With Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt eyeing the NFL, draft analyst Todd McShay has a comparison to a Valley product already in the league.
“I think he’s a more talented Brock Purdy,” McShay said on a Thursday podcast episode. “I think he would be awesome in the (Kyle) Shanahan tree. … But he has a bigger arm than some of those guys. He has a bigger arm than Purdy, he’s more mobile than Purdy.”
McShay wasn’t sure whether Leavitt will land in the 2026 or 2027 NFL Draft class, as he will be 20 years old until December, but the quarterback has referred to 2025 as his last year with the program since the Peach Bowl loss on Jan. 1.
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The analyst described Leavitt’s redshirt freshman season at ASU as a marriage of preparation and opportunity.
Leavitt waited as he redshirted at Michigan State, prepared himself physically and mentally before entering a situation in Tempe where he had a star running back in Cam Skattebo, a star wide receiver in Jordyn Tyson and an offensive infrastructure led by Kenny Dillingham and offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo that positioned him for success.
The type of throws Leavitt made that stood out most for McShay were in-breaking routes, such as digs, slants or drags coming across the middle of the field.
“What I liked about it is throwing between defenders, leading receivers open, knowing the right time to pull the trigger. He’s really good in intermediate stuff, I thought. Especially good play action, and his best thing is come off the play action, get his eyes around and throw to a spot that a receiver (catches it in stride) and off and running.”
There was an element of those plays coming naturally where Leavitt’s process looked like muscle memory, said co-host Steve Muench, who ran ESPN’s draft coverage for Scouts Inc.
Muench’s comparison was more recent with Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy and how neither quarterback shies away from a hit.
“When these guys need to make plays for their team, both McCarthy and Leavitt, they step up and make plays,” Muench said. “And they will get hit in the mouth, they will get cut in half — Leavitt got cut in half in the BYU game trying to make a throw — they will make a throw when they need to.
“And I don’t think either one of them — I think Leavitt’s probably a little bit better of an athlete, little bit better of a runner — I don’t think either of them is an elite athlete as a runner, but they will hurt you if you give them a chance to scramble or extend the play.”
McShay liked the comparison, but he made the distinction he thinks Leavitt has a stronger arm than McCarthy.
“While young and still developing and has to drill home some of the footwork and some of the deep ball stuff, I saw a guy that’s pretty mechanically sound,” McShay said. “I’m really curious to see what his training has been because I see some fundamental things that I really like.”
Where Sam Leavitt can still improve
Leavitt’s deep passing was a work in progress to begin the season, although there was a sense it would come around because of the success he was having in practice.
It seemed like progress was made on a weekly basis inching closer to success, and by the time ASU hit the home stretch of the season, he made some elite plays through the air. Most of the positive plays, Muench pointed out, came on fades to Tyson.
“He does an excellent job of throwing to the corner of the end zone, I think that’s something that he excels at,” Muench said. “That’s a great trait to have.”
When Leavitt does miss, McShay said, he “tends to miss high, which is correctable.”
The analyst added a larger sample size without Skattebo at his side will help scouts better understand what Leavitt could be capable of at the NFL level, while he could stand to take fewer sacks by throwing away the ball earlier in plays.
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