Hey guys, Arizona State was on the practice field for the tenth of 15 times this spring. Here are some of the things Chris Gleason and I saw today:
STRETCHING MUSIC: "Going bad,” by Meek Mill Feat. Drake
ATTIRE: Shells
MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Full two hours, but we could only video tape the first 30 minutes
Muscle Beach: DL D.J. Davidson, WR Ryan Newsome, LB Tyler Johnson, LB Stanley Lambert, DE Mark Walton, CB Dom Harrison, OL Zach Robertson, LB Merlin Robertson, RB Demetrious Flowers, DB Preston Liger, DL Shannon Forman, *CB Chase Lucas and *WR Paul Lucas
*First time on muscle beach this spring
Personnel Notes:
— As we tweeted out yesterday, DC Danny Gonzales said that Merlin Robertson is not participating in practice for disciplinary reasons and that's why he is on muscle beach, not because of an injury.
— Kyle Williams again did not participate in practice due to class obligations
— WR John Humphrey was back on the practice field for the first time since the first spring practice. He tweaked his hamstring at the end of that inaugural and was on muscle beach for the next two weeks. Today he went through individual drills but didn't participate in team drills.
— We didn’t see CB Kobe Williams at all today. He’s been present at every practice up until this point and has never been to muscle beach. He had a death in the family and is attending to that.
First-Team Offense
QB: Jayden Daniels, Ethan Long
RB: Eno Benjamin, Isaiah Floyd
WR: Frank Darby, Geordon Porter, Brandon Aiyuk, Tyerell Baldonado-Kaeiopu
TE: Tommy Hudson, Curtis Hodges
OL: Roy Hemsley, Alex Losoya, Cohl Cabral, Cade Cote Steven Miller
Second-Team Offense
QB: Jayden Daniels, Ethan Long
RB: A.J. Carter, Tavian Gould
WR: Keith Davis, C.J. Jarmon, Angel Ruiz, Tannor Park
TE: Jared Bubak
OL: Ralph Frias, Dohnovan West, Jarrett Bell, Marco Salas, Spencer Lovell
First-Team Defense
DL: George Lea, Corey Stephens, Jermayne Lole/Michael Matus
LB: Khaylan Kearse-Thomas, Darien Butler, Case Hatch,
CB: Timarcus Davis, Terin Adams/Darien Cornay
Tillman: Aashari Crosswell
S: Cam Phillips, Evan Fields
Second-Team Defense
DL: Jermayne Lole, Corey Stephens, Michael Matus/ George Lea
LB: Kyle Soelle, Ely Doyle, Khaylan Kearse-Thomas
CB: Terin Adams, Timarcus Davis/Darien Cornay
Tillman: Tyler Whiley
S: Langston Frederick/Alijah Gammage, K.J. Jarrell
DEFENSIVE NOTES:
- Because the defensive linemen, who were missing Shannon Forman because he was on muscle beach, only had four guys, the defense went with two defensive linemen and four linebackers at times.
- Khaylan Kearse-Thomas has impressed many to this point in the Spring, including linebackers coach Antonio Pierce. He saw significant game action last season and will be looked at as a senior leader of the front seven.
- The defensive backs practiced a new drill today that focused on when the receiver makes first contact with a pass
11-on-11 HIGHLIGHTS:
- LB Case Hatch trucked OL Cohl Cabral trying to stop a run play, which caught everyone's attention including coaches. Cabral took it well, giving a double thumbs-up while on his back then getting up to hug it out with his teammate.
- LB Kyle Soelle and DL Jermayne Lole stuffed RB Isaiah Floyd on a run play, the final play of scrimmages with Joey Yellen under center. Lole is looking to have a breakout sophomore season after finishing strong in November of 2018, while Soelle will compete for reps and may see game action in special teams.
- LB Darien Butler pressured Jayden Daniels on consecutive plays, with the help of George Lea the first time, and forced a whistle meaning the play is considered a sack. Butler has been on-and-off the field throughout the Spring but once again figures to be a staple of the front seven come Fall.
QUARTERBACK COMPETITION:
Today's two quarterbacks in control of the offense during team periods were Jayden Daniels and Ethan Long . We didn't see Dillon Sterling-Cole at all in the team period but Joey Yellen got to run the starting offense for a 6-pay drive in 11-on-11.
Jayden Daniels- Daniels had a tough day as a large result of him being pressure most of the time he dropped back. He really wasn't able to show off his arm that much and there weren't any throws that stand out from him. He seemed to sit in the pocket when pressure surrounded him, which is problematic given that his biggest strength was supposed to be how he reacted when the play broke down. For a guy with as much speed and athleticism as him, it was kind of surprising to not run at the first sign of trouble and try and extend the play from the pocket. He got to quarterback four drives compared to just two for Long today, which was kind of odd, either signaling that they want to see more from him because he is doing very well or because he hasn't yet met his potential.
