At the start of the ASU football team's spring slate of practices, fans and coaches alike had many questions about how the squad was going to fill the depth chart with the losses of valuable players on both sides of the ball.
Chief among them is the ongoing quarterback battle between redshirt sophomore Manny Wilkins and redshirt freshmen Brady White and Bryce Perkins, and which would replace the departed Mike Bercovici.
Coach Todd Graham is keeping his thoughts close to the vest and not letting anyone know his true feelings on the battle.
"I've seen all three of them doing a good job," Graham said, pausing. "We can play that game all the way up until the first game."
Even when pressed, Graham gave as little of an answer as possible, saying that if the Sun Devils were to play next week, the quarterback behind center would be "the guy in the single-digit number."
Battling through the heavy competition, Wilkins said he felt good playing every day.
"I feel really comfortable," Wilkins said. "I feel in my element and I think the guys around me have made it easier to just play football. That's what I came here to do and that's what I'm going to do."
This is not the first time Graham has dealt with a three-man battle for starting quarterback, as eventual starter Taylor Kelly had to fend off favorites for the job in Bercovici and Michael Eubank to get his number called opening day in 2012.
That year, Graham acknowledged, he "met with every single person in the program" as opening weekend loomed and Kelly was the clear winner amongst his peers. The coach expects something similar to happen this year, especially following summer workouts when the team returns for fall camp.
"What separated it that year was the summer and then fall camp," Graham said. "It'll do the same here."
With four months to go until the opening of fall camp, there's a lot of time for Wilkins, White and Perkins to separate themselves, but Wilkins said a lot of the preparation for the three will be together, and helping each other improve across the board, which will help the team overall.
"Just keep leading," Wilkins said. "I think that's the ultimate goal, to define myself as a leader. And I think the other two guys are doing a great job leading as well and I think all three of us will make each other better this summer watching film and really working hard in the weight room and just building the chemistry of this team."
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow @Tonis_The_Tiger on Twitter.
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