Rudy Carpenter, QB

The best word to describe Carpenter is "gutty." He finished his career with 43 consecutive starts, which helped him become one of the most productive quarterbacks in Pac-10 history with 10,491 passing yards and 81 career touchdowns.

After leading the Sun Devils to a share of the Pac-10 championship in 2007 and emerging as one of the nation's most consistent passers, Carpenter and the rest of his teammates struggled through a disappointing 2008 campaign. His own statistics weren't as impressive as expected (2,493 yards, 16 TDs, nine INTs), nor was his team, a preseason top 15 pick that stumbled to a 5-7 record.

Carpenter lacks the monster arm every NFL team is looking for, but his toughness, mobility and accuracy in the short to medium range should make him an interesting second-day option for teams using the West Coast Offense.

Positives: Tough quarterback. Has played behind a leaky offensive line throughout his career and has absorbed a lot of punishment. Not a traditional running threat, but is a creative, alert scrambler who can buy some time escaping the rush to complete the pass. Keeps his eyes downfield despite heavy pressure. Acclimated quickly to new offense and has experience as a drop-back and shotgun passer. Scans the field efficiently. Gets good depth on his drop back and has a very quick set up and delivery. Good short- to medium-range accuracy -- especially for the quick slants, outs and square-ins necessary for the West Coast Offense. Flashes the touch to place the ball between defenders. Throws a very catchable ball. Consistently places passes where only his receivers can get them. Extremely competitive. Added 15 pounds of muscle during the 2008 spring.

Negatives: Relies more on his accuracy and understanding of the offense, rather than a monster arm to complete passes. Lacks the arm for a traditional deep pass offense. Will telegraph his passes by locking onto a receiver, and lacks the arm strength to zip passes through tight windows. Won the respect of his teammates with his toughness, but has a cocky, gunslinger mentality that has drawn criticism from some.

One of the top passers in Pac-10 Conference history … started an FBS-best 43 consecutive games dating back to the 2005 season … totaled 10,491 passing yards, while completing 799-of-1,309 passes (61.0 pct.) with 81 touchdowns … the 799 completions are the most in school history, while he ranks second behind Andrew Walter in passing yards, pass attempts and touchdowns passes … his 61.0 completion percentage in his career is the best in ASU history … he is also tied for second in school history with 26 wins as a starting quarterback, behind only Danny White with 30 … ranks in the top 10 all-time among Pac-10 quarterbacks in career passing yards, career touchdown passes and career yards of total offense … earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors for his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, and he received freshman All-America recognition in 2005 … led the nation in three passing categories as a redshirt freshman in 2005 (passer efficiency rating, interception percentage and yards per passing attempt), while establishing a Pac-10 Conference record pass efficiency rating of 175.01, also the first time a freshman led the nation in the statistic … was the most accurate freshman passer in Division I-A history, completing an NCAA freshman record 68.4 percent of his passes.

Started all 12 games to finish his college career with 43 consecutive starts … was an honorable mention All-Pac-10 selection for the third straight year … completed 213-of-351 passes for 2,493 yards and 16 touchdowns on the season … finished fourth in the Pac-10 Conference in passing yards, touchdown passes and pass efficiency … was on the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award and Water Camp Award for player of the year as well as the Davey O'Brien Award for most outstanding quarterback and the Unitas Golden Arm Award for the nation's best senior quarterback … completed 22-of-28 passes for 388 yards and a touchdown in a season-opening victory over Northern Arizona on Aug. 30 … the 388 yards were the third-highest single-game output in his career … also tied a 56-year-old school record by completing 13 consecutive passes in that win … backed it up by going 27-of-36 for 345 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-17 victory over Stanford on Sept. 6 … threw two touchdown passes against UNLV on Sept. 13 … was 23-of-36 for 208 yards and a touchdown against No. 3 Georgia on Sept. 20 … had a streak of 131 consecutive pass attempts over the course of five games without throwing an interception … completed 22-of-31 passes for 218 yards and threw two second-half touchdown passes in team's victory at Washington on Nov. 8 … followed that up by throwing for 213 yards on 17-of-25 passing and had three touchdowns in ASU's 31-0 win over Washington State on Nov. 15 … was named ASU's Offensive Most Valuable Player at team's year-end banquet.

Started all 13 games … earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors for the second consecutive season … completed 246-of-398 passes for 3,202 yards and 25 touchdowns … became the fourth Sun Devil in school history to surpass 2,000 yards passing in three consecutive seasons, joining Jeff Van Raaphorst (1984-86), Jake Plummer (1994-96) and Andrew Walter (2002-04) … finished third in the Pac-10 conference in passing yards and touchdown passes … was one of 15 semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien Award, presented annually to the nation's best quarterback … completed 14-of-20 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns in season-opening win over San Jose State on Sept. 1 … threw two touchdown passes, both in the second quarter, and was 19-of-37 for 269 yards to help ASU rally from an early 14-point deficit to defeat Colorado on Sept. 8 … went 15-of-21 passing for 200 yards and two touchdowns in victory over San Diego State on Sept. 15 … had a season-high four touchdown passes and was 25-of-36 for 361 yards to lead the Sun Devils to a comeback win over Oregon State in their Pac-10 opener on Sept. 22 … completed 20-of-27 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown in victory at Stanford on Sept. 29 … tossed two touchdown passes and went 19-of-27 passing for 217 yards at Washington State on Oct. 6 … totaled 227 yards on 20-of-31 passing and threw two touchdowns, including a go-ahead score in the third quarter, against Washington on Oct. 13 … completed 17-of-29 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown in victory over California on Oct. 27 … passed for a season-high 379 yards on 22-of-36 passing with two touchdowns at Oregon on Nov. 3 … had a streak of 106 pass attempts without an interception that stretched over the last five games of the season … went 16-of-31 passing for 200 yards and a touchdown in win at UCLA on Nov. 10 … totaled 240 yards on 21-of-30 passing and had one touchdown pass against USC on Nov. 22 … completed 20-of-37 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns, including a 20-yard scoring pass to Michael Jones in the fourth quarter that proved to be the game-winning score, in victory over Arizona on Dec. 1 … that win improved him to 3-0 as a starting quarterback against Arizona … finished the season by going 18-of-36 passing for 187 yards and two touchdowns in Pacific Life Holiday Bowl against Texas on Dec. 27 … was named ASU's Most Valuable Offensive Player of the Year at team's year-end banquet.

