Assessing fall camp’s positional battles
Less than two weeks out from its first game against Kent State, Arizona State erased its biggest fall question mark when Herm Edwards ended the eight-month quarterback competition Monday.
The Sun Devil coach named freshman Jayden Daniels -- a four-star dual-threat quarterback prospect -- the Week 1 starter and pegged freshman Joey Yellen his backup.
How are the other competition for starting roles and significant reserve spots shaping up? Here is how we see these battles at this time:
Tillman safety:
Who’s competing: Graduate Tyler Whiley // Junior Evan Fields
Who’s winning: Fields
When Tyler Whiley made his return to the practice field two months ahead of schedule following a broken right ankle in the fall of 2018, defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said the Sun Devils may have had two more wins last season if Whiley was healthy.
Yeah. That’s how highly the Sun Devil coaching staff thinks of Whiley, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA this spring. Having been moved positionally numerous times since he arrived in Tempe, Whiley doesn’t commit many assignment errors, always seeming to be in the right spot.
But junior Evan Fields is young. He’s quick. He’s ultra-athletic. And, having been tried out at nearly every safety position in the last few months, also knows the scheme. Fields played in 11 games last season, and with the Tillman depth chart in shambles due to injuries, earned a start in ASU’s last three games.
Fields is currently running with the first-teamers at Tillman, leaping Whiley earlier in camp when illness sidelined the graduate for a few days.
“Him and Evan are really fighting for that spot,” Gonzales said. “It means a lot to both of them. Tyler is a little disadvantaged because he was sick, and we isolated him away from everybody, so he didn’t get the rest of them sick.”
Right guard:
Who’s competing: Senior Roy Hemsley // Redshirt freshman Jarrett Bell
Who’s winning: Bell
Following the news redshirt senior left tackle Zach Robertson was away from the team for “personal matters,” it initially looked like redshirt freshman Jarrett Bell would be the biggest benefactor of the situation.
Robertson’s absence pushed senior center Cohl Cabral, who had just been named to the Rimington Trophy Watch List, to left tackle and elevated Bell, who was the team’s backup center, to the starter.
Then Bell suffered a minor leg injury on August 7. While out for a few days, redshirt senior Cade Cote, who has seen very limited playing time in his four years as a Sun Devil, took control of the starting center spot.
“He’s the guy right now,” Edwards said of Cote. “Obviously if some things change and we can move Cohl back over (to center), we’re going to do that.”
When Bell fully returned to practice, the coaching staff stuck Bell behind redshirt senior Roy Hemsley at right guard.
Last season, Hemsley, a 6-foot-6, 325-pound USC transfer, was at times the Devils’ starting left guard. By the end of the year, it was Alex Losoya’s job -- one the redshirt senior hasn’t given up an inch on in 2019.
With Bell at center to start camp, Hemsley’s spot with the first-teamers seemed secure. Less than a week into battling with the redshirt freshman, though, it may be gone. On Wednesday, offensive line coach Dave Christensen swapped Bell in for Hemsley during first-team 11-on-11 drills.
Since then, Bell has been with the starters.
“We’re still trying to figure out who that guard is going to be,” Edwards said Friday.
Backup running back:
Who’s competing: Junior Isaiah Floyd // Redshirt freshman A.J. Carter
Who’s winning: Floyd?
Does this matter? Well, barring an injury to junior Eno Benjamin, who broke the school’s single-season rushing record last season, probably not a whole lot.
Still, even during Benjamin’s historic season, backup Isiah Floyd still managed 45 carries. Sure, against Benjamin’s 300 rushes, that’s not a massive chunk. But with opposing defenses now well aware of Benjamin’s abilities, another rushing option may be extra beneficial.
For now, Benjamin’s backup job is between Floyd and redshirt freshman A.J. Carter -- neither of which has popped off or really separated themselves so far in camp.
This competition will likely come down to who the coaching staff likes and trusts the most in the passing game. The problem? Both Floyd and Carter keep dropping balls.
Since Monday, mostly catching balls on wheel routes, screen passes and dump-offs, Floyd has two drops and Carter has another. A few incompletions to the pair are scattered in as well.
Floyd is a shiftier, change-of-pace back. Carter, on the other hand, more of a hard-nosed rusher. Both have talent running the ball -- they’ve shown that this fall -- and regardless of the decision, the pair will both see playing time this season.
“We’ve got to get back together as a staff and that still probably won’t get decided because we have a couple more weeks of camp so that’ll take a little bit of time,” Likens said. “Very impressed with both of those guys and they’re both a little different so we might go into the game not saying he’s the second team guy but each guy does something different and they both could be the second team guy but doing what their talent can do. “
Defensive line:
Who’s competing: Senior George Lea/Senior Roe Wilkins//Sophomore D.J. Davidson/ Junior Shannon Forman
Who’s winning: Lea, Davidson
The first thing to know about this group, there’s going to be an incredible amount of rotation. And after this spring, that’s a good thing.
Just weeks after being hired as Arizona State’s defensive line coach, Jamar Cain was curating practices for a group consisting of just five healthy bodies -- and that includes Corey Stephens, who moved from the offensive line to aid depth.
Cain couldn’t even produce a two-deep rotation for team drills -- needing to designate one first-teamer to stay on the field during each team period
In the fall, the expected reinforcements arrived. The Sun Devils welcomed redshirt sophomore nose tackle D.J. Davidson back from injury. Three freshmen -- Stephon Wright, Amiri Johnson, and Anthonie Cooper -- arrived on campus. And Rice transfer Roe Wilkins was finally able to suit up.
“The competition up front is great,” Gonzales said. “We’re going to have seven or eight bodies there once we get back next week and start with the rotation.”
As of now, Gonzales said that freshman Jermayne Lole has locked up a starting defensive end spot. With junior Shannon Forman currently in the green, non-contact jersey, Davidson seems to be the front-runner for the starting nose tackle job.
But for the other defensive end spot, Gonzales mentioned Wilkins and redshirt senior George Lea are still competing.
Wilkins is on the leaner side of the defensive line at 273 pounds, one of ASU’s quickest bodies on the defensive line. Last season at Rice, he racked up 50 tackles, including 20 over the team’s final four games.
Lea only recorded 27 tackles last season -- he only boasts 47 for his entire career -- but he knows the scheme. The front-end of Gonzales' 3-3-5 scheme is centered on deception. It takes time for guys to understand all that goes into that, where they need to be on each play, what they need to do for each call, etc. Largely for that reason, Lea has the edge.
“Competition wise up front, I think really good between Roe and George,” Gonzales said. “George at the end of last year has proven he’s the starter.”
Join us on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, to discuss this article and other ASU football and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today here and receive 25% off + $75 eCard to the Adidas store!
