ASU Football: How good will Manny Wilkins be in 2018?

With ASU football quarterback Manny Wilkins being added to the preseason watch list for the Manning Award, it’s time to determine how he can live up to high expectations.

On Thursday morning, Arizona State senior quarterback Manny Wilkins was added to his fifth award watch list of the 2018 preseason, and the name behind this one should give off some excitement.

Wilkins, along with 29 other gunslingers, was recognized as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation by being named to the preseason watch list for the Manning Award. The award is recognized in the honor of Archie, Eli and Peyton Manning and their successes in college football.

Per the Allstate Sugar Bowl, sponsor of the Manning Award:

"The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced its preseason Watch List on Wednesday. The list includes 30 of the top quarterbacks in the nation heading into the 2018 season. The winner will again be selected by a voting panel, which includes national media and each of the Mannings, after the bowls.The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates’ bowl performances in its balloting."

The site also specified that inclusion on the watch list does not ensure that one of the 30 quarterbacks will be selected. It said that the watch list will be updated with midseason candidates on Oct. 11 and the final 10 names will be presented on Nov. 29. The winner of the award will be announced the week after the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Last season’s winner was Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield.

Aside from junior wide receiver N’Keal Harry, no one on on ASU’s roster has received the same hype as Wilkins. He’s also been recognized as a preseason name for the Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Wuerffel Trophy and the Golden Arm Award.

Last year, Wilkins was one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country, throwing 20 touchdowns against eight interceptions while completing 63.4 percent of his passes. He also threw for 3,270 passing yards, almost 1,000 yards more than his injury-riddled sophomore season.

This year, he’ll be viewed as the best returnee and catalyst for an offense that averaged 32 points per game and 431 total yards in 2017. He’ll also be one of the leaders for a team that underwent a coaching change this offseason from Todd Graham to Herm Edwards.

In that fact alone, the odds would seem to be stacked against Wilkins. He’ll also be learning from his fourth offensive coordinator in as many seasons in Rob Likens, and he’ll be without Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard in the backfield.

The Novato, California, native, however, will have one of the top receivers in the country in Harry, an experienced offensive line and an exciting new group of running backs at his disposal.

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The two contrasts give off opposite fates for how successful Wilkins can be. So which one wins out? An overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity, or weapons that give him the power to be elite?

Simply put, it’ll come down to three aspects: coaching, injury and backfield support.

It’s no secret that Wilkins is built for the big moments. In ASU’s upsets over Oregon and Washington last year, he combined for 592 passing yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. More importantly, he kept drives alive down the stretch, completing 66 percent of his passes.

With Harry still lining up him, he’ll have a receiver that he’ll be confident getting the ball to in crucial situations. Returnees Kyle Williams, Frank Darby and John Humphrey will also provide targets of familiarity.

It’s uncertain how the offensive approach will change in game situations, but it’ll be on the ASU coaching staff to build a system, perhaps with Wilkins’ opinion, that’ll allow him to keep the distribution balanced while also understanding necessary moments for big-time targets.

Injury will also play a large part in this decision. The Sun Devils suffered a scare when starting center Cohl Cabral went down in practice with a left knee injury on Saturday, but the 6-foot-5 inch junior has returned and participated in drill work since then.

Still, the prospect of a first-team does have to come up in the minds of Wilkins and the coaches. If something were to happen to one of their offensive weapons, it’d be necessary that each player has a “next man up” mentality.

The aspect the team can control most is who they have in place at each position, and that’s likely to be Eno Benjamin, Trelon Smith and Isaiah Floyd as running backs. The losses of Ballage in the open field and Richard at the goal line are huge, so the new trio will have to find a way to coincide with Wilkins’ play style.

At the end of the day, this is just football. Wilkins has endured so much more in his life than on-the-field troubles, and his maturity as a person is second-to-none.

To him, the success is inevitable. He’s put in the time necessary to compete at the highest level for every down. It’s the things out of his control that could potentially do him in.