Replacing Rudy Carpenter, Part II: The Favorites
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 this morning’s post on three underdogs vying for the job.
4. Danny Sullivan, Senior
It’s hard to believe this guy is a senior already. Danny Sullivan has been the Sun Devils’ backup quarterback since being thrust into the role as a true freshman following Sam Keller’s abrupt transfer to Nebraska in 2006.
Playing behind Rudy Carpenter, Sullivan has seen significant playing time just twice in his career. He fared well in the fourth quarter of the 2007 Holiday Bowl against Texas, completing 7 of 14 passes for 118 yards with one score and one pick. But Sullivan looked shaky at best helping an injured Carpenter at USC this fall when he completed just 4 of 17 passes for 28 yards and 2 picks.
Some say Sullivan is the frontrunner based on experience, but having a quarterback start one season doesn’t make much sense for a rebuilding team. Look for an up-and-comer to steal the job like redshirt freshman Ryan Kealy did in 1997 when long-time backup Steve Campbell was thought to be the replacement for Jake Plummer. Odds of Starting: 30%
5. Samson Szakacsy, Sophomore
Okay, learn his name now (Sack-uh-chee) because you could be saying it a lot in the next year. Samson Szakacsy is widely regarded as the best athlete of this bunch, possessing great mobility. He recorded a shuttle time 4.09 seconds at a 2005 Scout.com Combine in Los Angeles, which tied for the fastest of all players in attendance.
Szakacsy doesn’t have a rocket arm but he earned a reputation for accuracy coming out of Camarillo, Calif. He drew so much attention that USC coach Pete Carroll offered Szakacsy a scholarship. But he signed with ASU after originally committing to the Trojans.
One knock on Szakacsy is he hasn’t regularly played since his junior year of high school, missing most of his senior campaign with an elbow injury that he had surgery on in 2007. Odds of Starting: 40%
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.
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Thanks for clearing up the pronunciation. I keep hearing “Sah-KAY-zee” on sports radio.
Re: his athleticism. That’s exciting. If they had a QB that could run a bit, I wonder if ASU would think about going to a spread style like so many others are doing these days. Our traditional-style offense obviously didn’t work out well this year, and we’ll have a good enough group of WRs (Williams, Taylor, McGaha… maybe Robinson, who we obviously haven’t seen much of) that we might be able to go four-wide a lot, which also solves our little tight end problem.
Danny Sullivan will be the next quarterback not just cause he has more experience but because he has more skill then the others. His accuracy is amazing with a cannon for an arm. He would fit best into next years ASU Sun Devil football team. No im not just saying this because he is my cousin this is the truth.
[...] Be sure to check out our look at the two men atop the quarterback competition. [...]
Where to begin … how about here: As bad as Rudy was this season none of these guys were even close to unseating him as the starter. That doesn’t make me feel good.
I predict that Elway and Stangel will never throw a pass for ASU.
All I want for Christmas is decent offensive line protection, or else we’ll be going thru all these QBs due to injuries.
I have heard alot of good things about Szakacsy. I have a feeling he will be the man next year. Either way we need our O-line to develop or it will not make a difference who our QB will be.
And give Rudy a break. I am willing to bet that tons of Div 1 teams would have Killed to have him as their QB. It say alot when his biggest problem was he held on to the ball to long, considering he new he was gonna get crushed every down. Most QB’s in his position would pannick and throw the ball away or make a bad pass up the middle. If anything we should be praising Rudy for giving us a fighting chance the last 3 seasons. You put a strong O-line infront of Rudy this year, and he would be a 1st to 2nd round draft pick.