It was 72 degrees and sunny, with no clouds in the sky at the Kajikawa Practice Facility for Wednesday morning practice. Arizona State was in shells – helmets and shoulder pads.
Attendance:
FB Case Hatch and TE Curtis Hodges were spotted in street clothes ahead of practice. Hatch watched practice from area by the entrance to the practice bubble. Hodges disappeared inside the bubble after stretches ended.
WRs Andre Johnson, Chad Johnson Jr. and Johnny Wilson were not spotted at practice on Wednesday’s media viewing window.
First-Team Offense – Non-11-on-11 reps
QB Jayden Daniels
RB DeaMonte Trayanum
WR Ricky Pearsall
WR Bryan Thompson
WR Elijhah Badger
TE John Stivers
OL left to right: Kellen Diesch, LaDarius Henderson, Dohnovan West, Henry Hattis and Ben Scott.
Individual Drills:
Practice began with the usual positional groups split up individually. The offensive line worked on full five-man gap schemes, before they worked on individual positional stuff, splitting up the centers, guards and tackles. Tackles Ben Scott and Kellen Diesch worked on blocking down defensive ends to the middle of the line instead of going outside. Diesch took his man right, Scott took his man left.
The running backs worked with their positional coach, Shaun Aguano and the quarterbacks on handoffs, before the backs ran through numerous assistants carrying the long sticks with foam footballs on the end. They swung these hard at the ball carriers, getting the runners to work on their protective skills. The running backs came at the challengers from different directions and different formations.
The two groups linked up about halfway through the session to refine pass protection with the running backs. Trayanum was the premier blocking back during this time, while White sat on a knee and watched from afar, dapping up various players around him. When Trayanum took a break for Daniyel Ngata, he went down the row of players standing behind the drill and fist bumped every one of them.
The wide receivers started their day with another quick catch drill, before cutting between two six-foot-tall dummies. The group was shorthanded today, as three unlisted walk-ons participated with the group as well. They moved to their typical routes-on-air session immediately afterwards, receiving passes from Daniels, Bourguet and Collins.
The tight ends had the most interesting day, working on their blocking at the onset of practice. From the line of scrimmage, tight ends coach Juston Wood had his guys, who were down to just three with Hodges and Hatch inactive, block out on one of the solo sled dummies. Next, they went into their own minimized routes-on-air session. Wood had his men cut around a series of cones, making a “V” shape before powering out of their final cut and making the catch. The group then reversed the cone shuffle the other way around before running more routes. QB Daylin McLemore came over to throw passes in Wood’s place, putting perfectly placed balls in the hands of Stivers, Conyers and Morgan. After Stivers made a catch, Herm Edwards, a Monterrey Peninsula native just like Stivers, yelled across the field from 40 yards away. “Yeahhh Stivers!” he shouted. He repeated his saying after Stivers caught his next pass too.
Defense
Here are notes and observations of the Arizona State defense for Wednesday’s media viewing window. Tentative two-deep as the team prepares for its second home game following the bye week against USC, its sixth conference opponent, on Saturday at 7:30 pm:
First team defense
Left DE Michael Matus
3-technique Shannon Forman
Nose D.J. Davidson
Right DE Tyler Johnson
SAM Merlin Robertson
MIKE Kyle Soelle
WILL Darien Butler
S DeAndre Pierce
S Evan Fields
CB Jack Jones
CB Chase Lucas
Nickel CB: Jordan Clark
Second team defense
Left DE Stanley Lambert / Joe Moore
3-technique Omarr Norman-Lott / BJ Green
Nose T.J. Pesefea / Corey Stephens
Right DE Anthonie Cooper / Gharin Stansbury
SAM Eric Gentry
MIKE Will Shaffer
WILL Connor Soelle
S T Lee
S Kejuan Markham
CB Timarcus Davis
CB Isaiah Johnson
Nickel CB: Tommi Hill
When the Sun Devils line up in base 4-3 defense (three linebackers), Chase Lucas and Jack Jones play the left and right-field cornerback positions. When the Sun Devils substitute for nickel personnel, Robertson typically comes off the field for a third cornerback which has typically been Timarcus Davis. The incoming third cornerback would take the outside corner position outside while Lucas assumed the slot corner role. If both starters stay, Jordan Clark is the likely choice to see first-team nickel action.
Attendance
Cornerback Jack Jones was not observed during warmups and did not participate with the defensive backs during the positional drill period of practice. Ed Woods was also not seen throughout the media viewing window.
