Hey guys, Arizona State was on the practice fields for the second of 15 times this spring. Here are some of the things Chris Gleason and I saw today:
LOCATION: Verde Dickey Dome
STRETCHING MUSIC: "Splashin" by Rich the Kid // "Can't C Me," by 2Pac
ATTIRE: Shorts
MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Full two hours
Muscle Beach: DL D.J. Davidson, LB Stanley Lambert, WR Ryan Newsome, LB Tyler Johnson, WR John Humphrey, TE Mark Walton, CB Dom Harrison
Personnel Notes: Cornerback Chase Lucas wasn't at practice for the second-straight day. Someone in the huddle yesterday said that someone close to Chase was in a bad car accident so like is likely the reason for his absence.
First-Team Offense
QB: Jayden Daniels, Ethan Long
RB: Eno Benjamin, Isaiah Floyd
WR: Brandon Aiyuk, Frank Darby, Kyle Williams, Geordon Porter
TE: Tommy Hudson
OL: Zach Robertson, Alex Losoya/Cade Cote, Cohl Cabral, Roy Hemsley, Steven Miller
Second-Team Offense
QB: Jayden Daniels, Ethan Long
RB: A.J. Carter, Paul Lucas, Demetrious Flowers
WR: Tyerell Baldonado-Kaeiopu, C.J. Jarmon, Angel Ruiz, Keith Davis
TE: Curtis Hodges, Jared Bubak
OL: Ralph Frias, Dohnovan West, Jarrett Bell, Marco Salas, Spencer Lovell
FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE
DL: Jermayne Lole, Shannon Forman, George Lea
LB: Khaylan Kearse-Thomas, Darien Butler, Merlin Robertson
CB: Timarcus Davis, Kobe Williams
TILLMAN: Evan Fields
S: Aashari Crosswell (Field Ranger), Cam Phillips (Boundary Ranger)
SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE
DL: Michael Matus, Corey Stephens, George Lea
LB: Reggie Hughes, Case Hatch, Kyle Soelle
CB: Terin Adams, Darien Cornay,
Safeties: Langston Frederick, KJ Jarrell
TILLMAN: Ely Doyle
DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS:
-- During one-on-one drills, with all four QB’s getting the chance to throw, Cornerback Terin Adams made several pass breakups and seemed to be the hardest corner to beat. For what it’s worth, the routes were kept simple as they essentially alternated between go routes and back-shoulder fades.
-- Cornerback Timarcus Davis was beat on a deep ball, concluding what was a rough day of practice for the redshirt sophomore. Coach Edwards made the time to pull him aside and talk to him briefly one-on-one late in the session. Davis, who won scout-team player of the year last season, had drawn rave reviews from teammates and coaches but he must have gotten beat six or seven times today. His teammates tried to come over to him every time but then it would just happen again.
-- Kobe Williams broke up a deep ball to Frank Darby, who nearly made the grab falling out-of-bounds until Williams jarred the ball loose before Darby hit the ground. The pair went against each other the entire practice.
-- Linebacker Kyle Soelle picked off an ill-advised pass by Ethan Long into the teeth of the defense on one of Long’s first drives. Mistakes like this will undoubtedly be part of the learning curve of adjusting to the speed of the college game
--Cornerback Darien Cornay made a couple of nice break-ups, deflecting a deep ball from Jayden Daniels and knocking down a quick slant thrown by Long
-- Linebacker Khaylan Kearse-Thomas batted down a Daniels throw at the line to break up a short pass attempt
-- LB Reggie Hughes displayed some explosiveness, breaking through the line and getting to the QB for what would’ve been a sack, then displayed some emotion letting the offensive lineman he beat hear it right after the play
-- Defensive linemen Shannon Forman and George Lea broke through the line to get what would’ve been a TFL on Eno Benjamin on the first team’s final drive
QUARTERBACK COMPETITION:
In order to give equal reps to every quarterback, offensive coordinator Rob Likens is giving two quarterbacks all the reps one day and then the other two quarterbacks all the reps the next day. Dillon Sterling-Cole and Joey Yellen were first up yesterday and Jayden Daniels and Ethan Long got their first chance to run the offense today. Here's how each of them did
Dillon Sterling-Cole- After a stellar performance yesterday, Sterling-Cole was forced to just throwing in warmups, receiver drills and one-on-one matchups between a receiver and corner. I have to say, despite the limited attempts, the redshirt junior impressed again. On one throw, Frank Darby beat Kobe Williams down the sideline, so bad that he yelled "Throw that sh--" mid-route, and Sterling-Cole put a dime right into the arms of Darby in stride. Sterling-Cole and Darby have connected really good on the deep balls so far -- you may remember that Sterling-Cole threw a beautiful shot to Darby late in the USC game when Manny was hurt, but Darby dropped it. I asked Sterling-Cole about their connection yesterday and he said it had a lot to do with them being on the scout team together their freshman year. Another thing I've looked for with Sterling-Cole is how he throws short slants and curls -- it almost got to the point of humor last season with how often he would overthrow still receivers that were like eight yards in front of him. So far, though, he's been keeping his throws down and hitting his receivers right after they come out of their break. After two days, I would say he is still in the lead of the competition ... for whatever it's worth.
