The first week of spring ball is now in the books as the Sun Devils practiced for the first time in pads today. Today was ASU’s first spring practice, which was open to the public from the Kajikawa practice facility in Tempe. Here are Caleb’s observations on offense and mine on defense
Offensive Two-Deep:
Group One:
WR: Troy Omeire
SLOT: Melquan Stovall
LT: Josh Atkins
LG: Sean Na’a
C: Leif Fautanu
RG: “Ise” Matautia
RT: Kyle Scott/Colby Garvin
TE: Bryce Pierre
WR: Kaleb Black
QB: Sam Leavitt
RB: Raleek Brown/Cam Skattebo
Group Two:
WR: Korbin Hendrix
SLOT: Jake Smith
LT: Jalen Klemm
LG: Ben Coleman
C: Griffin Schureman
RG: Cade Briggs
RT: Kaden Haeckel/Max Iheanachor
TE: Marketson Douglas/Coleson Arends
WR: Patrick Williams II
QB: Trenton Bourguet/Navi Bruzon
RB: George Hart III/DeCarlos Brooks
Bypassing the team stretch and ball security portions of practice, the team broke into the team-tempo period on the far field. The second group took the field first as early, running back DeCarlos Brooks was very involved early. Brooks had two nice runs in the opening series as the running back group continues to show its depth at the running back position.
Continuing with the running backs, the first group saw Kyson brown get loose for an arguable touchdown if full tackling was permitted. Later in the period, Freshman quarterback Navi Bruzon got some more playtime during this period as Bruzon might be the one benefitting the most as Jaden Rashada is out.
Moving ahead to the individual portion of practice, the running backs went right to work as today, Cam Skattebo took the head of the group. A lot of footwork and bouncing movements got the group loose as Raleek Brown and DeCarlos followed Skat. At one point, Kyson Brown failed at a drill but worked back to maintain the standard coach Shaun Aguano has been instilling amongst the group.
Looking over at the offensive lineman, it has been one of the more interesting things thus far as the combinations of groups seem to be all over the place. That said, it has been evident that players such as Sean Na’a, Jalen Klemm, Max Iheanachor, and Leif Fautanu have been at the forefront of drills and portions of team segments.
After practice, Na’a was asked about the combinations of certain players at different positions and in groups. He answered that coach Saga Tuitele wants players to mesh and play at different positions as much as possible. Surely a lesson learned in terms of preparation after last season.
Tight ends went through their usual blocking drills before joining quarterbacks and receivers. As much as Bryce Pierre leads the group, the understudy’s development has been intriguing. Florida State transfer Markeston Douglas is easily the biggest in the group but is still trying to find his role as a blocker or pass catcher, as he’s shown the ability to catch well.
The younger guys Cameron Harpole and Coleson Arends have room for overall body development. That said they also have shown more of an ability to be pass-catching tight ends as we’ve seen from Arends in recent days especially.
As the focus shifted to the quarterbacks, offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo was especially attentive to the quarterbacks working with the running backs on exchanges and handoffs. As Kenny Dillingham has mentioned, things might happen a lot under center this season. Play action and running back exchanges will be a pinnacle piece in being successful, and it looks like Arroyo stresses that.
As quarterbacks went into routes on air, things regressed a bit for the quarterbacks as some of the throws in the second level were late or flat. Wide receivers worked efficiently but in any case, the vocal duo of receivers’ coach Rashaad Samples and Arroyo has every detail under a microscope during these times. Jordyn Tyson who has been limited was participating in individual drills and route running periods.
A second team group again saw the offense take a regression step as Raleek Brown had a fumble that was not recovered, and Kaleb Black had two crucial drops to this point as the offense did not have the edge during this time. Additionally, at this point in practice, quarterback Sam Leavitt did not take further team reps as Dillingham disclosed Leavitt tweaked his hip.
Between offensive segments, a short special team period followed. Here it is to note that wide receivers Melquan Stovall and Jake Smith look to be the early front-runners in punt returning. In terms of place kicking, Ian Hershey was 1-4 having one kick blocked and two other missed. All kicks were from about 40 yards. Carston Kieffer was 3-4 as his only kick that was missed was blocked.
Going back to the offense over the latter half of practice, things seemed to get going back in the right direction. Stovall had an over-the-defender catch for a touchdown in one one-on-ones as Kaleb Black seemed to bounce back from his start and multiple well-run routes and catches for scores.
In 7v7, there were familiar themes from Thursday as the defense forced shorter throws and checkdowns. Wide receiver Jake Smith had two nice catches as he established himself on the depth chart. Speaking of the depth chart, as Elijhah Badger and “X” Guillory are out currently, other receivers like Max Ware, Patrick Williams II, and Derek Eusebio have all made catches and have made their presence known.
Going into the last team segments of the day, the offense sputtered as the run game was struggling along with the quarterbacks facing some pressure. George Hart III had a nice one-handed catch as Bruzon came in and found Williams II multiple times, but it was a quiet period for the offense. In turn, this led Skattebo to yell, “Let’s go O” multiple times.
In closing, there was a third-down emphasis against the defense, and the offense actually found a lot of success playing situational football. It’s safe to say short conversions are Trenton Bourguet’s “bread and butter,” but Raleek Brown, Kyson Brown, and Hart III all had huge runs, contributing to the offense’s victory at the end of practice.
arizonastate.rivals.com
arizonastate.rivals.com
