Ball security. Perhaps the most basic concept for successful offenses to follow and is one that can often separate quarterbacks in the starting position battle. It was that aspect that played a key role in ASU's head coach Kenny Dillingham’s announcement following Monday’s practice that redshirt freshman Sam Leavitt will be the Sun Devils’ starting quarterback.
“The game slowed down for him,” Dillingham mentioned. “It’s going to speed back up when the live bullets come. There are going to be some year-one things that you don’t see. In 300 clips of team series scenarios which is roughly five games, he has two interceptions. He takes care of the football at a high level, he has a great work ethic, he’s mobile enough, and he’s got a lot of traits to where I think he’s a really good football player. Combine that with not turning the ball over up to this point in team series settings; that’s what helped us make the decision.”
The Michigan State transfer was in a battle with senior Nebraska transfer from Jeff Sims, who ultimately was turnover-prone during team segments in fall camp, while Leavitt was rewarded in keeping his mistakes to a minimum. Nonetheless, Dillingham is excited about the overall talent level in that position room, as he also stated that Sims will be the backup and returning signal caller and senior Trenton Bourguet will be the No. 3 quarterback.
“We’re fired up,” Dillingham noted. “We believe we have a lot of quarterbacks on this team that can win football games, and I feel like our quarterback depth is really good. I’m confident with all three of our quarterbacks right now that have been getting reps.
“Obviously, as things continue, that (depth chart position) could change. I have a lot of trust in Trenton, and he started a lot of games last year. Trenton was voted on the Leadership Council here for a reason: because guys trust him and believe in him. He’s back there grabbing Sam after plays and coaching him. To have a guy like Trenton on this football team who embodies ASU football is a blessing.”
The comfort level of Arizona State’s new starting quarterback during the period that has passed since Leavitt arrived in Tempe in the spring to now has been, to use his words, “like night and day.” In four games at Michigan State, the redshirt freshman completed 15-of-23 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. He also rushed 13 times for 67 yards and has put his mobility on display during fall camp as well as in spring practice. It was a constant progression that naturally caught the eye of ASU's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Marcus Arroyo.
“Coming out of spring, there were some things he was pretty frustrated with,” Arroyo recalled. “It’s a new offense, we haven’t been together and didn’t know each other, and everything was new to him. I think that growth is hard initially, but the growth from spring to summer was evident. I think his confidence was boosted over the summer after being with these guys a lot, and you could see that come out in fall camp.”
Leavitt began preseason practices already taking first-team reps, which certainly put a target on his back as the person his teammates were vying to beat out for the starting job. There were a handful of practices as part of the common fall camp experimentation where Leavitt ran with the second team more to allow Sims more looks with the starters for a fair evaluation and comparison between the two. Throughout this process, though, Leavitt’s mentality and attitude never changed, and that served as another element in his favor.
“He’s the same person every day,” Dillingham commented. “He’s pretty consistent, a competitor, and to be honest, all three of our top guys (Leavitt, Sims, Trenton Bourguet), they’ve all been kind of the same demeanor and mindset every day. That’s one of the reasons I feel really good about our quarterback room because I know what I’m getting out of those guys every time they walk into the building.”
The arsenal of playmakers on this side of the ball is notably improved and can greatly aid an inexperienced quarterback such as Leavitt. Proven returning skill players such as running backs Cam Skattebo and DeCarlos Brooks, as well as wide receiver Melquan Stovall, are now joined by impact post-spring transfers like tight end Chamon Metayer and wide receiver Malik McLain as well as wide receiver Jake Smith, who was sidelined by the NCAA that denied him and other undergrad multi-team transfers immediate eligibility.
“I think we have weapons to surround the quarterbacks with this year,” Dillingham expressed. “You can create a plan to put those guys in their best skill set. I think we have enough talent around our quarterback this year to the point where we can protect them and we can build a plan around all three of the quarterbacks if needed to be successful.”
The quarterback competition was tight the first two weeks of fall camp, and Dillingham believes that Leavitt and Sims became better players because of it. Neither one of them ever took their foot off the gas pedal because they knew the guy behind them was working hard to earn the first team spot back.
“I told Sam I needed to bring in another quarterback, and he said, ‘Let’s go!’” Dillingham said. “It’s always about competition and making the guy next to you better. If you push a guy next to you, he’ll push right back. It’s a lot easier to climb the ladder with people helping you than to push people down.”
As both the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Arroyo has gotten a front-row seat to the battle between Sims and Leavitt. With the opportunity to coach that tandem, Arroyo unquestionably played an important role in the evaluation process as he was able to closely follow their progress.
“Anytime you get to this point in camp, you get excited about the opportunity to get a ton of reps,” Arroyo explained. “Now you get about two weeks to ramp up and get the chemistry and solidify that position. It was earned, not given, and we’re excited about it.”
“He’s (Leavitt) got a great work ethic. He’s come in as a guy who’s only played four games and has been extremely savvy in regards to taking an approach that puts him in a place where he can gain as much of an advantage workwise as he can. He's here early and late, he’s got a ton of questions during film (sessions), and he’s constantly thirsting for information and growth. You can see it because it's reflective in his patterns.”
Leavitt’s inexperience is a facet that creates a component of the unknown when projecting the improvement this ASU offense is poised to make. Until the season kickoff, all the Sun Devil staff can do in their evaluation process is form an opinion based on the conduct and actions Leavitt has displayed on and off the field, and these have been characteristics that have been encouraging to witness from one of the most important leaders on the team.
“He’s still so young at the position,” Arroyo said. “To have the maturity and do some of the off-the-field he does is above par. To be in the position he’s in with the youthfulness and lack of experience and to be as finite and detailed as he is with his work in the building and away from me is rare. That’s something that usually comes with experience and maturity, and he has no distractions. He is dialed, very mature, and that’s a unique piece of him.”
Naming starting quarterbacks will do anything but deviate Arroyo’s approach to all the players in his position room. Showing that he’s invested in each and every signal caller on the roster and, more importantly, being extremely honest with each and every player are the cornerstones of his coaching philosophy.
“The biggest thing I hold near and dear to is being transparent,” Arroyo explained. “We track every ball and every stat, so there’s ultimate transparency. It’s clearer about who’s taking care of the ball, whether we are explosive, where we are on third downs, and how we are doing on first and second downs.
“We make it clear what we’re doing and how we’re doing, and that's reflective of me. We’ve been honest with each other about where we need to go, and I think both those guys understood the nature of the position we took and are excited about being there as a team.”