Safety Evan Fields returned to practice and spent positional workouts in his usual spot at the Tillman position. RJ Regan returned to practice after missing the previous week and being held out of the Washington State game.
Positional Drills
Today’s practice began at 9:52 am. Players were in full pads and media was allowed to see the first 20 minutes of the positional drill period. Tuesday was a sunny, comfortable day that began in the low 70-degree temperatures.
Defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez sent his defensive ends to practice with defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce for the majority of positional work while he oversaw the rest of his unit on the blocking dummies. The defensive ends caught passes from Pierce for the first stretch of the period and worked on rotating to cover the flat out of an upright stance. Anthonie Cooper, Stanley Lambert, and Gharin Stansbury each had impressive catches that they had to leave the ground for.
Later, the defensive ends practiced a variety of rotating blitzes and anticipating blockers that could stall them from breaking and entering the pocket.
Rodriguez brought the intensity as he kept a keen eye on his smaller group. Today’s agenda consisted of perfecting hand strikes and power steps. “This is your target right here in the middle,” Rodriguez preached. “If I push forward, I want to lean forward with my chest up and head level.” During the drill, each player crouched before each red object and took one step forward before delivering a powerful hand jab, then repeated the motion until Rodriguez called for the next group of players.
At one point, Rodriguez got in front of the dummy himself to illustrate to freshman 3-technique B.J. Green the proper form. “This foot needs to be urgent, powerful, and balanced,” Rodriguez boomed.
Linebackers coach Chris Claiborne welcomed the team’s safeties for the first part of positional workouts. Claiborne tossed two medicine balls in a horizontal line and each player was responsible for batting both down to the ground while getting to the edge. “We’re working on your eyes today,” Claiborne said, reminding his players to keep their heads up and remain active.
Next, Claiborne trotted the group over to the horizontal sled where each player would engage the elongated object before sprinting to the edge and coming to a halt in front of a stationary assistant coach.
The defensive backs and interim position coach Donnie Henderson practiced coverage concepts and shadowing receivers down the sideline, with an emphasis on staying glued to each player’s outside hip.
The entire first-team defense practiced as a unit for the final five minutes of the period in zone coverage as each positional coach made tweaks both before and after each snap.
As always, we will answer any questions you may have on Wednesday’s practice.
Attendance:
FB Case Hatch and TE Curtis Hodges were spotted in street clothes ahead of practice. Hatch watched practice from area by the entrance to the practice bubble. Hodges disappeared inside the bubble after stretches ended.
WRs Andre Johnson, Chad Johnson Jr. and Johnny Wilson were not spotted at practice on Wednesday’s media viewing window.
First-Team Offense – Non-11-on-11 reps
QB Jayden Daniels
RB DeaMonte Trayanum
WR Ricky Pearsall
WR Bryan Thompson
WR Elijhah Badger
TE John Stivers
OL left to right: Kellen Diesch, LaDarius Henderson, Dohnovan West, Henry Hattis and Ben Scott.
Individual Drills:
Practice began with the usual positional groups split up individually. The offensive line worked on full five-man gap schemes, before they worked on individual positional stuff, splitting up the centers, guards and tackles. Tackles Ben Scott and Kellen Diesch worked on blocking down defensive ends to the middle of the line instead of going outside. Diesch took his man right, Scott took his man left.
The running backs worked with their positional coach, Shaun Aguano and the quarterbacks on handoffs, before the backs ran through numerous assistants carrying the long sticks with foam footballs on the end. They swung these hard at the ball carriers, getting the runners to work on their protective skills. The running backs came at the challengers from different directions and different formations.
The two groups linked up about halfway through the session to refine pass protection with the running backs. Trayanum was the premier blocking back during this time, while White sat on a knee and watched from afar, dapping up various players around him. When Trayanum took a break for Daniyel Ngata, he went down the row of players standing behind the drill and fist bumped every one of them.
The wide receivers started their day with another quick catch drill, before cutting between two six-foot-tall dummies. The group was shorthanded today, as three unlisted walk-ons participated with the group as well. They moved to their typical routes-on-air session immediately afterwards, receiving passes from Daniels, Bourguet and Collins.
