Well, I know this overstating the obvious but Duffy's FSU pledge is a hard one to swallow for ASU.
Duffy was the highest uncommitted pro style quarterback in the 2022 class. There is no high caliber quarterback such as Duffy that would be considered a viable option for ASU, so yes it really is back to the drawing table recruiting this position especially with Jackson committing to Tennessee which probably hurts a little more being announced just a handful of hours before Duffy made his announcement.
Duffy continuously said that being forced to play his high school football in Florida rather than California was not really going to affect his recruiting (reason no, 526,731 why this pandemic sucked). I cannot stress enough that he was conveying strong vibes to Arizona State for months and months. As I previously said once ASU secured Jayden Daniels they went hard at Duffy marking him as the heir apparent. I know it's easy right here right now to say that ASU totally misread Duffy and ignored warning signs etc., but at the end of the day you can only go by somebody's word, and Duffy and his camp never gave any sense of apprehension to ASU. Heck in a span of fewer than 4 weeks he was in Tempe twice once for the Maroon and Gold practice and the other for a rap concert where he was with an ASU commit and other ASU prospects. I know everybody wants to know what exactly happened and I will definitely look into it but honestly, I don't think this really an easy answer, a game changing event, etc. that really caused this dramatic turn of events.
So what happens now? Of course, ASU is going to try to Target other 2022 quarterback prospects maybe some of them are ones that have already committed but it's hard to say how successful they would be in landing somebody, let alone landing somebody they felt was in Duffy's class, no pun intended.
One aspect that maybe won't be discussed that much right off the bat in light of Duffy's decision, is the fact that it's imperative for Jayden Daniels to stay on for the 2022 season. As it is I think that might be the right decision for him unless he puts up unreal stats during the 2021 season. So the fact that I think he should stay is really to help give Finn Collins a higher level of comfort because as it stands right now on Wednesday afternoon Collins is the future after Daniels departs. Sure that could change for one reason or another in the next few months let alone next year but currently, that has to be the premise ASU will be operating under.
As much as Duffy's decision stings you still have to remember that recruiting is a marathon not a sprint and classes don't get judged at the end of April but rather in the middle of December. The staff still is full of very competent recruiters. Even with today's unfortunate news, I don't think anybody can sit here with a straight face and say that this is a staff that has done an overall bad job in evaluating talent and ultimately landing it in Tempe. Let's see if it can salvage what right now is a bad situation. I think they have earned the befit of the doubt.
Duffy was the highest uncommitted pro style quarterback in the 2022 class. There is no high caliber quarterback such as Duffy that would be considered a viable option for ASU, so yes it really is back to the drawing table recruiting this position especially with Jackson committing to Tennessee which probably hurts a little more being announced just a handful of hours before Duffy made his announcement.
Duffy continuously said that being forced to play his high school football in Florida rather than California was not really going to affect his recruiting (reason no, 526,731 why this pandemic sucked). I cannot stress enough that he was conveying strong vibes to Arizona State for months and months. As I previously said once ASU secured Jayden Daniels they went hard at Duffy marking him as the heir apparent. I know it's easy right here right now to say that ASU totally misread Duffy and ignored warning signs etc., but at the end of the day you can only go by somebody's word, and Duffy and his camp never gave any sense of apprehension to ASU. Heck in a span of fewer than 4 weeks he was in Tempe twice once for the Maroon and Gold practice and the other for a rap concert where he was with an ASU commit and other ASU prospects. I know everybody wants to know what exactly happened and I will definitely look into it but honestly, I don't think this really an easy answer, a game changing event, etc. that really caused this dramatic turn of events.
So what happens now? Of course, ASU is going to try to Target other 2022 quarterback prospects maybe some of them are ones that have already committed but it's hard to say how successful they would be in landing somebody, let alone landing somebody they felt was in Duffy's class, no pun intended.
One aspect that maybe won't be discussed that much right off the bat in light of Duffy's decision, is the fact that it's imperative for Jayden Daniels to stay on for the 2022 season. As it is I think that might be the right decision for him unless he puts up unreal stats during the 2021 season. So the fact that I think he should stay is really to help give Finn Collins a higher level of comfort because as it stands right now on Wednesday afternoon Collins is the future after Daniels departs. Sure that could change for one reason or another in the next few months let alone next year but currently, that has to be the premise ASU will be operating under.
As much as Duffy's decision stings you still have to remember that recruiting is a marathon not a sprint and classes don't get judged at the end of April but rather in the middle of December. The staff still is full of very competent recruiters. Even with today's unfortunate news, I don't think anybody can sit here with a straight face and say that this is a staff that has done an overall bad job in evaluating talent and ultimately landing it in Tempe. Let's see if it can salvage what right now is a bad situation. I think they have earned the befit of the doubt.
