It's a given that the ASU offense will enter spring practice with the looming question of whether, without the services of All-Big 12 running back Cam Skattebo, they can have the same potent unit as they did in 2024. Nonetheless, this team still has the potential to duplicate many of the impressive stats they registered during last year's 11-win season, thanks to one of the best quarterback-wide receiver combinations in college football.
(All positions listed by seniority)
Quarterback
RS-SR Jeff Sims
RS-SO Sam Leavitt
RS-FR Navi Bruzon
RS-FR Christian Hunt
FR Cameron Dyer
FR Michael Tollefson
Departures: Trenton Bourguet (graduation, now serving as ASU's assistant running backs coach), Tyler Laskaris (undisclosed)
It’s hard to think of a college football program in recent history that experienced such a dramatic, night-and-day difference in stability and effectiveness at this position from one year to the next, as ASU did from 2023 to 2024.
After starting what remains an incomprehensible number of five total players at quarterback in 2023 – including two players from other offensive positions – there was quite literally nowhere to go but up for the Sun Devil quarterback room in 2024.
What “up” meant in this sense, however, was a level so lofty that no one in their right might could have visualized it in a dream or brought it to life in a video game set on the easiest difficulty setting. Sam Leavitt, who transferred in from Michigan State following his true freshman season with very limited college playing experience, quickly became an integral force and one of the top young quarterbacks in the game as he helped guide Arizona State to its first football conference championship since 1996 and its first College Football Playoff appearance in school history.
Leavitt was the odds-on favorite to claim the starting quarterback job after his spring performances a year ago, and he never looked back. Following a redshirt freshman season in which he threw for 2,885 yards with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions, along with 443 net rushing yards and five scores, he went on to become the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and the Second-Team All-Big 12 selection at quarterback.
In addition to the quantifiable contributions he made on the field last season, Leavitt showed uncanny toughness, resolve, swagger, and moxie and brought a gritty demeanor that helped him make play after play after play in 2024.
Leavitt also evolved as the season progressed. Across the final five regular-season games, he posted a stellar touchdown-to-interception ratio of 13-to-1.
The big question for Leavitt in 2025 simply is – what’s next?
Leavitt enters his redshirt sophomore season as a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender, and in the eyes of some, he may even be the preseason favorite to win the prestigious award. Though his starting job is in no measure of jeopardy whatsoever, he likely will have to carry greater responsibility in 2025 due to the graduation of heart-and-soul running back Cam Skattebo.
First things first, this spring, Leavitt can continue to sharpen his skills, grow with offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo and head coach Kenny Dillingham, further strengthen his elite connection with star receiver Jordyn Tyson, and help acclimate ASU’s new offensive arrivals into the Sun Devil system.
To backup Leavitt, ASU has the significant benefit of a tenured quarterback with extensive starting experience in Jeff Sims. Sims, who boasts 26 career collegiate starts between his time at Georgia Tech, Nebraska, and Arizona State, has thrown for nearly 5,000 career yards with 31 touchdowns and has rushed for almost 1,500 career rushing yards with 13 scores. The primary knock on his play has been turnover issues, punctuated by his 29 career interceptions.
Last season, Sims saw limited action and maintained a redshirt during his first season in Tempe. He appeared in four games, starting at Cincinnati, and totaled 168 passing yards with no touchdowns or interceptions and 101 net rushing yards with a score.
Behind Leavitt and Sims, redshirt freshmen Navi Bruzon and Christian Hunt will compete for third-string action. Bruzon was a two-time Arizona Gatorade State Player of the Year during his time at Peoria’s Liberty High School.
Also joining the program for 2025 are true freshman quarterback signees, Cameron Dyer and Michael Tollefson.
Dyer, who, like Bruzon, was the Gatorade State Player of the Year in New Mexico, is a versatile athlete who at one point was believed to come to ASU as a wide receiver. A four-star prospect rated the No. 9 athlete in the country according to Rivals for the 2025 class, Dyer will begin his college career at quarterback but could miss most, if not all, of his true freshman season due to an ACL injury suffered during his senior year in high school, and therefore will be sidelined in the spring.