Joey Yellen- Yellen did the same limited throwing as Sterling-Cole and had his moments but, just like yesterday, it's pretty evident this was his second collegiate practice. During a one-on-one rep, receiver Geordon Porter cut inside on a slant route, a good stride in front of his defender, but Yellen waited to throw it which allowed the defender to catch up and break up the pass. The good thing from that play was he didn't make the same mistake again. A few reps later, Yellen was throwing to Darby, who was covered by Kobe Williams every time, and timed his throw perfectly to hit Darby right when he cut back out of a 10-to-12-yard curl route. Darby jumped up and snatched it as he tip-toed the sideline.
Jayden Daniels- In his first true day of practice, Daniels, a four-star prospect from Southern California, made a few nice plays but nothing that significantly jumped off the page. But, to an extent, that was to be expected. Daniels is lauded for his dual-threat ability. With ASU practicing in shorts and Likens wanting the quarterbacks to simply grasp concepts and the play book, he wasn't really able to show that off. The thing he did do very well in that respect was keep his head up when pressure was closing in on him in the pocket. There weren't any designed runs for him and it didn't seem like he was super eager to take off -- he kept his eyes downfield when flushed out of the pocket and was usually able to hit someone for a short gain. He only threw one deep ball during the 11-on-11 period, but it was broken up. The positive for Daniels was he looked confident and poised, going the whole practice without any obvious dumb plays.
Ethan Long- Long, a three-star prospect from Oregon, is the underdog in this quarterback competition. After a full practice under his belt, I think he is still firmly there. He missed on a lot of throws Wednesday, on both intermediate and deep routes. When pressure started to sill the pocket and he wasn't able to go through his reads and progressions, he would just throw it. This led to a lot of broken-up balls and, during 11-on-11, an interception by linebacker Kyle Soelle, who simply read Long's eyes and jumped the route. Long had a few highlights, most notably hitting wide receiver Geordon Porter, who beat Timarcus Davis on the play, down the sideline for a 30+ yard gain. The thing that I most noticed when watching Long is that a lot of his passes came out wobbling, like ducks. I don't know if that is a problem to worry about but it was clear it impacted the receivers.
LOG OF EVERY PLAY:
We charted every play of the 11-on-11 period. Hopefully this can give you a better idea of what's going on, who's being used and how the quarterbacks are performing.
Jayden Daniels:
- Quick pass to RB Eno Benjamin for 5 yards
- Benjamin run up the middle
- Benjamin run up the middle
- Daniels evades defender, hits RB Isaiah Floyd in the middle of the field
- Slip screen to Floyd
- Floyd run, stop by George Lea
- RB A.J. Carter rush
- Carter rush
Ethan Long:
- Overthrows pass to WR Curtis Hodges 7 yards down the middle of the field
- RB Paul Lucas rush
- Fake handoff and throw to Angel Ruiz dropped
- Deep pass to WR Frank Darby, duck ball and slightly underthrown, broken up by CB Kobe Williams
- Miscommunication results in handoff to no RB, Long runs up middle
- Check-down throw to RB Demetrious Flowers, who runs loose with no defenders in the area. Players on sideline said that the linebackers blew the coverage
- Pass intended for WR Geordon Porter picked off by LB Kyle Soelle -- Long stared down Porter on slant route
- Lucas rush
Long:
- Benjamin rush
- Slant to Porter complete
- RPO results in throw to Ruiz, broken up by DB Evan Fields
- Hits WR Brandon Aiyuk on beatufully-thrown deep ball down the sideline that beats Timarcus Davis for a long gain.