The tight ends had the most interesting day, working on their blocking at the onset of practice. From the line of scrimmage, tight ends coach Juston Wood had his guys, who were down to just three with Hodges and Hatch inactive, block out on one of the solo sled dummies. Next, they went into their own minimized routes-on-air session. Wood had his men cut around a series of cones, making a “V” shape before powering out of their final cut and making the catch. The group then reversed the cone shuffle the other way around before running more routes. QB Daylin McLemore came over to throw passes in Wood’s place, putting perfectly placed balls in the hands of Stivers, Conyers and Morgan. After Stivers made a catch, Herm Edwards, a Monterrey Peninsula native just like Stivers, yelled across the field from 40 yards away. “Yeahhh Stivers!” he shouted. He repeated his saying after Stivers caught his next pass too.
Defense
Here are notes and observations of the Arizona State defense for Wednesday’s media viewing window. Tentative two-deep as the team prepares for its second home game following the bye week against USC, its sixth conference opponent, on Saturday at 7:30 pm:
First team defense
Left DE Michael Matus
3-technique Shannon Forman
Nose D.J. Davidson
Right DE Tyler Johnson
SAM Merlin Robertson
MIKE Kyle Soelle
WILL Darien Butler
S DeAndre Pierce
S Evan Fields
CB Jack Jones
CB Chase Lucas
Nickel CB: Jordan Clark
Second team defense
Left DE Stanley Lambert / Joe Moore
3-technique Omarr Norman-Lott / BJ Green
Nose T.J. Pesefea / Corey Stephens
Right DE Anthonie Cooper / Gharin Stansbury
SAM Eric Gentry
MIKE Will Shaffer
WILL Connor Soelle
S T Lee
S Kejuan Markham
CB Timarcus Davis
CB Isaiah Johnson
Nickel CB: Tommi Hill
When the Sun Devils line up in base 4-3 defense (three linebackers), Chase Lucas and Jack Jones play the left and right-field cornerback positions. When the Sun Devils substitute for nickel personnel, Robertson typically comes off the field for a third cornerback which has typically been Timarcus Davis. The incoming third cornerback would take the outside corner position outside while Lucas assumed the slot corner role. If both starters stay, Jordan Clark is the likely choice to see first-team nickel action.
Attendance
Cornerback Jack Jones was not observed during warmups and did not participate with the defensive backs during the positional drill period of practice. Ed Woods was also not seen throughout the media viewing window.
Safety Evan Fields returned to practice and spent positional workouts in his usual spot at the Tillman position. RJ Regan returned to practice after missing the previous week and being held out of the Washington State game.
Positional Drills
Today’s practice began at 9:52 am. Players were in full pads and media was allowed to see the first 20 minutes of the positional drill period. Tuesday was a sunny, comfortable day that began in the low 70-degree temperatures.
Defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez sent his defensive ends to practice with defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce for the majority of positional work while he oversaw the rest of his unit on the blocking dummies. The defensive ends caught passes from Pierce for the first stretch of the period and worked on rotating to cover the flat out of an upright stance. Anthonie Cooper, Stanley Lambert, and Gharin Stansbury each had impressive catches that they had to leave the ground for.
Later, the defensive ends practiced a variety of rotating blitzes and anticipating blockers that could stall them from breaking and entering the pocket.
Rodriguez brought the intensity as he kept a keen eye on his smaller group. Today’s agenda consisted of perfecting hand strikes and power steps. “This is your target right here in the middle,” Rodriguez preached. “If I push forward, I want to lean forward with my chest up and head level.” During the drill, each player crouched before each red object and took one step forward before delivering a powerful hand jab, then repeated the motion until Rodriguez called for the next group of players.
At one point, Rodriguez got in front of the dummy himself to illustrate to freshman 3-technique B.J. Green the proper form. “This foot needs to be urgent, powerful, and balanced,” Rodriguez boomed.
Linebackers coach Chris Claiborne welcomed the team’s safeties for the first part of positional workouts. Claiborne tossed two medicine balls in a horizontal line and each player was responsible for batting both down to the ground while getting to the edge. “We’re working on your eyes today,” Claiborne said, reminding his players to keep their heads up and remain active.
Next, Claiborne trotted the group over to the horizontal sled where each player would engage the elongated object before sprinting to the edge and coming to a halt in front of a stationary assistant coach.
The defensive backs and interim position coach Donnie Henderson practiced coverage concepts and shadowing receivers down the sideline, with an emphasis on staying glued to each player’s outside hip.
The entire first-team defense practiced as a unit for the final five minutes of the period in zone coverage as each positional coach made tweaks both before and after each snap.
As always, we will answer any questions you may have on Wednesday’s practice.
