Hey guys, ASU was back out at the Kajikawa Practice Fields today for its eighth spring practice. Here are my notes from the two-hour practice:
DAY EIGHT DEPTH CHART
QB: Manny Wilkins – Blake Barnett
RB: Eno Benjamin – Abe Thompson
WR-X: N’Keal Harry – Curtis Hodges
WR-Y: Kyle Williams – Trevor Russell
WR-Z: Frank Darby – Terrell Chatman
TE: Tommy Hudson – Jared Bubak
LT: Tyson Rising – Mason Schell
LG: Alex Losoya – Jesse Cozens
C: Cohl Cabral – Jonathan Sanchez
RG: Cade Cote – Corey Stephens
RT: Quinn Bailey – Kyle Breed
DE: Jalen Bates – Darius Slade
NT: Renell Wren – D.J. Davidson
DE: Shannon Forman – Doug Subtyl
OLB: Jay Jay Wilson – Parker Higgins
MLB: Khaylan Thomas – Nick Ralston
OLB: Malik Lawal – Kyle Soelle
Tillman: Evan Fields – Tyler Whiley
CB: Chase Lucas – Terin Adams
CB: Kobe Williams – Darien Cornay
S (Ranger): Jalen Harvey – Dominique Harrison / Das Tautalatasi
S (Ranger): Langston Frederick – Caleb McShanag
K: Brandon Ruiz
P: Michael Sleep-Dalton – Matthew Bazarevitsch
LS: Riley John
PR: N’Keal Harry – Chase Lucas
KR: Eno Benjamin – Trelon Smith
~~~
ASU KEEPING FOCUS ON FUNDAMENTALS
Position-Specific Work
Nothing too groundbreaking happened during the first hour or so of practice, aside from a lot of position-by-position exercises.
DL coach Shaun Nua had his group working on footwork again. A good, quick first step will be key for ASU’s defensive front this season. In practice, the line shifts a lot, forcing the linemen to line up in different gaps and in different techniques. The coaching staff has preached the importance of versatility with this group.
Offensively, OL coach Dave Christensen was also focusing on his group’s footwork. The currently inexperienced group has spent a lot of this spring perfecting fundamentals, both in drills like this and on the hitting sleds to practicing blocking techniques. OT Zach Robertson also participated in some of the individual drills on Thursday. He missed the first two weeks of spring practice before returning on Tuesday.
GENERAL NOTES
Walkthrough
This period was pretty brief, and Blake Barnett took most of the snaps. The biggest thing I noticed, though, was a heavy emphasis in targeting Trevor Russell, who ended up with the ball in his hands on at least half of the plays run during this period. Barnett also found Curtis Hodges with a nice deep ball down the left sideline.
1-on-1 Passing
During the latter hour or so, ASU really got into the team-oriented exercises, starting with the always-eventful one-on-one drills. Offensive Coordinator Rob Likens opened this period by shouting to his receivers, "Let's get a lot of pass interference calls!" No flags were thrown, but I'd say the receiving corps out-played the defensive backs today. A few more specific thoughts and plays:
The Chase Lucas vs. N'Keal Harry battles are always interesting to watch. Today, they went at each other twice. The results:
--Harry quickly got separation on a short slant route, easily winning the first matchup. Pass from Manny Wilkins.
--Harry ran a quick out route and made an easy catch on the sideline. Lucas gave him a little too much space — at least, that's what Herm Edwards told him. "Don’t back out 2-4," was the phrase I heard from Edwards following the play. Pass from Blake Barnett.
Otherwise, Lucas looked like his usual self. On the last play of one-on-one, he cut inside a Curtis Hodges route over the middle and nearly picked it. Afterwards, he looked somewhat displeased, shouting, "I needed that!"
7-on-7
Here's the list of plays from 7-on-7 drills.
Under Dillon Sterling-Cole...
--Threw behind Frank Darby over the middle.
--Short pass to Darby, lost it off of his hands. Looked like he may have heard some footsteps.
--Completed a quick out route to Eno Benjamin.
--Picked off by Dominique Harrison in the end zone. Harrison waited back and read the pass perfectly, jumping in front of a crossing route for a clean, two-handed grab.
Under Blake Barnett...
--Short pass to Mark Cosgrove, touchdown.
--Quick pass over the middle to Trevor Russell, completed.
