ASU Football: Analyzing the future of the quarterback position

Ethan Long, Joey Yellen and Jayden Daniels all officially join the Sun Devils on Early Signing Day, giving ASU football a fascinating quarterback battle for 2019.

Four-star dual-threat quarterback Jayden Daniels’ last visit was at Arizona State. Late in the recruiting process, the Sun Devils were the last of a long list of schools that offered the 6-foot-3 senior a scholarship.

Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Texas A&M and USC were just a handful of schools on Daniels’ offer sheet, so there was no denying the California natives talent.

Despite the Sun Devils having already garnered two top 20 recruits at quarterback, Ethan Long and Joey Yellen, Daniels still took the visit and ASU was still interested.

Now, just over a month later, Daniels is officially a Sun Devil. Putting pen to paper on a commitment to join the Herm Train in Tempe.

Yellen and Long, who also signed on Wednesday, combined with Daniels creates a fascinating three-man freshman battle for Manny Wilkins’ old job.

“Well we actually have three and (Dillon) Sterling-Cole is the fourth one here as well, so, I think when you look at that people maybe say, ‘You brought in two quarterbacks.’ Yeah, we actually brought in three,” coach Herm Edwards said. “The way I look at it is you can’t create enough competition at the position. No football goes anywhere without a good quarterback.”

ASU is the only school in the country with three top 20 recruits at quarterback in the country with Alabama, Penn State and Georgia being the only other schools with two top 20 recruits at the position.

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Combined with Sterling-Cole, the Sun Devils have enough talent at quarterback to fuel two Division 1 programs. And with all three freshman joining the team in the spring, each young signal-caller will have an equal chance to impress offensive coordinator Rob Likens, Edwards and the rest of the ASU staff for the starting job.

What can each freshman bring to the table?

A native of West Linn, Oregon, Long gathered offers from more Ivy League schools than Pac-12 schools. But the 6-foot-2, 212-pound pro-style quarterback threw 31 touchdown passes for 3,247 yards in 12 games this past season.

Long uses his big frame and big arm to make plays down field and although he may be a pro-style quarterback, the former Lions signal caller is an effective runner. For Long, his one nagging issue is his ability to protect the football. The Sun Devil recruit threw 17 interceptions this past season.

Long’s only freshman counterpart initially, Yellen threw just three picks in his senior year at Mission Viejo in California. Bigger than Long, Yellen’s 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame allows him to stand tall in the pocket as a pure pocket passer.

As a quarterback who rarely ran for yards of his own (only nine rushing yards in his senior season), Yellen, like Long, has a big arm but unlike his counterpart has greater awareness in the pocket and displays impeccable throwing mechanics.

If the additions of Yellen and Long brought future stability at the position for the Sun Devils, then it was Daniels who brought the excitement.

The numbers speak for themselves. 60 touchdown passes or more in both his junior and senior seasons, a 70 percent career completion percentage, 31 rushing touchdowns in his last two years and only nine interceptions as the starter at Cajon High School in San Bernardino, California.

Daniels can do it all.

Deep throws down the field? Check. Extending plays with his feet while outrunning defenders on his way to the end zone? You got it. Protecting the ball while throwing accurate passes in tight windows? No problem.

Despite their differences, what all three signal callers have in common is a hunger for competition. At a position where only one player can play at a time, the commitment of all three quarterbacks to the program is not only uncommon but fascinating regarding the future of all three recruits now as Sun Devils.

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“Look, when you get three quarterbacks and you tell them, ‘We’re recruiting three guys.’ And none of them bat an eye, they say, ‘I’m in coach.’” Edwards said. “That tells me something about the guy, that ‘I’m willing to compete.’ So when you get guys like that in your program it’s like, OK those are the type of guys that we want, those that want to compete.”

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.

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