Tollefson, who relocated from California during his senior year of high school to Phoenix’s Mountain Pointe High School, joined the Sun Devil program in December and practiced with the team during postseason practices, he was rated the No. 18 dual-threat quarterback in the country for 2025 by Rivals.
Running Back
SR Alton McCaskill
RS-JR Raleek Brown
JR Kyson Brown
JR Kanye Udoh
RS-FR Jason Brown, Jr.
FR Grayson Rigdon*
FR Demarius Robinson
*-Expected to arrive this summer, will not participate in spring practices
Departures: DeCarlos Brooks, Cam Skattebo (graduation)
When a college team has a generational, do-everything, heart-and-soul, program-shifting, All-America, national underdog icon like Cam Skattebo, it’s known well ahead of time that it’ll be an impossible task to completely replace that player’s presence on and off the field.
If you ask me, you’d have to go back to Jake Plummer to find a Sun Devil student-athlete in any major sport who seemed to have the power to single-handedly will his team to almost unbelievable and imperceivable success, but Skattebo was just that last season for ASU and what he did for the Arizona State in 2024 should and hopefully will live on in Sun Devil lore for the rest of time. Not only will his 1,711 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns be sorely missed, but some may forget that he was also second on the team in receiving yards with 605 yards, scoring three touchdowns.
As the pendulum swings and Skattebo prepares for his entirely hard-earned and well-deserved NFL payday, ASU now faces the post-Skatt world. However, with returning contributors, pick-ups in high school recruiting and the transfer portal, and the presence of an elite position coach, the Sun Devils figure to be in a position to have a strong, diverse ground game in 2025.
Though the Sun Devils lose an absolutely unforgettable athlete and human being in Skattebo, the program still has a significant measure of continuity in the position group. Multiple players return to the position, along with elite position coach Shaun Aguano, who, after Skattebo’s professional fate is determined, will have sent all four of his starting running backs to the NFL since joining the Sun Devil program in 2019.
An additional level of steadiness will be found in this group’s leadership in the form of a very familiar face in a new role. Former Sun Devil quarterback Trenton Bourguet trades in his helmet for a clipboard and will serve as assistant running backs coach this season under Aguano.
Two key questions that will be asked throughout the entire preseason are: Will Aguano, who has typically had one primary back receive the substantial bulk of the workload, feature more of a “by committee” approach, and if it is more of a one-man show, who will fill Skattebo’s enormous shoes?
In terms of returning players, Kyson Brown is likely first in line to step into the limelight of the starting lineup after serving as a more-than-capable backup to Skattebo last season. In 2024, Brown rushed 73 times for 351 yards (4.8 avg.) with two touchdowns and caught 13 passes for 189 yards with a touchdown. He also recorded ASU’s longest reception of the year for 2024, a 68-yard touchdown in the season opener against Wyoming.
Brown, a brilliant student-athlete, versatile player, and unselfish teammate, has the team experience edge over the others in his position group. However, he will have to put everything on the line to hold off a group of capable runners who are also vying to be the team’s top back in 2025.
One of the most important—and possibly the very most important—transfer portal acquisitions could be Kanye Udoh, who relocated to Arizona State after rushing for more than 1,100 yards for a 12-win Army team in 2024.
After rushing for 524 yards and a touchdown as a freshman in 2023, Udoh had an outstanding sophomore campaign in which he rushed 179 times for 1,117 yards (6.2 avg.) with 10 touchdowns. He had five games with at least 100 rushing yards, including two games with a college career-high of 158 rushing yards. He also had a pair of 100-plus rushing efforts as a freshman, giving him seven across the first half of his college career.
While there is no doubt about the physical element of his game, one potential question mark is his pass-catching ability, as he collected just two receptions for a mere three yards in his two seasons with Army. However, the jury can remain out on that aspect of his game as Army, a powerhouse rushing program, traditionally is among the bottom teams in the nation in pass offense and pass attempts.
Raleek Brown came to Arizona State last offseason with tremendous fanfare as he had previously been ranked a five-star prospect, the top all-purpose back in the nation, and the country’s No. 25 overall recruit for the 2021 class before signing with USC.
