Replacing Rudy Carpenter, Part I: The Underdogs
For the first time since 2006, the Arizona State football program does not have a clear No. 1 at quarterback. Here’s an early look at the five men competing for Rudy Carpenter’s job—and our early attempt at handicapping the race.
Danny Sullivan, Chasen Stangel and Samson Szakacsy prep for their closeups. (Image courtesy East Valley Tribune)
Be sure to check out our look at the two men atop the quarterback competition.
1. Jack Elway, Redshirt Freshman
To casual fans, Jack Elway has generated a lot of buzz from his last name, given his father is former NFL MVP John Elway. It’s already clear Jack won’t be the player his father was—otherwise he would have not have redshirted last year. And Elway doesn’t have the high school resume that Samson Szakacsy and Chasen Stangel had.
But he was ranked the No. 51 quarterback in the nation by Scout.com as a high school senior. He also has an in with Dennis Erickson, who served as an assistant coach for Elway’s grandfather at San Jose State from 1979-1981. Too much attention will be given Elway for him not to get a fair chance at the starting job. Odds of Starting: 10%
2. Brock Osweiler, True Freshman
A standout in hoops, Brock Osweiler originally committed to Gonzaga for basketball before deciding his future was on the gridiron. The Kalispell, Mont., product looks to be a physical specimen, standing 6-foot-8 with decent mobility.
How often does starting a kid fresh out of high school work out? If it didn’t work at Notre Dame with Jimmy Clausen, we’re betting it won’t for Osweiler behind ASU’s shaky offensive line next fall. But Osweiler intends to graduate early and be in Tempe for spring practice. If he’s doing that, you can bet Erickson told him he’ll have a chance to compete for the job. Odds of Starting: 10%
3. Chasen Stangel, Sophomore
Chasen Stangel is the forgotten man in this mix. However, he remained with the team after seeing Szakacsy commit in the same recruiting class and through the signing of Elway last February. So Stangel must think he still has a chance of winning the job.
He certainly had the credentials as a recruit. The San Jucinto, Calif., product is a former Elite 11 Quarterback Camp product and was ranked the 20th best signal caller in the nation by MaxPreps coming out of high school. He chose ASU over New Mexico, Purdue and UTEP. Odds of Starting: 10%
What’s Your Take, Sun Devils?
Who do you want to see replace Rudy Carpenter as the Sun Devils’ starting quarterback? Let us know in the comments below.
Enjoy this article? Buy us a beer for just $4. (Credit Card / Paypal)More Sun Devil News, Less HassleDon’t fool around with bookmarks or the refresh button. We’ve made it easier to subscribe, so you can have Sun Devil news delivered FREE straight to your inbox.
Brock Osweiler in action. He’s definitely tall …
He’s being billed as the front-runner but please, in the name of all that’s holy, don’t make Danny Sullivan the starter. I mean, has anyone seen him play?
Fans around me would yell “We want Sullivan” every time Rudy threw a pass 8 feet over someone’s head. I’d turn around and say “No, you don’t.” And then they would agree and we’d move on.
A couple of series in the Holiday Bowl against Texas’s fourth-string can’t be enough to overcome what we saw when he played this year.
I think Szakacsy has the in for it, since he did come over from usc when Erickson came to ASU, plus he has been there the past couple of seasons just watching. But I do really like this Brock kid, especially after that video. I first thought that he can just through the ball, which would help our offense anyways, but I did not know he can run a little too, can you say Big Ben like. Will be interesting watching it during the spring and fall, I am excited
And dont worry, I dont think Sullivan will be the starter, even though he has been there the longest. Erickson has no loyalty so him since he did not bring him in, the only reason why he was the backup was because he was there the longest rather then chase and samson
[...] Be sure to check out this morning’s post on three underdogs vying for the job. [...]
[...] took a two-part look at Rudy’s potential replacements, starting with the underdogs and concluding with the [...]
[...] (That’s him striking the Heisman pose for the The Daily Inter Lake above.) We only gave him a 10% chance of winning the quarterback job next year, but he didn’t graduate early from high school for kicks. Armchair recruiters may enjoy the video [...]