Started all 13 games … Earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors in his first full season as starting quarterback … completed 184-of-332 passes for 2,523 yards and 23 touchdowns … finished third in the Pac-10 Conference in touchdown passes … also grossed 296 rushing yards (69 net yards) … completed 17-of-24 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns against Northern Arizona … threw a career-high five touchdowns against Nevada to go along with 333 yards on 17-of-26 passing … totaled 248 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns on 21-of-37 passes at Colorado … threw for 177 yards and two scores at California … attempted 75 passes over the course of five midseason games without an interception … tallied 183 yards of total offense at USC, including a career-high 49 net rushing yards, one of which was a game-high sprint of 38 yards … completed 14-of-15 passes against Stanford (93.3 pct.) … tossed a pair of touchdowns and engineered ASU's overtime victory at Washington … passed for a season-high 339 yards as well as three touchdowns on 15-of-24 passing against Washington State … threw three first-quarter touchdowns and totaled 214 passing yards, completing 17-of-25 attempts (68 pct.) in ASU's 28-14 win over Arizona … passed for 191 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl versus Hawai'i … was listed as the 19th-best quarterback in the nation by Lindy's and the country's 28th-best passer by Phil Steele … Lindy's also regarded him as the "Pac-10's Most Accurate Passer" … earned Hard Hat Player honors for his work in ASU's offseason strength and conditioning program.

Played in nine games, starting the final five of the season … despite starting fewer than half the season's games, he submitted the finest season by a freshman quarterback in ASU history … earned second-team Freshman All-America honors by Scout.com … was named an honorable mention Freshman All-American by Sporting News … earned the Mike Bartholomew Most Improved Offensive Player Award … led the nation and set an ASU single-season record with a 175.01 passer efficiency rating, the first freshman to do so since the statistic began to be tracked in 1979 … also led the nation and established a new single-season school record for interception precentage (.008), throwing only two interceptions among his 228 total passing attempts.

Finished third in the nation and led the Pac-10, completing 68.4 percent of his passes … was the nation's leader averaging 10.0 yards per passing attempt … completed 156-of-288 passes for 2,273 yards and 17 touchdowns on the year … led ASU and finished sixth in the Pac-10 in passing yards … averaged 365.8 passing yards-per-game with a 12-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio as a starter, and held a 4-1 record while at the helm … submitted five of the top six single-game passing performances by an ASU freshman … was named Offensive Player of the Game for his efforts in engineering ASU's comeback victory in the 2005 Insight Bowl against Rutgers, completing 23-of-35 passes (65.7 pct.) for 467 yards and four touchdowns against the Scarlet Knights.

His passing yardage that game was the greatest single-game amount by a freshman in ASU history, the highest single-game total in Insight Bowl and ASU postseason history, the ninth-best single-game passing performance in the nation for the season and the eighth-highest single-game total by any quarterback in ASU history … his four touchdown passes against Rutgers stands as the highest total by a Sun Devil passes in a bowl game, a record previously held by teammate Sam Keller … took over as ASU's main signal-caller for the injured Keller in the second half at Stanford on Oct. 22, and completed 19-of-25 passes (76.0 pct.) for 304 yards and three touchdowns in the game's final two quarters alone … earned Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week honors following his first career start after completing 27-of-34 passes (79.4 pct.) for 401 yards and three touchdowns against Washington.

Had season-highs in passing attempts (43) and completions (28) to go along with 381 yards and two touchdowns against Washington State … completed 27-of-37 passes (73.0 pct.) for 334 yards and three touchdowns at No. 14 UCLA … threw for 246 yards against Arizona, and helped lead ASU's second-half, 15-point comeback effort to defeat the Wildcats.

Redshirted as a member of the scout team … won the McBurney Scout Team Award as ASU's offensive scout team player of the year.

A 2004 graduate of Westlake (Calif.) High School … the Los Angeles Daily News Offensive Player of the Year … a pre- and postseason All-America selection by Prepstar Magazine … listed as the No. 67 player in California by SuperPrep Magazine … listed as the No. 36 player in California and a preseason All-American by SuperPrep Magazine … rated as the No. 20 quarterback in the nation by rivals.com … played in the Cali-Florida High School All-Star game … statistics as a senior included 2,705 passing yards (163 completions on 262 attempts) and 36 touchdowns and only six interceptions … also rushed for 626 yards and seven scores … Led Westlake to a Division IV Championship and a 14-0 season … lists that season as his most exciting sports experience … as a junior, was all-state, all-league, all-county, All-C.I.F. and league Most Valuable Player … completed 295 passes on 408 pass attempts for 3,200 yards and 32 touchdowns as a junior … also had 800 yards rushing and six rushing touchdowns … also was the Most Valuable Player for Newbury Park's baseball and basketball teams as well … played at Newbury Park High School before his senior season … coached by Jim Benkert (same as current Sun Devil Josh Golden).

Parents are Seth Carpenter (construction) and Linda Stephen (designer) of Newbury Park, Calif … .has five siblings … enjoys playing basketball and collecting shoes … born April 15, 1986 … full name is Rudy Grant Carpenter.