Looks like Kenny Dillingham’s super-duo era ended after barely two seasons of football. Following Sam Leavitt’s potential transfer portal announcement, Dillingham is now losing one of college football’s top three wideouts, Jordyn Tyson, who has decided to leave the squad right before the bowl game.

“Arizona State star junior wide receiver Jordyn Tyson is set to enter the NFL draft, sources tell me and @ChrisKarpman for @CBSSports. Tyson, who is in line to be a first-round draft pick, isn’t expected to play in Arizona State’s bowl matchup against Duke, per sources.” College football insider Matt Zenitz hopped onto X and shared the news. 

Safe to say Arizona State will be without their best players for the upcoming bowl game against Duke. Tyson is skipping his senior year and heading to the pros. Missing the bowl game might sound harsh or even like another Sam Leavitt-type situation, but it’s really not.

The logic here is pretty simple: why risk a chance of a major injury in a bowl game that doesn’t change the season’s outcome when you’ve got generational bag on the line? Especially considering Tyson’s long injury history. He’s dealt with a serious knee injury and a broken collarbone in college. Skipping the game lets him focus on preparing for the NFL Combine and everything that comes with it.

Tyson has been a playmaker since day one. He actually started his career at Colorado before transferring to ASU, and no matter the team, he produced. He finished his college career with an impressive 158 catches for 2,282 yards and 22 receiving touchdowns over just 33 games. His 2024 season was especially stellar, earning him All-American honors and the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year award.

Right now, the word around the league is that Tyson is a lock for the first round. 9 of 32 teams is already been eliminated from postseason contention. A lot of them have some serious wideout problems. The league is keeping a close eye on him.

Plus, some mock drafts are even projecting him as a potential top-10 pick overall. And possibly the very first wide receiver to be drafted. Scouts love his speed, agility, and ability to make tough catches in traffic. The talent is clearly there, and his professional potential is through the roof. The real question is can they pull a dub against the ACC champ without their 2 best players on the field?

Can Kenny Dillingham prove ASU is more than Sam Leavitt and Jordyn Tyson?

After winning the Big 12 in 2024, the expectations were pretty high heading into the season. An 8–4 record may look solid on paper. But that’s not what Dillingham had in mind when they entered the season. Plus, in the majority of their games, either Sam Leavitt or Jordyn Tyson was injured.

It’s no surprise people in Tempe started wondering if the Sun Devils’ hype train was slowing down and slipping back into just party school territory. The Duke game will tell that.

Popular consensus is their backup QB Jeff Sims will step in, and while he’s actually 3-0 against Duke from his time at Georgia Tech, it’s still a big change and a dip in the offensive power they could have had.

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Because of these roster changes, the betting world sees Duke as a slight favorite (around 1.5 points). ASU has other guys leaving through the portal too, which affects their overall team depth and makes things a bit tougher. Coach Kenny Dillingham has been pretty open about how challenging this whole transfer portal situation makes preparing for a bowl game.

Despite the roster challenges, ESPN’s analytics surprisingly still give ASU a slight edge to win (56.8%). Maybe banking on Sims having another good game against Duke or the rest of the team stepping up for Kenny Dillingham while his reputation is on the line.

So, for ASU to win, they’ll really need to focus on running the ball and controlling the clock. Mind you, they’re pretty good at doing this. The main concern is whether Jeff Sims can effectively lead the offense and avoid turnovers without his top receiver available.