Breaking down Jaden Rashada's path to being named Arizona State starting quarterback

Arizona State is set to name true freshman Jaden Rashada its starting quarterback, On3’s Matt Zenitz reported on Tuesday afternoon. The former four-star prospect took advantage of an injury to Notre Dame transfer Drew Pyne to establish himself as the guy.

Zenitz joined the Andy Staples On3 show on Tuesday evening to discuss the news.

“The Drew Pyne injury very much opened the door for Jaden Rashada, where if Drew Pyne does not get hurt, Drew Pyne is probably most likely the starting quarterback at Arizona State heading into the season,” Zenitz said. “But that injury, that hamstring injury for him going back to the 13th has them in the position now where they probably won’t have Drew Pyne through not only the first game of the season but potentially not until a few games into the year.

“And it left the competition to essentially be between Jaden Rashada and Trenton Bourguet, who started five games for them last year.”

Bourguet was no slouch, going 145-of-204 passing for 1,490 yards and 11 touchdowns, against six interceptions. He led the team to a big win over No. 21 Washington.

But he doesn’t have the kind of ability Rashada does.

“First off, Jaden Rashada offers a lot more upside, no offense to Trenton Bourguet,” Zenitz said. “Jaden Rashada has one of the elite arms from the ’23 recruiting class. That has been on display at Arizona State going back to the spring and definitely during the course of fall camp. And (he’s) shown much more of a capability to utilize some of the talent they have at receiver and make some plays down the field compared to not only Trenton Bourguet, but even Drew Pyne when he’s been in there also.”

Rashada’s arrival at Arizona State was one that was reported on quite a bit.

He initially committed to Miami, then following a heavy recruiting battle flipped his commitment to Florida. He signed with the Gators and, after some empty promises for an NIL deal — a contract worth a reported $13.7 million — he requested out of his national letter of intent. Florida obliged and Rashada later enrolled at Arizona State.

However, the talented quarterback quickly set all that drama aside.

“That’s been the feedback going back to the spring on him, that very quickly upon arrival at Arizona State had moved on, compartmentalized everything and was at a point where he was showing some advanced maturity, especially factoring in just everything that he had dealt with leading up to that point,” Zenitz said.

Now, it’ll be about what Rashada can provide versus the risks of starting a player so young. Pyne and Bourguet both have the experience edge.

They just can’t make things hum at quite as high a level as Rashada when everything is clicking.

“Really going back to first arrival, continuing into fall camp and the preseason, you had seen some of the physical ability there that led to him being as highly ranked as what he was,” Zenitz said. “In one of the recent practices had a laser that went for a 70-yard touchdown to one of the receivers they like out there, Elijhah Badger. And there’s been some of those moments consistently with him where he’s connected on some of those 50-, 55-, 60-yard passes down the field that just some of the other quarterbacks in that room are not capable of doing.

“That’s not a huge indictment on the other quarterbacks in the room, because the way that the Arizona State staff views it they have a guy that is capable of making throws at a level that very few people in the country are capable of making them.”

Still, it’s reasonable to expect there might be some growing pains for Rashada. He won’t be perfect out of the gates.

“He’s young. He’s a true freshman,” Zenitz said. “There have been growing pains. It’s not like he has been flawless by any means during the course of the preseason. But probably one of the biggest things with him to go along with the physical ability has been just consistent progression with different things the course of these last couple weeks to earn that confidence and trust from the Kenny Dillinghams of the world to go along with the obvious physical ability part of it.”

For now, though, the job’s is Rashada’s to go out and lose.

“If he goes out, kills it, performs at a high level, I think there’s a high likelihood that he is the guy moving forward at that point,” Zenitz said. “But if he struggles that opens the door back for Drew Pyne, who could potentially be back available as soon as maybe Week 2, Week 3, somewhere in that range.”