Redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt has been impressive this season, and his play has sparked an undeniable improvement in ASU's quarterback room. However, Leavitt doesn't quite represent the traditional transfer quarterback success story seen throughout college football.
Instead, being a young quarterback, Leavitt's success has occurred sporadically. Unique tendencies characterize his performances. He's effective throwing over the middle, limiting turnovers and performing against the blitz — all of which are rare traits for young college quarterbacks.
Here are the statistical anomalies in Leavitt's play.
Running Ability
Leavitt has the best rushing success rate among all college football players in the nation (69.2%), while his EPA per rush (0.59) ranks second-best in the country.
On 55 attempts this season, Leavitt has run for 279 yards and four touchdowns. 21 of his runs have converted first downs, while 13 have been explosive plays.
Turnover Worthy Plays
Young college quarterbacks are notoriously known to make bone-headed plays that result in turnovers. Leavitt has completely bucked that trend, accounting for only two turnover-worthy plays this season.
Leavitt also has not fumbled. His turnover-worthy play rate is 1% on the year.
Throwing Location
Leavitt's passing success this season has largely depended on his target's location.When throwing over the middle between 10-19 yards down the field, Leavitt has an 89.4 PFF passing grade. When throwing 20+ yard passes down the field, Leavitt has a 60 PFF passing grade.
On these throws over the middle, he's completed 16 of his 23 attempts for 281 yards. On deep balls, he's completed only five of his 24 attempts for 162 yards.
Leavitt said he plans to continue to attempt more deep throws in practice. "I feel like they're going to start falling, and I'm not worried about it," he said.
Under Pressure
Surprisingly, Leavitt has performed better against the blitz and under pressure than when kept clean.
When pressured by the defense, Leavitt has a 79.2 PFF grade. When not pressured by the defense, Leavitt has a 74.4 PFF grade. Leavitt also has a higher PFF grade when blitzed (76.7) than when not blitzed (76.3).
Additionally, the Sun Devils' starter has been effective at not giving up sacks. He has allowed 8 sacks on the season and has a 12.5% pressure-to-sack rate — anything lower than 20% is often considered good.
Play-Action Passes
Leavitt has also been strong as a play-action passer. He has an 82.2 PFF grade after play-action, which is his best mark among all passing concepts.
Because ASU has a strong running game, defenders are more likely to bite on the play fake, leaving receivers open in coverage. This has aided Leavitt's play-action success.
"You're building your pass game around the ability of your run game in this offense," ASU offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo said. "The play-action stuff has been going, and you got a rookie quarterback at third down and a lot of different presentations at defense."
Overall
Out of 317 college quarterbacks, Leavitt is the 76th highest-ranked quarterback by PFF. His -5.43 total EPA ranks 87th in the nation, while his -0.04 EPA per dropback ranks 92nd in the nation. Not bad for a redshirt freshman.
However, what might be most impressive about Leavitt's play as a redshirt freshman can't be expressed on the stat sheet — his composure.
"Sam has unbelievable poise," ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said. "The dude's mindset is a professional mindset. He prepares every week like a pro. He shows up every day, and he's getting better and better and better and better."
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Madeline Schmitke.
Reach the reporter at jwkartso@asu.edu and follow @kartsonis3 on X.
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Jack is a sophomore studying sports journalism. This is his second semester with The State Press. He has also worked at other student journalism organizations.