Ethan Long- It was tough to judge Long on Wednesday mostly because he was only in for two drives and threw the ball just three times despite being under center for 14 plays. The only deep pass he threw -- a 15-yard post route to a wide-open Baldonado-Kaeiopu -- was out of the reach of his receiver and fell incomplete. Long ran the ball two times, including a really nice bootleg inside the 10-yard line that looked to be a touchdown. As all the young quarterbacks have shown, they have a really tough time throwing the ball away or running -- instead thinking if they keep waiting something will open up downfield. It has gotten Long into trouble a lot and may have led to him getting less reps.
11-v-11 Play Log:
Daniels:
STRETCHING MUSIC: "Going bad,” by Meek Mill Feat. Drake
ATTIRE: Shells
MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Full two hours, but we could only video tape the first 30 minutes
Muscle Beach: DL D.J. Davidson, WR Ryan Newsome, LB Tyler Johnson, LB Stanley Lambert, DE Mark Walton, CB Dom Harrison, OL Zach Robertson, LB Merlin Robertson, RB Demetrious Flowers, DB Preston Liger, DL Shannon Forman, *CB Chase Lucas and *WR Paul Lucas
*First time on muscle beach this spring
Personnel Notes:
— As we tweeted out yesterday, DC Danny Gonzales said that Merlin Robertson is not participating in practice for disciplinary reasons and that's why he is on muscle beach, not because of an injury.
— Kyle Williams again did not participate in practice due to class obligations
— WR John Humphrey was back on the practice field for the first time since the first spring practice. He tweaked his hamstring at the end of that inaugural and was on muscle beach for the next two weeks. Today he went through individual drills but didn't participate in team drills.
— We didn’t see CB Kobe Williams at all today. He’s been present at every practice up until this point and has never been to muscle beach. He had a death in the family and is attending to that.
First-Team Offense
QB: Jayden Daniels, Ethan Long
RB: Eno Benjamin, Isaiah Floyd
WR: Frank Darby, Geordon Porter, Brandon Aiyuk, Tyerell Baldonado-Kaeiopu
TE: Tommy Hudson, Curtis Hodges
OL: Roy Hemsley, Alex Losoya, Cohl Cabral, Cade Cote Steven Miller
Second-Team Offense
QB: Jayden Daniels, Ethan Long
RB: A.J. Carter, Tavian Gould
WR: Keith Davis, C.J. Jarmon, Angel Ruiz, Tannor Park
TE: Jared Bubak
OL: Ralph Frias, Dohnovan West, Jarrett Bell, Marco Salas, Spencer Lovell
First-Team Defense
DL: George Lea, Corey Stephens, Jermayne Lole/Michael Matus
LB: Khaylan Kearse-Thomas, Darien Butler, Case Hatch,
CB: Timarcus Davis, Terin Adams/Darien Cornay
Tillman: Aashari Crosswell
S: Cam Phillips, Evan Fields
Second-Team Defense
DL: Jermayne Lole, Corey Stephens, Michael Matus/ George Lea
LB: Kyle Soelle, Ely Doyle, Khaylan Kearse-Thomas
CB: Terin Adams, Timarcus Davis/Darien Cornay
Tillman: Tyler Whiley
S: Langston Frederick/Alijah Gammage, K.J. Jarrell
DEFENSIVE NOTES:
- Because the defensive linemen, who were missing Shannon Forman because he was on muscle beach, only had four guys, the defense went with two defensive linemen and four linebackers at times.
- Khaylan Kearse-Thomas has impressed many to this point in the Spring, including linebackers coach Antonio Pierce. He saw significant game action last season and will be looked at as a senior leader of the front seven.
- The defensive backs practiced a new drill today that focused on when the receiver makes first contact with a pass
11-on-11 HIGHLIGHTS:
- LB Case Hatch trucked OL Cohl Cabral trying to stop a run play, which caught everyone's attention including coaches. Cabral took it well, giving a double thumbs-up while on his back then getting up to hug it out with his teammate.
- LB Kyle Soelle and DL Jermayne Lole stuffed RB Isaiah Floyd on a run play, the final play of scrimmages with Joey Yellen under center. Lole is looking to have a breakout sophomore season after finishing strong in November of 2018, while Soelle will compete for reps and may see game action in special teams.
- LB Darien Butler pressured Jayden Daniels on consecutive plays, with the help of George Lea the first time, and forced a whistle meaning the play is considered a sack. Butler has been on-and-off the field throughout the Spring but once again figures to be a staple of the front seven come Fall.