--Threw over the middle in the end zone, incomplete off the hands of Terrell Chatman.
Here's a little more in 7-on-7 from Barnett, hitting Kyle Remo and Russell for touchdowns:
Under Manny Wilkins...
--Nearly picked off by Jay Jay Wilson under the goalposts, instead tipped into Tommy Hudson's hands for a touchdown.
--Threaded the needle beautifully to N'Keal Harry in the middle of the end zone. Harry made a nice leaping catch and got a foot down in the back of the end zone.
--Hit Abe Thompson on a short out route in the front corner of the end zone.
--Completed a slant route to Eno Benjamin.
11-on-11 Team Drills
--ASU spent most of its final period running the ball, almost entirely to Benjamin. He had a few nice runs outside the tackles, including one where he broke a couple of tackles on the edge and fought his way forward for a few extra yards.
--Manny had to scramble a couple of times, but he looked pretty composed in the pocket. Had one nice play.
--Jalen Harvey nearly picked up another interception; he undercut a short route over the middle and went after it with one hand, but couldn't haul it in.
OVERALL TAKEAWAYS
--This might not be breaking news, but it looks like Chase Lucas is getting a lot better going up against N'Keal Harry. Of course, given Harry's elite skillset, Lucas isn't going to win every matchup, but when paired with any other receiver, he seems to have the edge.
--Trevor Russell continues to quietly move into focus among the receivers. It certainly helps his cause that Ryan Jenkins, Ryan Newsome and Jeremy Smith were all out of today's practice, but he's taking advantage of the opportunity and running some really crisp routes. He seems to be very effective in the middle of the field, particularly on short routes where he can get quick separation.
--We didn't see an exorbitant amount of this, but Eno Benjamin has been seeing some opportunities in the passing game as well. Both Barnett and Wilkins hit him out of the backfield on a couple of occasions.
~~~
Injuries...
All of the following players made their way into the bubble and didn't practice today: OL Mason Watler, DB Demonte King, TE Ceejhay French-Love, WR Ryan Jenkins, WR Ryan Newsome, WR Jeremy Smith, DB Deion Guignard, LB Koron Crump
~~~
That's all I've got for today. ASU will be back out at practice tomorrow night, and Jack Harris will have your coverage from there.
DAY EIGHT DEPTH CHART
QB: Manny Wilkins – Blake Barnett
RB: Eno Benjamin – Abe Thompson
WR-X: N’Keal Harry – Curtis Hodges
WR-Y: Kyle Williams – Trevor Russell
WR-Z: Frank Darby – Terrell Chatman
TE: Tommy Hudson – Jared Bubak
LT: Tyson Rising – Mason Schell
LG: Alex Losoya – Jesse Cozens
C: Cohl Cabral – Jonathan Sanchez
RG: Cade Cote – Corey Stephens
RT: Quinn Bailey – Kyle Breed
DE: Jalen Bates – Darius Slade
NT: Renell Wren – D.J. Davidson
DE: Shannon Forman – Doug Subtyl
OLB: Jay Jay Wilson – Parker Higgins
MLB: Khaylan Thomas – Nick Ralston
OLB: Malik Lawal – Kyle Soelle
Tillman: Evan Fields – Tyler Whiley
CB: Chase Lucas – Terin Adams
CB: Kobe Williams – Darien Cornay
S (Ranger): Jalen Harvey – Dominique Harrison / Das Tautalatasi
S (Ranger): Langston Frederick – Caleb McShanag
K: Brandon Ruiz
P: Michael Sleep-Dalton – Matthew Bazarevitsch
LS: Riley John
PR: N’Keal Harry – Chase Lucas
KR: Eno Benjamin – Trelon Smith
~~~
ASU KEEPING FOCUS ON FUNDAMENTALS
Position-Specific Work
Nothing too groundbreaking happened during the first hour or so of practice, aside from a lot of position-by-position exercises.
DL coach Shaun Nua had his group working on footwork again. A good, quick first step will be key for ASU’s defensive front this season. In practice, the line shifts a lot, forcing the linemen to line up in different gaps and in different techniques. The coaching staff has preached the importance of versatility with this group.
Offensively, OL coach Dave Christensen was also focusing on his group’s footwork. The currently inexperienced group has spent a lot of this spring perfecting fundamentals, both in drills like this and on the hitting sleds to practicing blocking techniques. OT Zach Robertson also participated in some of the individual drills on Thursday. He missed the first two weeks of spring practice before returning on Tuesday.