- Screen pass complete to WR Tyerell Baldonado-Kaeiopu
- Escapes blitz and runs
- Pass complete to TE Jared Bubak for 12 yards
- Carter rush up middle
Daniels:
- Pass intended for WR Kyle Williams deflected incomplete by Kearse-Thomas
- Lucas rush
- Screen pass to Williams completed
- Scrambles out of pressure, dumps pass off to Flowers while on the run
- LB Reggie Hughes breaks through line for sack
- Flowers rush
- RPO rush by Lucas
TO BE CONTINUED ... 1/2
LOCATION: Verde Dickey Dome
STRETCHING MUSIC: "Splashin" by Rich the Kid // "Can't C Me," by 2Pac
ATTIRE: Shorts
MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Full two hours
Muscle Beach: DL D.J. Davidson, LB Stanley Lambert, WR Ryan Newsome, LB Tyler Johnson, WR John Humphrey, TE Mark Walton, CB Dom Harrison
Personnel Notes: Cornerback Chase Lucas wasn't at practice for the second-straight day. Someone in the huddle yesterday said that someone close to Chase was in a bad car accident so like is likely the reason for his absence.
First-Team Offense
QB: Jayden Daniels, Ethan Long
RB: Eno Benjamin, Isaiah Floyd
WR: Brandon Aiyuk, Frank Darby, Kyle Williams, Geordon Porter
TE: Tommy Hudson
OL: Zach Robertson, Alex Losoya/Cade Cote, Cohl Cabral, Roy Hemsley, Steven Miller
Second-Team Offense
QB: Jayden Daniels, Ethan Long
RB: A.J. Carter, Paul Lucas, Demetrious Flowers
WR: Tyerell Baldonado-Kaeiopu, C.J. Jarmon, Angel Ruiz, Keith Davis
TE: Curtis Hodges, Jared Bubak
OL: Ralph Frias, Dohnovan West, Jarrett Bell, Marco Salas, Spencer Lovell
FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE
DL: Jermayne Lole, Shannon Forman, George Lea
LB: Khaylan Kearse-Thomas, Darien Butler, Merlin Robertson
CB: Timarcus Davis, Kobe Williams
TILLMAN: Evan Fields
S: Aashari Crosswell (Field Ranger), Cam Phillips (Boundary Ranger)
SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE
DL: Michael Matus, Corey Stephens, George Lea
LB: Reggie Hughes, Case Hatch, Kyle Soelle
CB: Terin Adams, Darien Cornay,
Safeties: Langston Frederick, KJ Jarrell
TILLMAN: Ely Doyle
DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS:
-- During one-on-one drills, with all four QB’s getting the chance to throw, Cornerback Terin Adams made several pass breakups and seemed to be the hardest corner to beat. For what it’s worth, the routes were kept simple as they essentially alternated between go routes and back-shoulder fades.
-- Cornerback Timarcus Davis was beat on a deep ball, concluding what was a rough day of practice for the redshirt sophomore. Coach Edwards made the time to pull him aside and talk to him briefly one-on-one late in the session. Davis, who won scout-team player of the year last season, had drawn rave reviews from teammates and coaches but he must have gotten beat six or seven times today. His teammates tried to come over to him every time but then it would just happen again.
-- Kobe Williams broke up a deep ball to Frank Darby, who nearly made the grab falling out-of-bounds until Williams jarred the ball loose before Darby hit the ground. The pair went against each other the entire practice.
-- Linebacker Kyle Soelle picked off an ill-advised pass by Ethan Long into the teeth of the defense on one of Long’s first drives. Mistakes like this will undoubtedly be part of the learning curve of adjusting to the speed of the college game
--Cornerback Darien Cornay made a couple of nice break-ups, deflecting a deep ball from Jayden Daniels and knocking down a quick slant thrown by Long
-- Linebacker Khaylan Kearse-Thomas batted down a Daniels throw at the line to break up a short pass attempt
-- LB Reggie Hughes displayed some explosiveness, breaking through the line and getting to the QB for what would’ve been a sack, then displayed some emotion letting the offensive lineman he beat hear it right after the play
-- Defensive linemen Shannon Forman and George Lea broke through the line to get what would’ve been a TFL on Eno Benjamin on the first team’s final drive
QUARTERBACK COMPETITION:
In order to give equal reps to every quarterback, offensive coordinator Rob Likens is giving two quarterbacks all the reps one day and then the other two quarterbacks all the reps the next day. Dillon Sterling-Cole and Joey Yellen were first up yesterday and Jayden Daniels and Ethan Long got their first chance to run the offense today. Here's how each of them did
Dillon Sterling-Cole- After a stellar performance yesterday, Sterling-Cole was forced to just throwing in warmups, receiver drills and one-on-one matchups between a receiver and corner. I have to say, despite the limited attempts, the redshirt junior impressed again. On one throw, Frank Darby beat Kobe Williams down the sideline, so bad that he yelled "Throw that sh--" mid-route, and Sterling-Cole put a dime right into the arms of Darby in stride. Sterling-Cole and Darby have connected really good on the deep balls so far -- you may remember that Sterling-Cole threw a beautiful shot to Darby late in the USC game when Manny was hurt, but Darby dropped it. I asked Sterling-Cole about their connection yesterday and he said it had a lot to do with them being on the scout team together their freshman year. Another thing I've looked for with Sterling-Cole is how he throws short slants and curls -- it almost got to the point of humor last season with how often he would overthrow still receivers that were like eight yards in front of him. So far, though, he's been keeping his throws down and hitting his receivers right after they come out of their break. After two days, I would say he is still in the lead of the competition ... for whatever it's worth.
