Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham delivered upsetting news to the ASU faithful on Friday when he announced that star quarterback Sam Leavitt would undergo season-ending surgery to deal with an undisclosed lingering injury. For a Sun Devils team that has been fighting tooth and nail through an injury-riddled season, this was a tough pill to swallow.
A few things that came to my mind when I first heard the news:
First – I feel for the player. Anyone who watches even one game of Leavitt can tell he’s a fiery competitor who loves being out there. I’m sure it was a very difficult decision to make with a lot of factors at play.
Second – his draft status. Leavitt is a third-year sophomore in 2025, meaning he has two more years of eligibility remaining. He started 13 games last year and with this season in the books that would bring him up to 20. The list of quarterbacks in the last decade who were drafted with 20 or fewer starts:
Tommy Stevens
Davis Mills
Cardale Jones
Mitchell Trubisky
Anthony Richardson
Dwayne Haskins
Kyler Murray
Mac Jones
Trey Lance
Gardner Minshew
I am of the belief that quarterbacks, in today’s landscape, should soak up every single ounce of eligibility they can before entering the NFL. I feel even stronger about that with a player like Leavitt, who does have some physical limitations. I have a starting grade on him, and I would say I’m ‘higher’ on him than most in the NFL Draft media landscape, but I would have wanted him to go back to ASU for another year even if he had a completely healthy 2025 season. I was not really counting on him being a part of this class. This only cements that for me. I would be surprised if Leavitt was not back on campus next year.
Third – what does this mean for the rest of the offense, namely Jordyn Tyson? Tyson has been dealing with a hamstring in recent weeks that has kept him out of action as well. A likely first-round pick in April if he were to declare, Tyson does have additional eligibility as well. Could he decide to run it back for 2026? How does Leavitt’s decision impact him? This is absolutely something worth monitoring.
I would say the same for right tackle Max Iheanachor as well. This is a player that I believe has starting traits in the NFL and who I believe could be a Top 40 talent when it’s all said and done, despite some of the inconsistencies on tape. In year’s past, he would be out of eligibility. But after the ‘Pavia rule’ that was passed late last year, junior college years no longer count against a student athlete’s eligibility. That would give Iheanachor one more year as well.
We can keep going down the list of players that this could impact. It’s possible that they huddle up and make a decision together, as a group, to try and run it back for next season. We have seen that in places like Ohio State and Clemson in year’s past. It’s possible that they all make their own choices, individually, based on what’s best for them (which they are well within their rights to), and some stay or some go. Regardless, we all come out on the worse end of it, as we won’t get to see an ASU team firing on all cylinders for the rest of this year with Leavitt on the sidelines.
Fran Duffy is the ALLCITY NFL Draft Expert. To sign up for his free weekly NFL Draft email, enter your email address below:
