Arizona State Football: Breaking down the Sun Devils’ 2017 QB battle

The 2017 Arizona State football quarterback battle rages on, but which talented gunslinger will win the starting job?

Kickoff for the 2017 season for the Arizona State Sun Devils is quickly approaching and, while the team has unofficially named a starter, speculation continues to circle around the quarterback position.

Head coach Todd Graham has already addressed the proverbial elephant in the room multiple times, noting he has Manny Wilkins as the team’s starter for now but also noting Wilkins and Barnett are competing for the spot at “another level.”

The team had four options to choose from last season and had to use three of the four. Were it not for injuries, the Sun Devils might have used all four. This season a major difference is all four options possess starting experience.

As the coaching staff learned in 2016, just because Wilkins begins the year as the squad’s starting quarterback doesn’t mean he will be the starter by the end of the season.

Let’s take a look at the 2017 quarterback battle with final predictions.

Option 1: Manny Wilkins

Wilkins ended 2016 by starting the Sun Devils’ final three games. He started the team’s first five games, too, four of them wins.

Head coach Todd Graham stated Wilkins did enough last season to earn the starting job. The starting job is his unless someone else beats him out. Of course, Graham later stated Wilkins and Barnett have competed at “another level.”

For now, Wilkins remains the starting quarterback and appears to be the easy favorite to begin the year as the team’s starting quarterback.

While banged up for most of 2016, Wilkins still managed to complete 63.3 percent of his passes, fourth in the Pac-12 conference.

Wilkins started 10 games in 2016 and still ranked seventh in several passing categories from passing yards (2,329), completions (197), and tied for seventh in passing touchdowns (12).

The signs point to Wilkins taking a step forward in 2017. For one thing, it would help if Wilkins is 100 percent healthy. For another thing, he has a year of starting experience under his belt now. Also, he should have more supporting players around him who will be healthy.