Joey Yellen- Yellen did the same limited throwing as Sterling-Cole and had his moments but, just like yesterday, it's pretty evident this was his second collegiate practice. During a one-on-one rep, receiver Geordon Porter cut inside on a slant route, a good stride in front of his defender, but Yellen waited to throw it which allowed the defender to catch up and break up the pass. The good thing from that play was he didn't make the same mistake again. A few reps later, Yellen was throwing to Darby, who was covered by Kobe Williams every time, and timed his throw perfectly to hit Darby right when he cut back out of a 10-to-12-yard curl route. Darby jumped up and snatched it as he tip-toed the sideline.
Jayden Daniels- In his first true day of practice, Daniels, a four-star prospect from Southern California, made a few nice plays but nothing that significantly jumped off the page. But, to an extent, that was to be expected. Daniels is lauded for his dual-threat ability. With ASU practicing in shorts and Likens wanting the quarterbacks to simply grasp concepts and the play book, he wasn't really able to show that off. The thing he did do very well in that respect was keep his head up when pressure was closing in on him in the pocket. There weren't any designed runs for him and it didn't seem like he was super eager to take off -- he kept his eyes downfield when flushed out of the pocket and was usually able to hit someone for a short gain. He only threw one deep ball during the 11-on-11 period, but it was broken up. The positive for Daniels was he looked confident and poised, going the whole practice without any obvious dumb plays.
Ethan Long- Long, a three-star prospect from Oregon, is the underdog in this quarterback competition. After a full practice under his belt, I think he is still firmly there. He missed on a lot of throws Wednesday, on both intermediate and deep routes. When pressure started to sill the pocket and he wasn't able to go through his reads and progressions, he would just throw it. This led to a lot of broken-up balls and, during 11-on-11, an interception by linebacker Kyle Soelle, who simply read Long's eyes and jumped the route. Long had a few highlights, most notably hitting wide receiver Geordon Porter, who beat Timarcus Davis on the play, down the sideline for a 30+ yard gain. The thing that I most noticed when watching Long is that a lot of his passes came out wobbling, like ducks. I don't know if that is a problem to worry about but it was clear it impacted the receivers.
LOG OF EVERY PLAY:
We charted every play of the 11-on-11 period. Hopefully this can give you a better idea of what's going on, who's being used and how the quarterbacks are performing.
Jayden Daniels:
- Quick pass to RB Eno Benjamin for 5 yards
- Benjamin run up the middle
- Benjamin run up the middle
- Daniels evades defender, hits RB Isaiah Floyd in the middle of the field
- Slip screen to Floyd
- Floyd run, stop by George Lea
- RB A.J. Carter rush
- Carter rush
Ethan Long:
- Overthrows pass to WR Curtis Hodges 7 yards down the middle of the field
- RB Paul Lucas rush
- Fake handoff and throw to Angel Ruiz dropped
- Deep pass to WR Frank Darby, duck ball and slightly underthrown, broken up by CB Kobe Williams
- Miscommunication results in handoff to no RB, Long runs up middle
- Check-down throw to RB Demetrious Flowers, who runs loose with no defenders in the area. Players on sideline said that the linebackers blew the coverage
- Pass intended for WR Geordon Porter picked off by LB Kyle Soelle -- Long stared down Porter on slant route
- Lucas rush
Long:
- Benjamin rush
- Slant to Porter complete
- RPO results in throw to Ruiz, broken up by DB Evan Fields
- Hits WR Brandon Aiyuk on beatufully-thrown deep ball down the sideline that beats Timarcus Davis for a long gain.
- Screen pass complete to WR Tyerell Baldonado-Kaeiopu
- Escapes blitz and runs
- Pass complete to TE Jared Bubak for 12 yards
- Carter rush up middle
Daniels:
- Pass intended for WR Kyle Williams deflected incomplete by Kearse-Thomas
- Lucas rush
- Screen pass to Williams completed
- Scrambles out of pressure, dumps pass off to Flowers while on the run
- LB Reggie Hughes breaks through line for sack
- Flowers rush
- RPO rush by Lucas
TO BE CONTINUED ... 1/2
