Former Stanford and Auburn quarterback Ashton Daniels opted to enter the transfer portal and join coach Mike Norvell’s Florida State Seminoles after spending the 2025 season on the Plains. The Seminoles were looking for a veteran presence to replace Tommy Castellanos, who led them to a 5-7 finish last season.
Despite being a four-year college football veteran, Daniels is currently locked in an intense battle with redshirt freshman Kevin Sperry to become the Seminoles’ starting quarterback in 2026.
ESPN Analyst Details Ashton Daniels’ Struggles in QB1 Battle
During Wednesday’s segment of the “Always College Football” show, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy delved into Daniels’ struggles in spring practice that have allowed Sperry to emerge as a serious contender to win the starting job.
“One of the biggest stories so far has been the quarterback competition,” McElroy said. “Daniels is battling Sperry for the starting job and it’s a real competition. The insider nugget is that Daniels was brought in to win the job, not just compete for it. However, after spring break, maybe a slight step back.”
McElroy continued, “It reminded people that Daniels has been a bit of an up-and-down thrower; he’s an electric runner. But he does at times, considering his touchdown-to-interception ratio is not great, he has ebbs and flows which has opened the door for Sperry. Norvell’s not gonna make this easy by naming a starter prematurely.”
Sperry was a four-star recruit who flipped his commitment from the Oklahoma Sooners to Florida State and was the No. 11 quarterback and No. 132 overall prospect in the class of 2025, according to ESPN.
He played the backup role to Castellanos last season, appearing in three games for Florida State. He tallied 194 passing yards on a 70.6% completion rate, resulting in two touchdowns in limited game time.
While speaking to reporters after Friday’s session of spring practice, Norvell lavished praise on Sperry’s performances so far and refused to indicate which player was winning the battle to be FSU’s starter next season.
“I think Kevin has had a good first week in pads, and there were some plays that he was looking to clean up on, and I thought he made a couple of really nice throws off things that he had missed earlier in the week,” Norvell said. “That was a great response for him.”
In his 2025 season with Auburn, Daniels tallied 797 passing yards on a 57.1% completion rate, resulting in three touchdowns and two interceptions, while adding 280 rushing yards and two scores. He earned a PFSN College QB Impact score of 76.0.