Injury issues greatly limited his debut season in Temp, as he appeared in only two games and, rushed nine times for 42 yards and caught three passes for six yards. Back healthy for 2025, Brown has the physical toolkit to be one of the most explosive players in the Sun Devil offense and is poised to be a dangerous weapon in the return game as well.
A four-star prospect out of the Seattle area in 2024, Jason Brown, Jr. was the highest-rated high school recruit ASU signed for that cycle, as he was ranked the No. 16 running back in the country. Brown redshirted last season but flashed potential in the limited field action he earned, as he carried four times for 35 yards in his lone appearance of the year, which occurred in the season opener against Wyoming.
This same sentiment was shared about this player around this time last year, but a potential wild card in this mix is Alton McCaskill. Four years ago, he appeared to be well on his way to an NFL career, but injury issues have since greatly derailed his collegiate progress.
As a freshman at Houston in 2021, McCaskill had a sensational rookie campaign in which he totaled 18 touchdowns with 961 rushing yards and 113 receiving yards. From there, however, he missed the 2022 season due to injury and has transferred twice, first to Colorado and then to Arizona State, and has totaled just 21 carries for 76 yards with no touchdowns since the end of the 2021 season.
Last year with ASU, McCaskill is credited with eight game appearances but carried just seven times for 17 yards – all in the season opener against Wyoming. What he will contribute in 2025 is a complete unknown, and though the memories of his next-level efforts as a freshman in 2021 are fading away more by the day, when healthy, he possesses the skill set to be an impact player. Spring practice provides an excellent opportunity for McCaskill to claim a higher pecking order in the rotation than some may predict for him.
Adding to the group are two true freshman runners, Grayson Rigdon and Demarius Robinson. Robinson is on campus for spring practices.
Robinson, a prep standout from Oklahoma who had competing Big 12 offers from Houston and Kansas State, will join the loaded backfield for spring practices to kick off his collegiate career.
Rigdon, who is expected to join the program this summer and, therefore, will not participate in spring practices, brings a unique story and incredible athletic resume to Tempe. Initially a Wyoming commitment, Rigdon was a three-time Six-Man Player of the Year in the state of Texas who, in his first season of 11-man high school football, rushed for over 2,000 yards with 39 touchdowns, helping his team claim the 3A Division I state title in 2024. Oh, by the way, Rigdon also averages over 40 points per game for his high school career as a basketball player.
Wide Receiver
RS-SR Coben Bourguet
RS-SR Malik McClain
RS-SR Armon Collins
RS-JR Jalen Moss
RS-JR Jordyn Tyson
RS-JR Max Ware
RS-SO Deric English
RS-SO Derek Eusebio
RS-SO Noble Johnson
RS-FR Jaren Hamilton
RS-FR Zecheriah Sample
RS-FR Justice Spann
FR Chance Ables
FR Cory Butler, Jr.
FR Harry Hassman
FR Uriah Neloms
Departures: Xavier Guillory, Jake Smith, Melquan Stovall (graduation); Kaleb Black (transfer, Sam Houston State), Korbin Hendrix (transfer, Montana), Troy Omiere (transfer, UNLV), Jamaal Young II (transfer, North Dakota)
On a team that boasted incredible roster retention from 2024 to 2025, the wide receiver group is likely the unit that requires the most substantial replacements, though ASU benefits greatly from the return of Jordyn Tyson, its potential All-America and Biletnikoff Award candidate.
Expectations were quite lofty for Tyson in 2024, but even the most favorable of those predictions likely fell short of the sensational season he had last fall.
After transferring to ASU from Colorado prior to the 2023 season, Tyson missed the entirety of his debut campaign with the Sun Devils due to injury. Following the spring 2024 transfer of would-be leading returning receiver Elijhah Badger, ASU’s coaching staff needed a new number one receiver, and Tyson filled that role and then some.
Tyson's start to the season was relatively slow, as he had 14 receptions with one touchdown across the first four games, but the months of October and November showcased his incredible skill set.
