ASU Football: 2018 has been an unfulfilling year so far for Manny Wilkins

With only 104 passing yards at Washington last weekend, should ASU football fans worry about the fifth-year senior quarterback?

Manny Wilkins dragged himself to the podium on Wednesday afternoon for his weekly press conference with a heavy scent of fatigue.

Wilkins’ shoulders were slumped, wore droopy eyes and had his head down after the Sun Devils wrapped up practice a couple hours before.

The ASU starting quarterback’s apparent stress was understandable after the senior had struggled the week before, averaging 3.9 yards per pass attempt in the Sun Devils’ 27-20 loss in Seattle.

The Washington loss, coupled with another one-score defeat the previous week to San Diego State made the grind feel that more challenging for Wilkins.

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A 2-0 start, followed by back-to-back road losses, has made this season already a roller coaster ride for not only Wilkins but for this entire Sun Devil team.

After starting the season off with four touchdown passes against a struggling UTSA team, the senior has only three touchdown passes in the three games since.

Granted, in all three games the Sun Devils were up against stout and physically intimidating defenses. But, ASU fans had high expectations for Wilkins in year three.

Wilkins worked his tirelessly to become ASU’s lead signal caller, beating out Blake Barnett (now at USF), Brady White (Memphis) and Bryce Perkins (Virginia) to be the Sun Devils starting quarterback.

2018 seemed to be the year where the red-shirt senior could breakout and become one of the best quarterbacks in the conference, if not the country.

So far, that has yet to be the case.

Wilkins has been roughly as effective as last season. The senior has completed 1.8 percent more of his passes, owns a passer rating that’s only 1.7 points behind his 2017 mark and has an adjusted passing yards per attempt that is .1 points less than a season ago.

The seniors ability to hold onto the football has been key with only one interception in two games, but Wilkins has yet to have a game where his adjusted quarterback rating is 80 or above (ESPN).

With Wilkins in 2018, there has been an odd constant back-and-forth in production.

Wilkins has not turned over the ball much this year, but he has struggled in making 20+ yard throws down the field. When the senior threw for 380 yards against Michigan State, he also missed numerous deep throws that nearly cost his team the game.

The rollercoaster array of results have been somewhat frustrating.

For now, Wilkins and his team get a much easier task this week at home against an Oregon State team that has allowed 43.5 points per contest in 2018.

The offense, led by Wilkins, should have a field day this homecoming weekend against arguably the weakest team in the conference. The senior will likely put up big numbers and lead the Sun Devils to 30, if not 40, plus points.

This Oregon State matchup may be a cakewalk, but an undefeated Colorado team on the road, No. 7 ranked Stanford at home and USC at the Coliseum await.

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If Wilkins is unable to show signs of marginal improvement, not just this week, but in the coming weeks, then ASU fans may be the ones having slumped shoulders, droopy eyes and hanging heads when watching Wilkins on Saturdays this fall.

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