Devils in Detail
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ASU Football: What Another Quarterback Means For the Sun Devils

By Hunter Robinson

Oct 15, 2016; Boulder, CO, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Todd Graham during the first half of the game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field. The Buffaloes defeated the Sun Devils 40-16. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 15, 2016; Boulder, CO, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Todd Graham during the first half of the game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field. The Buffaloes defeated the Sun Devils 40-16. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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With Blake Barnett committing to ASU earlier this week, the Sun Devils now have five quarterbacks on their roster. What does this mean for the program moving forward?

Barnett, Manny Wilkins, Dillon Sterling-Cole, Brady White and Bryce Perkins. Those are the five quarterbacks that are on ASU’s roster with a potential sixth quarterback on his way in local recruit, Ryan Kelley. With so many quarterbacks on the roster, there is going to be a strong quarterback competition for next season, but there also is going to be a lot of talent potentially wasted by having so many quarterbacks.

The biggest issue surrounding ASU’s core of quarterbacks isn’t the number, rather their age. Manny  Wilkins is the oldest quarterback on the roster as a redshirt sophomore. The rest of the quarterbacks file behind him with Kelley bringing up the rear if he does decide to come to ASU. By having a quarterback core that is so young, it is likely that some players are going to transfer.

The most likely player to transfer is Perkins. There were reports that before his neck injury back in August, that he was thinking about transferring. After his injury, he announced that he had never thought about transferring and that he was staying at ASU. With the quarterback competition being very congested, he could likely jump ship and go to a school that is looking for a quarterback.

After Perkins, it becomes unclear. The most likely scenario is that Kelley doesn’t end up signing with ASU. He has only verbally committed to ASU, and with the addition of Barnett he could see the situation as one where he may not see the field until he is a senior.

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If everything stated above happens, then that would leave four quarterbacks on the roster. Three of them have played before for ASU, Wilkins, White and Sterling-Cole. Sterling-Cole and Barnett will be true sophomores while White will be a redshirt sophomore and Wilkins will be a redshirt junior. With all four of them having played in real-game situations, there will be a brand new quarterback competition for the starters job next season.

And a new quarterback competition will be a great sight to see if you are an ASU football fan. It means that the quarterback position is so talented that there is no clear-cut starter, a situation that you always want to see within a football program.

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