What to watch as ASU starts spring football
Kenny Dillingham has appeared to do a lot in the short time since he was hired as Arizona State's head football coach in late November.
He hired a coaching staff with a lot of local ties; landed more than two dozen Division I transfers, many of whom are going to contribute right away; salvaged a decent high school recruiting class headlined by quarterback Jaden Rashada; and got four players who had entered the transfer portal to return to ASU instead.
The first glimpse of Dillingham's Devils comes on Tuesday when his squad takes the field for the first of 15 spring practices. The Sun Devils are scheduled to practice Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays until finishing off with the final spring session April 15 at Sun Devil Stadium following the completion of the annual Pat's Run.
Here's a look at some of the things we're keeping an eye on:
It's all about the quarterbacks — again!
For the second consecutive year this will be a position of focus, and like last season there are six candidates in the mix, a mix of athletes with various backgrounds. There is Trenton Bourget, the walk-on turned scholarship player who paid his dues as backup before finally taking over the position last last season. There is high-profile DI transfer Drew Pyne, who started 10 games last season at Notre Dame so he's used to playing in the spotlight. There's another transfer in Jacob Conover, who played little at Brigham Young and returns home, having prepped at Chandler High School.
Most eyes will be on another newcomer in Rashada, a four-star prospect out of Pittsburg, Calif., whose father, Harlen, played at ASU in the 1990s. His commitment to ASU earlier this month was considered quite a coup for Dillingham.
Buried on the depth chart but still looking still looing to prove themselves are junior Daylin McLemore, who was perhaps the most improved player at the position last spring; and Bennett Meredith, who is wrapping up his first year in the program.
Let the competition begin.
Receivers go from question mark to strength
The Sun Devils went into the 2022
season looking for a go-to receiver to emerge. Since Brandon Aiyuk (San Francisco 49ers) departed after the 2019 season it has been receiver by committee. But last season Elijhah Badger finally started fulfilling the potential the ASU braintrust saw in him when signing him in 2020 out of Folsom (Calif.) High School.
Not only did Badger (70 catches, 866 yards) emerge, so did Giovanni Sanders (40 catches, 500 yards), another athlete whose college career started as a walkon. Throw in tight end Jalin Conyers (38 catches, 422 yards) and the Sun Devils had a very good trio of pass catchers.
There are new additions at the position, both transfers and high school recruits who have the potential bolster the depth even more. We'll see how the chemistry and communication progresses between the receivers and the starting quarterback, particularly if it isn't Bourguet, the only one of the six that has really worked with this position group in the past.
Can the defense bounce back?
The Sun Devils went into last season relying on their defense, which had a handful or returning starters. The thought was that the ASU defense could keep games close until the offense had
successfully broken in some new starters and established some continuity.
That didn't prove to be the case. The Sun Devils were seventh in yardage allowed (422.1 ypg), ninth in scoring defense (31.4 ppg) and ninth in rushing defense (188.7 ypg). The best part of the unit was the secondary; ASU was a respectable fourth in passing defense (233.4 ypg). Four starters return there — Ro Torrence, Chris Edmonds, Ed Woods and Jordan Clark — so that should be a strength.
The biggest question mark will come at linebacker, where ASU will have to break in three new starters. Among the departed are Merlin Robertson and Kyle Soelle, who started a combined 74 games in their careers.
Rebuilding in the trenches
All coaches will tell you it all starts up front on both sides of the ball. Last season, that was a place where Sun Devils were deficient. Four of the five offensive line starters have departed: LaDarius Henderson and Ben Scott opted to transfer; Des Holmes and Chris Martinez graduated. The lone returner is junior left tackle Isaia Glass, although Emmit Bohle also saw considerable playing time. As it has in the past, ASU brought in some transfers who will be expected to start right away, most notably Ben Coleman (Cal) and Leif Fautanu (UNLV).
On defense the pass rush was practically non-existent, although some of that was the result of the scheme ASU relied upon. This is an area that looked like it was going to be a complete rebuild but Dillingham and new defensive line coach Vince Amey coaxed three defensive lineman back out of the portal, including Anthonie Cooper, the lone starter back. B.J. Green, who saw time in pass-rushing situations, will likely be in line for a bigger role and there are additions from the portal who will factor here as well.
If the Sun Devils are to rebound from the 3-9 showing in 2022, they're going to need better efforts in both trenches.
Will injured players bounce back?
Two players whom the Sun Devils were counting on heavily last season turned out to be non-factors due to injuries. Both defensive end Michael Matus and offensive lineman Joey Ramos chose to return, and with all the turnover on both sides of the ball the performance of both will be important.
Matus sustained a torn ACL late in fall camp and was lost for the season, although he stayed on and helped mentor the younger players. Ramos went down in the first game with an ankle injury that required surgery.
You never know how long it will take to bounce back from significant injuries, but since both occurred very early the pair has had a lot of time to rehab. Typically, players with those injuries are limited in spring ball. We will see if they can be more active because the injuries happened so early.
What kind of concepts will ASU employ?
A coaching change at the top usually means new schemes, especially if new coordinators are brought in.
Beau Baldwin is the new offensive coordinator and is noted for fast-paced, high-scoring game plans. Brian Ward is the new defensive coordinator, coming from the same position at Washington State. He was one of Dillingham's first hires, with the head coach saying he was quite familiar with Ward from from having faced him while Dillingham was at Oregon.
Sometimes you recruit players to fit the scheme and sometime you alter the scheme to fit the skillset of what you have. It will be probably a case of both here.