#47 Arizona State Sun Devils |
#7 in Pac 12 |
Herm Edwards inherited a good deal of skill position talent, from N’Keal Harry and Brandon Aiyuk, to Eno Benjamin. Maximizing that talent has been the issue, with inconsistent and young quarterback play, and subpar offensive line play. Now the skill positions are the question mark, with Eno Benjamin leaving early for the NFL. Benjamin got nearly all of the running back carries, with the next highest usage back being A.J. Carter, who got 19 carries and averaged just 2.6 ypc on those touches. With the transfer of Isaiah Floyd, the only other back on the roster with college carries is Demetrious Flowers, who averaged 2.8 ypc on 11 attempts. The Sun Devils added a pair of 4* running backs in the 2020 class, both of whom were top 250 recruits, both of whom enrolled early. They compliment each other, with the small, quick Daniyel Ngata, who is also a threat on special teams and in the passing game, and DeaMonte Trayanum a bigger, more traditional back from Ohio, who spurned offers from midwest powers such as Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, and Notre Dame, to head cross country to the desert. The receiver room has more proven commodities...by one, in Frank Darby, who had 31 receptions for 616 yards, the only player among the Sun Devils’ five leading receivers to return. Like running back, the Arizona State 2020 class was heavy on top end receivers, with half of their eight 4* prospects being receivers, including Johnny Wilson, the highest rated member of the class. The offensive line was an issue, and remains one, aside from breakout freshman interior lineman Dohnovan West, who excelled at guard last year, but looks to slide over to center to replace Cohl Cabral this year. But Arizona State otherwise loses 4 starters from a group that was among the worst pass blocking lines in the FBS last year. If Jayden Daniels takes any sort of sophomore step forward, there is enough raw talent, that this offense could be a lot of fun. Arizona State has struggled with offensive coordinator consistency, with Zak Hill now being the fifth coach to man the position in the last six years. Daniels is too special of a player for the Sun Devils to finish in the bottom third of the offense in scoring, as they did a season ago. Daniels struggled a little with his accuracy, but his misses weren’t misreads, or to the wrong team, they were simply incomplete. His interception rate of 2 in just 338 attempts was best in the Pac 12, and it’s not as though he was just taking the easy stuff. He led the conference in yards per completion. Anyone who thought he was an athlete who needed time to learn how to play quarterback was dead wrong, he’s special. With Danny Gonzales taking the New Mexico head coaching job, Herm brought in a friend from his NFL days, former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis (who served as an analyst for the team last year). The 3-3-5 Gonzales, a Rocky Long disciple, taught, isn’t for most, so it will be interesting to see what changes Marvin makes. Job one needs to be to get more out of his linebackers. Darien Butler and Merlin Robertson were reliable, but they have the talent to be more, and they simply weren’t disruptful enough in Gonzales’ scheme. They were first and third on the team in tackles, but combined for just 3 sacks, 1 interception and 2 fumble recovery. Special teams are odd. Kicker Brandon Ruiz was on the Groza Watch list last year, got hurt, got replaced, and decided to transfer. Michael Turk was the top punter in the Pac 12, and decided to go pro TWO YEARS early. He was undrafted. I remember my Spartans going 0-3 on field goals against Arizona State, but apparently that was a hex of the Sun Devils. Opponents missed 50% of their field goal attempts, tied with Michigan for third most in the country.
| KEY PLAYERS |
QB | Jayden Daniels, Sophomore |
WR | Frank Darby, Senior |
C | Dohnovan West, Sophomore |
| . |
DE | Jermayne Lole, Junior |
LB | Darien Butler, Junior |
CB | Jack Jones, Senior |