GENERAL NOTES
Walkthrough
This period was pretty brief, and Blake Barnett took most of the snaps. The biggest thing I noticed, though, was a heavy emphasis in targeting Trevor Russell, who ended up with the ball in his hands on at least half of the plays run during this period. Barnett also found Curtis Hodges with a nice deep ball down the left sideline.
1-on-1 Passing
During the latter hour or so, ASU really got into the team-oriented exercises, starting with the always-eventful one-on-one drills. Offensive Coordinator Rob Likens opened this period by shouting to his receivers, "Let's get a lot of pass interference calls!" No flags were thrown, but I'd say the receiving corps out-played the defensive backs today. A few more specific thoughts and plays:
The Chase Lucas vs. N'Keal Harry battles are always interesting to watch. Today, they went at each other twice. The results:
--Harry quickly got separation on a short slant route, easily winning the first matchup. Pass from Manny Wilkins.
--Harry ran a quick out route and made an easy catch on the sideline. Lucas gave him a little too much space — at least, that's what Herm Edwards told him. "Don’t back out 2-4," was the phrase I heard from Edwards following the play. Pass from Blake Barnett.
Otherwise, Lucas looked like his usual self. On the last play of one-on-one, he cut inside a Curtis Hodges route over the middle and nearly picked it. Afterwards, he looked somewhat displeased, shouting, "I needed that!"
7-on-7
Here's the list of plays from 7-on-7 drills.
Under Dillon Sterling-Cole...
--Threw behind Frank Darby over the middle.
--Short pass to Darby, lost it off of his hands. Looked like he may have heard some footsteps.
--Completed a quick out route to Eno Benjamin.
--Picked off by Dominique Harrison in the end zone. Harrison waited back and read the pass perfectly, jumping in front of a crossing route for a clean, two-handed grab.
Under Blake Barnett...
--Short pass to Mark Cosgrove, touchdown.
--Quick pass over the middle to Trevor Russell, completed.
--Threw over the middle in the end zone, incomplete off the hands of Terrell Chatman.
Here's a little more in 7-on-7 from Barnett, hitting Kyle Remo and Russell for touchdowns:
Under Manny Wilkins...
--Nearly picked off by Jay Jay Wilson under the goalposts, instead tipped into Tommy Hudson's hands for a touchdown.
--Threaded the needle beautifully to N'Keal Harry in the middle of the end zone. Harry made a nice leaping catch and got a foot down in the back of the end zone.
--Hit Abe Thompson on a short out route in the front corner of the end zone.
--Completed a slant route to Eno Benjamin.
11-on-11 Team Drills
--ASU spent most of its final period running the ball, almost entirely to Benjamin. He had a few nice runs outside the tackles, including one where he broke a couple of tackles on the edge and fought his way forward for a few extra yards.
--Manny had to scramble a couple of times, but he looked pretty composed in the pocket. Had one nice play.
--Jalen Harvey nearly picked up another interception; he undercut a short route over the middle and went after it with one hand, but couldn't haul it in.
OVERALL TAKEAWAYS
--This might not be breaking news, but it looks like Chase Lucas is getting a lot better going up against N'Keal Harry. Of course, given Harry's elite skillset, Lucas isn't going to win every matchup, but when paired with any other receiver, he seems to have the edge.
--Trevor Russell continues to quietly move into focus among the receivers. It certainly helps his cause that Ryan Jenkins, Ryan Newsome and Jeremy Smith were all out of today's practice, but he's taking advantage of the opportunity and running some really crisp routes. He seems to be very effective in the middle of the field, particularly on short routes where he can get quick separation.
--We didn't see an exorbitant amount of this, but Eno Benjamin has been seeing some opportunities in the passing game as well. Both Barnett and Wilkins hit him out of the backfield on a couple of occasions.
~~~
Injuries...
All of the following players made their way into the bubble and didn't practice today: OL Mason Watler, DB Demonte King, TE Ceejhay French-Love, WR Ryan Jenkins, WR Ryan Newsome, WR Jeremy Smith, DB Deion Guignard, LB Koron Crump
~~~
That's all I've got for today. ASU will be back out at practice tomorrow night, and Jack Harris will have your coverage from there.
