first-round pick for next year\u2019s NFL draft, all 19 of those players have a legitimate shot at being NFL draft picks next spring, giving the Buckeyes a real chance at having double-digit draft selections for the third year in a row.\n<\/p>\n \n\tOhio State is one of 10 schools with 19 or more players on the East-West Bowl 1000. Texas Tech leads the way with a whopping 27 players on the list \u2013 though one of them is Brendan Sorsby, who won\u2019t actually play for the Red Raiders this year after he was ruled ineligible for gambling \u2013 followed by Indiana (22), Miami (22), LSU (21), Ole Miss (20), Texas (20), Texas A&M (20), Notre Dame (19), Ohio State (19) and Penn State (19).\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0SONG OF THE DAY. \u201cHells Bells\u201d \u2013 AC\/DC\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0HOPE YOU\u2019RE STILL READING. The Angels fired \u2018The Baseball Spy\u2019<\/a> after he filmed Rockies coaches (wonder where he got that idea from) \u2026 Wetzel: Michigan could have run this investigation through AI<\/a> instead \u2026 SEC ejects legendary Finebaum Show caller<\/a> from media days \u2026 Karl Ravech, Tom Pelissero among ESPN layoffs in latest round of cuts<\/a> \u2026 Who are the glow-in-the-dark Cosmic Chili Peppers<\/a>? Meet the baseball team coming to Columbus.\n<\/p>\n