As reported first last week on our Devils' Huddle premium message board, Blake Barnett’s once-promising ASU career is coming to an end without the highly-touted quarterback ever making a start for the Sun Devils.
Barnett, a former 4-star recruit who transferred to ASU from Alabama after the 2016 season, will be transferring out of the program. ASU did not put any restrictions on schools Barnett could transfer to. As a graduate, he will be eligible to play immediately for the 2018 season.
It was less than 18 months ago that Barnett appeared to be the future of Sun Devils’ football. After losing his starting job in Alabama, the 6-foot-4 signal caller was wooed to Tempe by then-ASU coach Todd Graham, committing to the Sun Devils just days after they wrapped an ugly 5-7 campaign in 2016.
Even with returning starter Manny Wilkins on roster an the time, Barnett seemed likely to overtake the No. 1 quarterback spot. It never happened.
Graham stuck with Wilkins through the entirety of the 2017 season. Wilkins improved during the year, finishing fifth in the Pac-12 in passing yards per game and efficiency, and sixth in Total QBR. Barnett was forced into mop-up duty, completing just three of five total pass attempts all season. He also had an interception returned for a touchdown against USC.
An offseason coaching change did little to improve Barnett’s depth-chart fortunes. This spring, new head coach Herm Edwards and offensive coordinator Rob Likens kept Barnett with the second-team offense and, at times, had him splitting reps with redshirt sophomore Dillon Sterling-Cole. It seemed unlikely, barring injury, Barnett would challenge for a first-string role until at least 2019, after Wilkins graduated.
Barnett, a Corona, California product, was the No. 41 overall prospect and second-best dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2015 according to Rivals, accolades that earned him an offer from national powerhouse Alabama. After redshirting with the Crimson Tide in 2015, Barnett appeared to have won the starting job for the 2016 campaign. In Alabama’s season-opener against the Trojans that year, he quarterbacked the team’s first two drives before unexpectedly being replaced by fellow freshman Jalen Hurts. It would be his one and only start with the program and, four games into the season, he decided to leave Tuscaloosa.
Barnett’s divorce with ASU this offseason will leave the Sun Devils dangerously thin under center. Behind Wilkins, a fifth-year senior, Sterling-Cole is the team’s only gunslinger with game experience. Behind him, ASU has a pair of redshirt freshmen in Ryan Kelley and Kevin Brown. But Kelley, a former 4-star recruit from Chandler Basha, remains sidelined indefinitely with a shoulder injury, while Brown, a walk-on, looked anything but sharp in a brief spring game appearance earlier this month.
The Sun Devils did not add any quarterbacks in their 2018 recruiting class either, the first time since 2013 they did not sign a signal caller.
Barnett becomes the third quarterback to transfer away from ASU in the last year, following in the footsteps of fellow class of 2015 QBs Bryce Perkins and Brady White, who will suit up in 2018 for Virginia and Memphis, respectively.
During his year at ASU, Barnett got married to professional surfer Maddie Peterson and the couple had their first child this March. During spring practices, Barnett cited his fatherhood responsibilities at home when politely denying interview requests.
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