ASU football's quarterback dilemma. Find big name QB or bargain option

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With Sam Leavitt now officially in the transfer portal, the Arizona State braintrust will be on the lookout for another quarterback. The transfer portal opened on Jan. 2, so the free-for-all is on.

Head coach Kenny Dillingham and the Sun Devils have a decision to make. Do they go all in on one of the bigger names on the market? Or do they go for an under-the-radar acquisition that won’t require as much NIL money, which would conserve capital for other skill position players? The Sun Devils will likely go the latter route because there are a lot of holes on the roster to fill.

Whether Leavitt stayed or departed, the Sun Devils were going to seek another quarterback on the open market because Leavitt’s backup, Jeff Sims, exhausted his eligibility, and none of the quarterbacks on the current roster have played a down in college. On the roster are Cameron Dyer, Michael Tollefson, both true freshmen, and redshirt sophomore Christian Hunt.

There has been buzz around incoming quarterback Jake Fette, who is enrolling this month and will participate in spring drills. He is a native of El Paso and took part in practices with the Sun Devils when they were in that city for the Sun Bowl against Duke. But Fette will be a true freshman, and it might be too much to ask for him to shoulder that burden right away.

An experienced college quarterback is needed. Enter Cutter Boley, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound redshirt-sophomore from Kentucky who will make an official visit to Tempe this weekend. That’s more than a bit ironic because Kentucky is rumored to be a leading contender to land Leavitt. There is an existing relationship, as Dillingham recruited Boley when he was the offensive coordinator at Oregon.

Oh, how the quarterback carousel turns.

Boley would be a less expensive alternative to keeping Leavitt. Leavitt was making a reported $3 million at ASU but will likely command twice that on the open market. He has been tabbed by On3 as the No. 1 player in the transfer portal.

Boley stands as a viable option. He was a four-star prospect out of Lexington Christian Academy, per the Rivals Industry Ranking. He reclassified to the high school class of 2024 to graduate a year earlier than originally planned.

Boley then appeared in four games while redshirting in 2024 as a freshman at Kentucky, but showed some promise with impressive performances in the second halves of games against Texas and Murray State.

He opened the 2025 season as the backup to Incarnate Word transfer Zach Calzada, but took over the starting job three weeks into the season, and ended up completing 65.8% of his passes for 2,160 yards with 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He was named the quarterback on the SEC’s All-Freshman team.

Turnovers were an issue for Boley, who has thrown 17 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in his career. He also lost two fumbles this season. Three of his 2025 turnovers were returned for touchdowns.

Dillingham’s expertise is on the offensive side of the ball. Leavitt was hardly a seasoned quarterback when he arrived after spending his true freshman season at Michigan State. The fact that Dillingham and his staff have a good track record of identifying the right prospects out of the portal is another reason they don’t have to go all-in on one of the bigger names.

Boley won’t be the only potential transfer visiting Tempe this weekend. Wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer of UCLA is also scheduled to be in Tempe. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder from Los Angeles had 50 catches for 535 yards the past season. Wide receiver is another area of need as Jordyn Tyson is draft-bound and Malik McClain is graduating.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State football considers big name or bargain options at QB

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