QUARTERBACK COMPETITION:
Today's two quarterbacks in control of the offense during team periods were Jayden Daniels and Ethan Long . We didn't see Dillon Sterling-Cole at all in the team period but Joey Yellen got to run the starting offense for a 6-pay drive in 11-on-11.
Jayden Daniels- Daniels had a tough day as a large result of him being pressure most of the time he dropped back. He really wasn't able to show off his arm that much and there weren't any throws that stand out from him. He seemed to sit in the pocket when pressure surrounded him, which is problematic given that his biggest strength was supposed to be how he reacted when the play broke down. For a guy with as much speed and athleticism as him, it was kind of surprising to not run at the first sign of trouble and try and extend the play from the pocket. He got to quarterback four drives compared to just two for Long today, which was kind of odd, either signaling that they want to see more from him because he is doing very well or because he hasn't yet met his potential.
Ethan Long- It was tough to judge Long on Wednesday mostly because he was only in for two drives and threw the ball just three times despite being under center for 14 plays. The only deep pass he threw -- a 15-yard post route to a wide-open Baldonado-Kaeiopu -- was out of the reach of his receiver and fell incomplete. Long ran the ball two times, including a really nice bootleg inside the 10-yard line that looked to be a touchdown. As all the young quarterbacks have shown, they have a really tough time throwing the ball away or running -- instead thinking if they keep waiting something will open up downfield. It has gotten Long into trouble a lot and may have led to him getting less reps.
11-v-11 Play Log:
Daniels:
- Eno runs to the right
- Baldonado-Kaeiopu beats Aashari on a post route but the pass is just a bit too long
- Eno runs to the right and is stopped by Timarcus Davis after about 8 yards
- Eno gets around the left edge but runs into traffic
- DL Michael Matus brings pressure and Daniels tries to run but drops the ball and picks it up
- Floyd runs to the right for about 8 yards. TE Tommy Hudson has a nice block on the outside
- Geordon Porter runs a 12-yard curl to the sideline, breaking nicely on Darien Cornay for the big pickup
- A.J. Carter runs right but is stopped quickly
- Floyd runs to the left for a short gain
- Option. Dump pass to Floyd. Long had a wide-open Darby along the sideline but didn’t see him
- Carter runs up the middle but Ely Doyle plugs the A-gap for the stop
- Option. Long keeps it and runs to the right but is stopped by LB Khaylan Kearse-Thomas near the line
- Long can’t find anything and rolls out a little bit before being sacked
- RB Tavian Gould runs around the right edge for a short gain
- Baldonado-Kaeiopu ran a zone-beater 15-yard post route but Long’s pass was just out of his reach
- Play-action quick out route to TE Curtis Hodges
- Option. 10-yard curl route to Aiyuk. Throw was really good but Aiyuk dropped it
- Pressure comes quick and George Lea gets the sack before Daniels can get out of the pocket
- Play-action. Daniels was looking for Aiyuk downfield but he was covered and before Daniels could run, Darien Butler sacked him
- Pressure comes behind Daniels and he hits Floyd on a short curl route
- Ely Doyle comes hard off the edge and Daniels just floats it up for Porter. He didn’t see it coming and it was overthrown
- Play-action. Carter comes out of the backfield for a short out route
- False start
- Eno runs up the middle but is quickly stopped by DE Jermayne Lole
- Eno runs to the right, gets past the outreached arm of Timarcus Davis and literally flips into the end zone from 8 yards out
- Floyd runs up the middle and into the end zone from 8 yards
- Floyd runs to the left into the end zone
- Bootleg, Long runs and is met by Fields at about the 2-yard line. Looked like he would have scored even if they were tackling
- Eno runs up the middle for a short gain
- Play-action. Gets out a screen pass to Eno but looked like he was sacked by Case Hatch
- Screen pass to Eno. Tackled by CB Darien Cornay along the sideline
- Eno runs up the B-gap for a solid gain before being tackled by Tillman Tyler Whiley
- Option. Pressure comes and Daniels panicked in the pocket before throwing a screen pass that was too high and went out of bounds
- Safety K.J. Jarrell breaks up a 10-yard curl intended for Brandon Aiyuk
- A limp throw to Angel Ruiz falls short and is nearly picked off by Crosswell
- Screen pass to Floyd goes for 15+ yards
- Yellen throws a beautiful deep fade to Aiyuk, who beat double coverage for a 40+ yard gain
- Carter runs up the middle
- Yellen tries a deep back-shoulder fade to Porter, who was covered by Timarcus Davis. Porter didn’t adjust his body quick enough and had to try and catch it falling backwards. Incomplete pass
- Gould runs up the middle