Over the final eight regular season games, Tyson had at least five receptions in each game and had at least seven catches in each of the last five games of the year, and overall, he had five 100-yard receiving games, including each of the previous three he played. In total, Tyson caught 75 passes for 1,101 yards with 10 touchdowns and had five 100-yard games on the year on his way to being named the Big 12 Conference Offensive Newcomer of the Year, First-Team All-Big 12, and Third-Team All-America by the Associated Press.
Though Tyson sadly was injured in ASU’s Territorial Cup game trashing of Arizona in Tucson and was sidelined for both the Big 12 Championship Game and ASU’s College Football Playoff appearance in the Peach Bowl, he is back healthy and is expected to form perhaps the top passing tandem in the country with returning quarterback Sam Leavitt.
With the recent news that Kaedin Robinson, a would-be transfer receiver from Appalachian State to UCLA, had a waiver request denied by the NCAA, which effectively ended Robinson’s college career, Tyson ranks second in the nation among returning players in terms of receiving yards per game from 2024 (91.8), only behind the 97.7 by Eric Rivers, who transferred this offseason from FIU to Georgia Tech. Tyson, by all accounts, should be a preseason All-American, perhaps even a first-team selection.
With the departures of ASU’s second, third, and fourth-leading wide receivers, Guillory, Stovall, and Smith, Malik McClain likely will enter the spring as a starting receiver. If his postseason performances are any indication, he could be a legitimate playmaker for the Sun Devils this fall.
McClain was a relatively late arrival to the Sun Devil program last summer out of the transfer portal. Though he turned heads in preseason camp, it was considered the best option for him to sit out the season and maintain eligibility for 2025.
Taking advantage of loopholes that allow redshirting players to appear in postseason games without compromising their eligibility, he was inserted into the lineup and made highlight reel plays in the Big 12 Championship game and the College Football Playoff as he hauled in an acrobatic 43-yard catch against Iowa State and then was on the receiving end of a 42-yard catch and run for a touchdown on a fourth-down pass from running back Cam Skattebo versus Texas.
Before coming to ASU, McClain spent the 2021-22 seasons at Florida State and 2023 with Penn State. For his entire college career—including his time at ASU—he has 41 receptions for 552 yards with seven touchdowns. It seems logical to believe that McClain will have every opportunity to be a high-level impact player for the Sun Devils in 2025.
From the transfer portal this offseason, ASU acquired Jalen Moss (Fresno State), Noble Johnson (Clemson), and Jaren Hamilton (Alabama) to help fortify the short and long-term potency of ASU’s wide receivers’ room.
Of the group, Moss is by far the most established and should be an odds-on favorite to earn starting reps this spring. In two seasons with Fresno State, Moss totaled 103 receptions for 1,269 yards with 10 touchdowns. He has eight career games with at least 75 receiving yards, including a pair of 100-yard outings as a freshman in 2023. Moss tallied 48 receptions for 563 yards with four touchdowns last year for the Bulldogs before opting to transfer to ASU.
Though Moss brings the greatest college credentials of the three, Johnson and Hamilton had outstanding pedigrees as recruits, as Johnson was rated the No. 35 wide receiver and No. 218 overall prospect in the nation for the 2023 class, while Hamilton was a four-star recruit in that same class.
Johnson appeared in 13 games across the 2023-24 seasons for Clemson and caught three passes for 16 yards, while Hamilton appeared in seven games but has yet to record a catch at the college level.
After redshirting in 2024, speedster Zecheriah Sample will look to carve out a role in the Sun Devil offense, while team veteran Coben Bourguet and intriguing pass-catcher Derek Eusebio will also be in the hunt for practice reps this spring.
A crop of true freshmen, including Chance Ables, Cory Butler, Jr., Harry Hassman, and Uriah Neloms, will also work to earn reps to open their college careers.
Returners Armon Collins, Max Ware, Deric English, and Justice Spann – son of former ASU receiver Creig Spann – will also compete for time.
