Position-by-Position Breakdowns for Arizona State Sun Devils Football: Quarterback

With training camp in full effect for Arizona State Sun Devils football, we turn our attention to position-by-position battles starting with quarterback.

The Arizona State Sun Devils football program is facing the most uncertainty at quarterback that it has had in quite some time. The Sun Devils have been fortunate to coast from guys like Taylor Kelly to Mike Bercovici to Manny Wilkins and then to most recently Jayden Daniels over the last decade. That kind of consistency and reliability at the quarterback position is as rare as it gets in college football.

That familiarity is all but gone as the team heads into the 2022 season with four quarterbacks vying for the starting role.

About six months ago, Arizona State watched the aforementioned Daniels, who started each of the last three seasons for the program, enter the NCAA Transfer Portal and eventually commit to LSU. At the time, the starting gig was entirely up for grabs with redshirt junior Trenton Bourguet having the most experience on the roster. He was joined by redshirt junior Daylin McLemore as the most tenured quarterbacks for the Sun Devils at the time.

Former four-star quarterback Paul Tyson announced he was transferring from Alabama to come to Tempe and compete for a starting role in 2023. This was before Daniels' transfer, which ultimately led to him, Bourguet, and McLemore headlining the competition for the starting quarterback gig.

During spring practice, head coach Herm Edwards said, "Is the quarterback here? ... if not, there's always plan B (the transfer portal)." Edwards must not have been overly impressed with the quarterbacks the Sun Devils fielded back in March, as the program ended up bringing in former Florida quarterback Emory Jones to also compete for the starting job.

Jones, who started one season for Florida this past season, has a very similar skillset to what Daniels brought to the team. That kind of familiarity with the offense was likely a big factor in his decision to come to Arizona State and may give him a leg up on the competition for the starting role.

With Jones on the roster now, it has become a four-legged race for being the Week 1 starter. While no one has been named the starter to this point, it seems all but guaranteed that Jones will get the nod for the beginning of the season, at least. Jones has the most starting experience of any of the quarterbacks on the roster and would allow the Sun Devils to run a similar offense to what they've become accustomed to over the last several seasons. For this reason, it makes all the sense in the world for Jones to get the start.

It is far from certain that Jones will remain the starter for the entirety of the season, however. Jones was benched on more than one occasion for the Gators in favor of Anthony Richardson due to poor play. It would therefore make sense that Edwards and Co. would maintain a leash for Jones should he find himself struggling again.

Naturally, Arizona State will be hoping that whoever ends up the starting quarterback for the team will be able to hold on to that spot for the entirety of the season, but the Sun Devils will have options to rotate with should any struggle.

All in all, the Sun Devils' quarterback battle has been and will continue to be the most intriguing story line of training camp. Expect an announcement relatively soon for who the starting quarterback for Week 1 against Northern Arizona will be.