In a matter of two days, head coach Sean Lewis has raised the level of talent at the quarterback position for San Diego State. Thursday, a day after high three-star signal caller Danny O'Neil became the highest-rated high school player to commit to the Aztecs at the position since 2011, Florida State quarterback AJ Duffy announced his move back to the West Coast to continue his career on The Mesa.
Duffy, who played at Rancho Verde in Moreno Valley before finishing his high school career on the East Coast, was rated as the 14th-best pro-style quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class by Rivals and was a four-star Rivals250 member.
He signed with the Seminoles after a battle in his recruitment that featured many of the top programs from across the country. USC, LSU, Oregon, Arkansas, Louisville, Penn State, Utah, Ole Miss, Miami and Auburn are just some of the schools that offered the 6-foot-2, 217-pound quarterback as a high school prospect.
Duffy, who spent two seasons in Tallahassee, was never able to see the field much in that time with the Seminoles. He played in four games during his career and did not throw a pass in his only appearance this season, though he had 5 rushing yards on three attempts.
He has thrown one touchdown pass and tallied 26 yards passing in his career.
Like O'Neil, Duffy was an Elite 11 finalist during his high school days and also earned a spot in the Under Amour All-American Game giving the Aztecs two quality additions at the quarterback position in recent days.
Both players will now begin the process of determining who will start for Lewis and the new staff at SDSU. O'Neil is set to arrive at SDSU in just a few weeks where he and Duffy will compete with the current group of Aztecs signal callers that includes Tobin O'Dell, who appeared in three games this season, plus sophomore Kyle Crum and freshman former three-star recruit Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson.
Since hitting the road to recruit for the Aztecs, Lewis has been able to quickly make an impact building the talent on the roster. In addition to Duffy and O'Neil, SDSU recently received a commitment from high three-star 2024 cornerback Isaiah Buxton from Mater Dei Catholic in Chula Vista.
Duffy is the first transfer addition of the offseason for San Diego State.