The Arizona State QB was compared to the front-runner for NFL Rookie of the Year

Arizona State redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt is used to being overlooked.

A 2023 four-star quarterback out of West Linn High School in Oregon, Leavitt wasn’t even offered scholarships by his two Power 4 home programs, Oregon and Oregon State. He eventually signed with Michigan State, then entered the transfer window after his freshman season when former Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith was hired in East Lansing.

“I don’t know if I’m considering staying, just with past relationships with this staff. I’ve made my decision in terms of Michigan State,” Leavitt told SI’s Andrew Nemec at the time. “Being a hometown kid and not getting an offer from (Oregon State) felt disrespectful to me, so that’s always stuck with me.”

Kenny Dillingham was the offensive coordinator at Florida State during Leavitt’s junior and senior seasons. He recruited Leavitt hard and offered him a scholarship before taking the offensive coordinator position at Oregon. When Leavitt entered the transfer portal last year, Dillingham jumped.

Six games into his Arizona State career, Leavitt has made a difference. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound dual-threat quarterback has passed for 1,116 yards and eight touchdowns and rushed for 279 yards and four TDs. More importantly, he led the Sun Devils to victory in five of his six starts and imposed an offense that averaged 32.2 points per game.

His stellar play is already drawing comparisons to former Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels, the favorite for the 2024 NFL Rookie of the Year.

During Arizona State’s road game at Cincinnati on Saturday, ESPN released a chart comparing Daniels and Leavitt. In the last 25 years, they are the only Arizona State quarterbacks to throw for at least 1,000 yards and rush for at least 275 in their first six starts.

It’s impressive company for Leavitt.

Daniels won the Heisman Trophy last season at LSU and was selected No. 2 overall by the Washington Commanders in the 2024 NFL Draft. Through the first seven games of his NFL career, he has passed for 1,410 yards and six touchdowns and he has rushed for 372 yards and four touchdowns. He left Sunday’s win over Carolina in the first quarter with a rib injury and is undergoing further testing Monday to determine the extent of the injury.

Leavitt is also dealing with a rib injury that sidelined him for the Sun Devils’ 24-14 loss at Cincinnati. It was ASU’s lowest point total of the season by a wide margin and more than 18 points below its season average. He emphasized how valuable Leavitt is to ASU’s offense.

With a bye week to heal, Dillingham hopes to return to Leavitt for Arizona State’s next game on Nov. 2 at Oklahoma State.

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