Arizona State Star Named Key Player in Big 12 Race

Arizona State's Sam Leavitt is just over three weeks away from entering what is potentially a career-defining season in his football journey.

The redshirt sophomore is coming off of a 2024 campaign that saw him back up the four-star rating he received from various recruiting services as a member of the 2023 class - last season's performance has many looking at the Sun Devils as being the front-runner to repeat as Big 12 champions.

Enter ESPN college football analyst Bill Connelly - who labeled Leavitt as one of the 40 most important players of the 2025 season - under the banner of the 'most important players in the Big 12 race' - this was instead of being considered a player that could make a game-changing leap.

More from Connelly below:

"It was almost lost in the Cam Skattebo hysteria, but Leavitt was absolutely dynamite during ASU's late-2024 hot streak. From November onward, he ranked second among all FBS starters in Total QBR, averaging 7.9 yards per dropback with a 16-to-2 TD-INT ratio (and scrambling beautifully) despite losing his go-to receiver, Jordyn Tyson, to injury. Having Skattebo next to him helped in obvious ways, but with a deeper receiving corps and a still-decent set of RBs, Leavitt could pilot an exciting Sun Devils offense and lead a second straight conference title charge."

Sam Leavitt.

That’s it, that’s the tweet. pic.twitter.com/6oFT1Y6jQi
— PHNX Sun Devils (@PHNX_SunDevils) August 4, 2025

Leavitt was joined by Sawyer Robertson of Baylor, Kansas State's Avery Johnson, and Texas Christian's Josh Hoover - this trio is widely considered the best at the quarterback position in the conference behind Leavitt.

Outside of that, Leavitt did prove to be one of the better quarterbacks in college football over the second half of last season, and the Sun Devil staff has not shied away when it comes to surrounding the talented signal caller with requisite talent.

Camp Tontozona will be an incredible chance for fans to witness the growth Leavitt has made as a quarterback, as well as an opportunity for the unquestioned starter to showcase the connection he has with what is possibly the most talented group of pass catchers that Tempe has seen since 2018.

Read more on key takeaways/observations from day six of Arizona State fall camp here, and on what makes Dillingham one of the best coaches in college football here.

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