Scott reporting on both sides of the ball:
Offense:
First Team:
OL
LT Isaia Glass
LG Sean Na’a
C Leif Fautanu
RG Cade Briggs
RT Joey Ramos
QB Trenton Bourguet
RB DeCarlos Brooks/Cam Skattebo/Kyson Brown
WR Melquan Stovall
WR Elijhah Badger
WR Troy Omeire
TE Bryce Pierre/Messiah Swinson
Second Team:
LT Isaiah Hullum
LG Aaron Frost
C Ben Bray
RG Makua Pule
RT Colby Garvin
QB Jacob Conover
RB Tevin White/George Hart III
WR Kaleb Black/Jordyn Tyson
WR Andre Johnson Jr
WR Xavier Guillory
TE Jalin Conyers
In its first practice, after easily their best showing of the year, the offensive unit had high energy and displayed it all throughout the morning. Whether it was Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” blaring over the speakers or the notion of the drastic improvement shown on Saturday, Kenny Dillingham’s offense was locked in on Tuesday and turned in a quality practice session.
Having gone already through four different quarterbacks this season, ASU was delighted to have all four of those signal callers in full pads for practice. Jaden Rashada and Drew Pyne returned to the field after extended absences due to injury. Neither Rashada nor Pyne participated in any live play segments, but each took their usual reps in QB positional drills, as well as throwing in WR vs DB 1v1s and 2v2s. Rashada didn’t do much of moving around, as he is still recovering from a leg injury, but he tossed the ball well with a limited number of overthrows. Pyne didn’t have much mobility either, but looked like himself with crisp, short passes. It doesn’t seem like either is a full-go yet, but their return to practice is reassuring for a thin quarterback room.
Alongside the returnees, quarterbacks Trenton Bourguet and Jacob Conover led the first and second-team offenses, respectively, in live play periods. Bourguet showcased his usual game of pocket mobility to give his receivers more time to separate. Bourguet’s downfield passing looked considerably improved on Tuesday, as he made multiple throws of 20+ yards that hit receivers in stride. Some of those impressive balls even came inside the bubble, where the offense went in to practice against the anticipated noisy Utah crowd this coming Saturday. Both Bourguet and Conover performed well in that pressure, while Bourguet stood out with plays such as throwaways and rollouts. QB positional drills were a bit of everything today, as they practiced their throws on short, medium, and deep routes, as well as ball placement on various routes.
In the running back group, Tuesday’s practice emulated what they put forth on the field against Washington State in that there were plenty of snaps to go around. Cam Skattebo and DeCarlos Brooks ran with the first team and saw an even amount of carries in live play. Skattebo had the slight edge in passing downs, especially in the red zone offense period, where Bourguet targeted him on multiple routes. Kyson Brown in a couple of passing plays against the scout team.
While any defense will zone in on Elijhah Badger on this receiving corps, there are still other weapons, and that was on display Tuesday. Melquan Stovall put together his best practice of the season with multiple highlight reel plays. Operating out of his usual slot position, Stovall stood out in 1v1s as his game-breaking speed allowed him separation to catch passes virtually uncontested. And when his man could keep up with him, he made him look silly. On a deep crosser thrown by Bourguet, Stovall rose up, and Moss’d his defender, coming down with the ball and taking it home. He was targeted several times in live play both in and outside the bubble and didn’t have any trouble securing the ball on catch and runs, his primary use on offense.
Stovall may take the headlines, but other receivers made their mark on practice. Unsurprisingly, Badger and Jalin Conyers were frequent targets of Bourguet’s passes, working them both in and outside the numbers. Tight end Ryan Morgan continued his breakout with a couple of catches on the day as well. Receiver position drills mainly focused on bursts off the line of scrimmage, catch-and-run short routes, and sideline stop-and-go moves.
Offensive line drills honed in on low blocking and finding spots of leverage, as is needed with the physicality of the Utah defense.