Tight End
RS-SR Cameron Harpole
RS-SR Chamon Metayer
RS-SO Coleson Arends
RS-SO Sinjin Schmitt
JR Khamari Anderson
RS-FR Jayden Fortier
RS-FR James Giggey
FR AJ Ia
Departure: Markeston Douglas (transfer, Florida State)
After ASU’s tight ends room was essentially decimated following the 2023 season with the transfer departures of Jalin Conyers to Texas Tech and Bryce Pierre to UCLA along with Messiah Swinson’s graduation, the Sun Devil coaching staff was tasked with completely resurrecting the position group and did so to highly commendable levels.
The driving force of the position group last year was Cincinnati transfer Chamon Metayer, a Second-Team All-Big 12 honoree for 2024 who caught 32 passes for 306 yards and five touchdowns. In terms of Sun Devils returning to the program for 2025, Metayer ranks second behind Jordyn Tyson in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown catches from 2024.
To put his achievements into perspective, last season, Metayer became the first Sun Devil tight end to earn first or second-team all-conference honors since Chris Coyle in 2013, and his 32 receptions last year ties the mark for the second most by an Arizona State tight end since Coyle’s record-setting 2012 season. Metayer stands a good chance to be the main benefactor of some of the receiving yards lost with Skattebo’s departure.
In his first season as a Sun Devil, Cameron Harpole, formerly a San Diego State transfer, was a consistent figure in ASU’s offense as he appeared in all 14 games with a start at Cincinnati. Though he caught just one pass for 17 yards on the year, he provided a valuable presence and figures to again see ample action in 2025. A strong offseason, where he improved his speed and agility, should net him a bigger role in the offense.
Khamari Anderson will begin his Sun Devil career this spring after transferring from Kentucky. A former four-star prospect from the class of 2023, Anderson caught six passes across 22 games played the past two seasons in a system that has certainly underutilized him and other tight ends. Ever since his arrival, he has proven to be a true student of the game with an exceptional work ethic, and at only 19 years old, he truly has his best football ahead of him.
Many eyes will be on the progress of two high-profile youngsters, redshirt freshman Jayden Fortier and true freshman AJ Ia.
Fortier’s recruitment gained significant momentum in the late stages of his high school career, but a late season injury sidelined him for the entirety of his true freshman season. He is believed to have significant upside at tight end and should be a future fixture at the position for ASU. As a gifted receiver, he will need to improve his physicality and blocking skills to increase his involvement in the offense in years to come.
The highest rated high school recruit ASU signed for 2025, Ia was a four-star prospect according to Rivals and was ranked the No. 20 tight end recruit in the country for his class. Ia, on campus for spring practices with readymade size for his position (6-6, 240), should be predicted to be perhaps ASU’s most impactful true freshman contributor this fall. He moves extremely well for his physical specimen size and has outstanding receiving skills. The fact that he was the offensive player of the year in Southern California’s High School Trinity league, considered to arguably be the best in that state, illustrates the strong foundation of talent Ia possess.
Redshirt freshman James Giggey, initially slated to play defense prior to his arrival on campus, will also be in the mix for playing time, along with returning players Coleson Arends and Sinjin Schmitt. Arends appeared in all 14 games for the Sun Devils last season.
Offensive Line
GRAD Ben Coleman
RS-SR Josh Atkins
RS-SR Max Iheanachor
RS-SR Brandon Lloyd
RS-SR Jimeto Obigbo
RS-SR Kyle Scott
RS-JR Jalen Klemm
JR Doughless Teloma*
RS-SO Sean Na’a
RS-SO Keona Peat
RS-SO Makua Pule
RS-SO Joey Su’a
RS-FR Connor Cameron
RS-FR Kaden Haeckel
RS-FR Xander Ruggeroli
RS-FR Terrell Kim
RS-FR Champ Westbrooks
FR Desean Bryant, Jr.
FR Alema Iosua**
FR Matai Jefferson*
FR RJ Lapuaho*
FR Manamo’ui Muti
FR Maki Stewart
*-Expected to arrive this summer, will not participate in spring practices
**-Expected to serve LDS mission for 2025-26 and join the program in 2027
Departures: Emmit Bohle, Cade Briggs Leif Fautanu (graduation); Luis Cordova (transfer), Sirri Kandiyeli (transfer, Southern Utah); Colby Garvin, Carson Keim, Semisi Tonga, Bram Walden (medical retirement)
Entering the spring, the 2025 Sun Devil offensive line is heavy on college experience, as all five starters this fall could be seniors.
