Arizona State quarterback battle still not settled

Big 12 Football Media Days have come and gone, which means the unofficial countdown to college football has officially begun. There are exactly 59 days until the Sun Devils kick off their season against FCS Morgan State.

Yet the most important position on the team remains a question mark.

Sam Leavitt's departure for LSU this past offseason was about much more than NIL money, though head coach Kenny Dillingham opted to conserve his spending on a replacement quarterback and instead beef up Arizona State's skill room. That played a big part in landing two top 10 wide receiver transfers in Omarion Miller and Reed Harris.

In trying to replace Leavitt - who went 16-4 over two years for the Sun Devils - Dillingham brought in two different transfer quarterbacks.

Cutter Boley was a 4-star recruit when he picked Kentucky, and his two seasons as a starter there showed why. At 6'5" and just under 215 pounds, Boley has a rocket for an arm and is more athletic than he looks. His highlight plays flashed elite potential, but Boley struggled with turning the ball over as well, throwing just one fewer pick than touchdown in his time at Kentucky.

The other transfer is Mikey Keene. A former standout at Chandler High School, Keene first committed to UCF before transferring to Fresno State, where he was a two-year starter. During that time, Keene led the Mountain West Conference in completion percentage both years and helped the Bulldogs dominate Arizona State in Dillingham's first year on the job.

Keene spent last season with Michigan but, due to not appearing in a single game, he was awarded one final year of eligibility. That led him to transfer to Arizona State, his hometown team.

Now, Keene is competing for the starting job. Most expect Boley to be the guy - he's younger, more naturally gifted, and commanded a higher NIL price tag - but Keene brings a higher floor as a starter. His days at Fresno State were best characterized as being a top-tier game manager, rarely beating defenses all on his own but also rarely causing drives to stall out.

That contrast between Boley and Keene has Dillingham still noncomittal on a starter less than two months out from kickoff. While in Frisco, Texas for media days, Dillingham confirmed neither quarterback has separated themselves yet.

Dillingham notes that, two years ago, he did not officially name Leavitt the starter until the week of the first game. Of course, things had been trending that way for a couple months, especially with Jaden Rashada transferring to Georgia earlier in the summer.

In the past, Dillingham has also expressed a preference for younger players when all else in a position battle is fairly even. His reasoning is that the younger player has more room to grow and will reach their ceiling quicker by getting live game action.

By that logic, Boley would seem to be the choice if a game were being played in the next week. That's also assuming everything is, more or less, even between the two quarterbacks.

During media days, Dillingham also elaborated on his roster building philosophy in an answer separate from the quarterback question. While the coach admitted that some teams build a roster that's going to be "safe" - i.e. a fairly high floor but very limited ceiling - he wants to always push his chips to the center and build a team that, if everything goes right, can win the national championship.

"If you're not first, you're last," Dillingham said, invoking Ricky Bobby. And while that approach can often result in disaster if the home run swing turns into a strikeout, Dillingham turned to another legend, this one real, in quoting Bruce Arians: "No risk it, no biscuit."

Again, these comments seem to suggest Boley is who Dillingham views as the frontrunner for the job right now. But there is still a lot left to be determined as the Sun Devils prepare now for summer practices and Camp Tontozona.