Defense:
First Team:
EDGE Clayton Smith
DL CJ Fite
DL Dashuan Mallory
EDGE Prince Dorbah
LB James Djonkam
LB Caleb McCullough
CB Ro Torrence
CB Demetries Ford
NICKEL Jordan Clark
S Shamari Simmons
S Chris Edmonds
Second Team:
EDGE BJ Green
DL Elijah O’Neal
DL Blazen Lono-Wong
EDGE Michael Matus
LB Tate Romney
LB Tre Brown
CB Ed Woods
CB Montana Warren
NICKEL RJ Regan
S Damon Williamson
S Alphonso Taylor
Flipping the script from the offense, the defense played one of its worst games of the campaign, even in victory last week. Sure, some of it can be attributed to much defensive personnel, including Brian Ward’s past experience with the opponent, but there were definitely improvements to be made from the disappointing showing against Washington State. With the energy up on the offensive side, there was a loud determination to right the wrongs on Tuesday, and Charlie Ragle made note of it vocally.
“Your habits are getting so much better,” he told the defense in warm-ups.
The bright spot of the defense against the Cougars came on their defensive line, as they put pressure on the quarterback all night. Going up against a big and strong offensive line this week, Vince Amey’s unit keyed in on its physicality. From violent sled pushes to block shedding on both single and double coverage, the motor on the defensive line was revving all morning.
Having been lit up for over 400 yards last weekend, with much of that coming in the passing game, the defensive backs had a quiet determination to them today, aside from the always eccentric Jordan Clark. Most defensive back work was directly supervised by Ward, who threw the players passes as they worked on their footwork off the line and their hands on those passes. Much of the first-team defensive backs participated in 1v1s with the wide receivers, none of which made a direct pass breakup or hauled in an interception. Most coverages were sticky, though, and kept receivers within an arm's length of separation. Dillingham stressed to the unit to go through the whole play and not lay off the gas once the ball is caught.
“Finish!” he would exclaim. “Don’t just stop!”
Every unit participated in the opening station work, which rotated players through different drills. These included blindside strip hits, one-handed ball swipes, fumble recoveries, tipping passes at the line of scrimmage, and standard tackling maneuvers.
On special teams, Dario Longhetto didn’t necessarily look like the reigning Pac-12 Special Teams Player of The Week. In his practice-opening regimen of kicks, Longhetto went just 4/7 on kicks ranging from 35-45 yards from both hashes. The wind did pull one ball, but his two other misses came on a pull from the right 25-yard line and a wide right push from the left 30.
Returning duties were shared by Kaleb Black and Javen Jacobs on punts, with Black taking most of the work on kick returns.
Offense:
First Team:
OL
LT Isaia Glass
LG Sean Na’a
C Leif Fautanu
RG Cade Briggs
RT Joey Ramos
QB Trenton Bourguet
RB DeCarlos Brooks/Cam Skattebo/Kyson Brown
WR Melquan Stovall
WR Elijhah Badger
WR Troy Omeire
TE Bryce Pierre/Messiah Swinson
Second Team:
LT Isaiah Hullum
LG Aaron Frost
C Ben Bray
RG Makua Pule
RT Colby Garvin
QB Jacob Conover
RB Tevin White/George Hart III
WR Kaleb Black/Jordyn Tyson
WR Andre Johnson Jr
WR Xavier Guillory
TE Jalin Conyers
In its first practice, after easily their best showing of the year, the offensive unit had high energy and displayed it all throughout the morning. Whether it was Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” blaring over the speakers or the notion of the drastic improvement shown on Saturday, Kenny Dillingham’s offense was locked in on Tuesday and turned in a quality practice session.
Having gone already through four different quarterbacks this season, ASU was delighted to have all four of those signal callers in full pads for practice. Jaden Rashada and Drew Pyne returned to the field after extended absences due to injury. Neither Rashada nor Pyne participated in any live play segments, but each took their usual reps in QB positional drills, as well as throwing in WR vs DB 1v1s and 2v2s. Rashada didn’t do much of moving around, as he is still recovering from a leg injury, but he tossed the ball well with a limited number of overthrows. Pyne didn’t have much mobility either, but looked like himself with crisp, short passes. It doesn’t seem like either is a full-go yet, but their return to practice is reassuring for a thin quarterback room.
Alongside the returnees, quarterbacks Trenton Bourguet and Jacob Conover led the first and second-team offenses, respectively, in live play periods. Bourguet showcased his usual game of pocket mobility to give his receivers more time to separate. Bourguet’s downfield passing looked considerably improved on Tuesday, as he made multiple throws of 20+ yards that hit receivers in stride. Some of those impressive balls even came inside the bubble, where the offense went in to practice against the anticipated noisy Utah crowd this coming Saturday. Both Bourguet and Conover performed well in that pressure, while Bourguet stood out with plays such as throwaways and rollouts. QB positional drills were a bit of everything today, as they practiced their throws on short, medium, and deep routes, as well as ball placement on various routes.