In total, ASU’s offensive line has to replace 19 total starts from last season – 14 by center Leif Fautanu, four by Cade Briggs and one by Emmit Bohle.
With the departure of Fautanu, a distinct team leader and First-Team All-Big 12 selection, the group's figurehead moving forward is likely to be Ben Coleman, who is slated to shift from his left guard position to center in place of Fautanu.
Coleman, an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 choice last season, started all 14 games in his first season of action as a Sun Devil after missing the 2023 season due to injury following his transfer from California to ASU.
Coleman's move to center isn’t the first example of versatility shown during his college career. From 2019-22 at Cal, he started 16 games at left guard and nine at left tackle. He was an Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 selection in 2021 for the Golden Bears, just as he was for ASU last season.
Also returning are tackles Josh Atkins and Max Iheanachor and guard Kyle Scott, all of whom earned extensive starting reps in 2024.
Last season, Atkins and Iheanachor started all 14 games at left and right tackle, respectively, while Scott made nine starts at right guard. Though none of the three earned any measure of all-conference recognition, it isn’t much of a stretch to say all three greatly outperformed expectations and were important pieces of what enabled ASU to have a reliable offensive line.
Iheanachor will miss spring practices rehabbing from injury, opening the door for other offensive tackle candidates to receive first-team reps.
Added to the group this offseason from the transfer portal is former Texas State lineman Jimeto Obigbo, a big-bodied (6-4, 339) veteran who was a full-time starter for the Bobcats in 2023. With Coleman’s move to center, Obigbo should be one of the top competitors to fill the newly opened starting left guard spot.
Two potentially intriguing names to watch are Jalen Klemm and Sean Na’a. These two linemen were hampered by their respective medical issues in 2024 but have the ability to be major college starters.
Na’a was abruptly inserted into the lineup as a true freshman in 2023 and ultimately appeared in nine games with seven starts but had injury issues that plagued him last year. Though he is technically credited with six game appearances for 2024 on ASU’s website, he is tagged as a redshirt sophomore for 2025 and will battle for reps at tackle.
Klemm came to ASU from Washington prior to the 2024 season after beginning his career at Kansas State but missed the entirety of last season. Now fully healthy for spring, he figures to battle Atkins at left tackle, which could be a viable option in place of Iheanachor this spring at right tackle.
Redshirt sophomores Keona Peat, Makua Pule, and Joey Su’a, along with 6-foot-10 track athlete Brandon Lloyd, will also compete for reserve roles this spring.
Pule appeared in 13 games last year as a lineman and fullback in short yardage and goal line situations, while Su’a made 12 appearances in 2024. Peat appeared in one game last fall, where he memorably lined up in the backfield and carried the ball, while Lloyd did not see game action last season.
ASU's offensive line group includes a trio of intriguing redshirt freshmen, including 350-pound Terrell Kim, 6-foot-6 Nebraska transfer Xander Ruggeroli, and former high school All-America Bowl participant Champ Westbrooks.
Kim is credited with seven game appearances in 2024 but is also listed as a redshirt freshman, while Ruggeroli played in one game last season for the Cornhuskers. Westbrooks sat out the 2024 season but is projected to have a high upside and a very bright future with Arizona State. He had made significant gains in the weight room, improving his physicality.
Returning players Connor Cameron and Kaden Haeckel along with a crop of true freshmen Desean Bryant, Jr., Matai Jefferson, RJ Lapuaho, Manamo’ui Muti and Maki Stewart also will compete for time along the offensive line, though Jefferson and Lapuaho are expected to arrive this summer.
Doughless Teloma, a massive (6-5 350) junior college signee for the 2025 class, is expected to join the program this summer and could be in the competition for reps at guard.
Alema Iosua signed with ASU as a three-star prospect out of Nevada for the 2025 class but is expected to spend the next two years on an LDS mission and likely will join the program prior to the 2027 season.
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