In the running back group, Tuesday’s practice emulated what they put forth on the field against Washington State in that there were plenty of snaps to go around. Cam Skattebo and DeCarlos Brooks ran with the first team and saw an even amount of carries in live play. Skattebo had the slight edge in passing downs, especially in the red zone offense period, where Bourguet targeted him on multiple routes. Kyson Brown in a couple of passing plays against the scout team.
While any defense will zone in on Elijhah Badger on this receiving corps, there are still other weapons, and that was on display Tuesday. Melquan Stovall put together his best practice of the season with multiple highlight reel plays. Operating out of his usual slot position, Stovall stood out in 1v1s as his game-breaking speed allowed him separation to catch passes virtually uncontested. And when his man could keep up with him, he made him look silly. On a deep crosser thrown by Bourguet, Stovall rose up, and Moss’d his defender, coming down with the ball and taking it home. He was targeted several times in live play both in and outside the bubble and didn’t have any trouble securing the ball on catch and runs, his primary use on offense.
Stovall may take the headlines, but other receivers made their mark on practice. Unsurprisingly, Badger and Jalin Conyers were frequent targets of Bourguet’s passes, working them both in and outside the numbers. Tight end Ryan Morgan continued his breakout with a couple of catches on the day as well. Receiver position drills mainly focused on bursts off the line of scrimmage, catch-and-run short routes, and sideline stop-and-go moves.
Offensive line drills honed in on low blocking and finding spots of leverage, as is needed with the physicality of the Utah defense.
Defense:
First Team:
EDGE Clayton Smith
DL CJ Fite
DL Dashuan Mallory
EDGE Prince Dorbah
LB James Djonkam
LB Caleb McCullough
CB Ro Torrence
CB Demetries Ford
NICKEL Jordan Clark
S Shamari Simmons
S Chris Edmonds
Second Team:
EDGE BJ Green
DL Elijah O’Neal
DL Blazen Lono-Wong
EDGE Michael Matus
LB Tate Romney
LB Tre Brown
CB Ed Woods
CB Montana Warren
NICKEL RJ Regan
S Damon Williamson
S Alphonso Taylor
Flipping the script from the offense, the defense played one of its worst games of the campaign, even in victory last week. Sure, some of it can be attributed to much defensive personnel, including Brian Ward’s past experience with the opponent, but there were definitely improvements to be made from the disappointing showing against Washington State. With the energy up on the offensive side, there was a loud determination to right the wrongs on Tuesday, and Charlie Ragle made note of it vocally.
“Your habits are getting so much better,” he told the defense in warm-ups.
The bright spot of the defense against the Cougars came on their defensive line, as they put pressure on the quarterback all night. Going up against a big and strong offensive line this week, Vince Amey’s unit keyed in on its physicality. From violent sled pushes to block shedding on both single and double coverage, the motor on the defensive line was revving all morning.
Having been lit up for over 400 yards last weekend, with much of that coming in the passing game, the defensive backs had a quiet determination to them today, aside from the always eccentric Jordan Clark. Most defensive back work was directly supervised by Ward, who threw the players passes as they worked on their footwork off the line and their hands on those passes. Much of the first-team defensive backs participated in 1v1s with the wide receivers, none of which made a direct pass breakup or hauled in an interception. Most coverages were sticky, though, and kept receivers within an arm's length of separation. Dillingham stressed to the unit to go through the whole play and not lay off the gas once the ball is caught.
“Finish!” he would exclaim. “Don’t just stop!”
Every unit participated in the opening station work, which rotated players through different drills. These included blindside strip hits, one-handed ball swipes, fumble recoveries, tipping passes at the line of scrimmage, and standard tackling maneuvers.
On special teams, Dario Longhetto didn’t necessarily look like the reigning Pac-12 Special Teams Player of The Week. In his practice-opening regimen of kicks, Longhetto went just 4/7 on kicks ranging from 35-45 yards from both hashes. The wind did pull one ball, but his two other misses came on a pull from the right 25-yard line and a wide right push from the left 30.
Returning duties were shared by Kaleb Black and Javen Jacobs on punts, with Black taking most of the work on kick returns.
