A year ago, ASU redshirt sophomore cornerback Chase Lucas wasn’t gearing up to play in his first collegiate game. Instead, an off-the-field matter kept him on the sidelines for the Sun Devils’ first game against New Mexico State.

“I ain’t going to lie, I was thinking about that last night,” Lucas said Wednesday. “I couldn’t play, I was down in the dumps, I was just like, “Man. Bruh, I’m not going to be able to be out there with my teammates.”

Lucas started to reflect upon his journey a year later, comparing his feelings from the week leading up to New Mexico State to now preparing for UTSA. Playing time is no longer a question. Those around him look to Lucas as an example. But he also has massive expectations.

A year ago, Lucas was simply searching for an opportunity to play and prove himself. But after racking up 59 tackles and two interceptions in a dozen games and being named a USA Today Freshman All-American, his mindset has flipped.

He understands what a good year means for his future.

“I’m looking at the season like a ticket,” he said. “Like OK, if I do what I’m supposed to do, if I play the way I’m supposed to play -- shoot, I don’t know if I’ll be here much longer.”

In all fairness, it’s not as cut-and-dry as just Lucas waiting for the day he can enter his name into the draft and start taking calls from NFL teams. It’s rather working to fulfill the hype and projections, something Lucas has been dealing with since his days at locally at Chandler High School. There, he was ranked as the 3rd-best player in Arizona his senior year, falling just behind his high school teammate ASU receiver N’Keal Harry and current University of Washington defensive back Byron Murphy.

Many players would envy the position Lucas has put himself into, and why wouldn’t they. But knowing that a few interceptions and a couple highlight-reel plays separate you from millions of dollars earned in the NFL comes with its own set of challenges.

ASU junior center Cohl Cabral, who coach Herm Edwards has said publicly will have an NFL future, compared his situation of playing college football with the NFL lurking to “a fat guy on a treadmill and someone’s dangling a donut in front of them to make sure he’s running and keeps going. It’s kind of like that,” he said.

Lucas’ perspective on the situation is far different.

“Honestly, I don’t think about the NFL like that,” Lucas claimed. “What I try to focus on right now, what the doughnut is is not the NFL to me, it’s the national championship or playing against USC or something like that.

“I’m always trying to get better, forget the NFL; the NFL, in my mind, stands for ‘not for long. Football isn’t promised but what is promised is this next game.”

At this point, it’s fair to assume that some ASU fans are asking themselves, ‘Wait, Chase Lucas has a chance to get drafted if he leaves ASU early?’ Well, yes he does.

ASU cornerbacks coach Tony White has said that Lucas’ athleticism has the chance to land him in the first or second round. And in a mock draft conducted by Walter Football this month, Lucas was projected to be drafted by the Indianapolis Colts 12th-overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Lucas admitted that he’s seen that mock draft, yet didn’t seem surprised or overwhelmed at the projection; in fact, his usual boisterous tone softened when discussing the topic.

“I don’t let my emotions get too high or too low on that,” Lucas commented on the mock draft. “In my mind, I feel like I could do something big and I could get to that, but I don’t feel like I’m there now. I feel like with Herm and (defensive coordinator Danny) Gonzales and coach White critiquing my technique and just working on me as a person, I think I’ll be able to get there.”

Lucas doesn’t look at the like most potential-first-round picks, in part, because he doesn’t feel his play is up to NFL standards yet. It’s not a knock on himself -- after all, he’s still just learning the position after seeing game action at this role for the first time last year.

Lucas was a running back at Chandler, even joking on Wednesday that he’s told Edwards to put him in the backfield for a few plays. But when it comes to his play at the position that garnered him All-Pac 12 honors as a redshirt freshman (the only underclassman to achieve that feat last season), he realizes that has a while to go before he’s ready to play the position at the highest level.

“When I look at the NFL, I just look at the best playing against the best -- pros playing against pros,” Lucas said. “Where I’m at right now, I don’t think I’m that.”

Lucas’ outlook is based upon his current level of play, not where he has the potential to get to. White compared him to Atlanta Falcons’ safety Damontae Kazee, a player he coached at San Diego State.

Both had confidence with incredible skill and athleticism, they just weren’t readily aware of their potential right away.

“You knew he was good but then all the sudden he had a game -- interception, he made a quarterback flip over and the all of the sudden, he was like ‘I’m good,’” White said of Kazee. “And when that happened it was totally different, he was on a totally different level.

“I think Chase just needs to do that once or twice in a game where he’s like “Hey this stuff works,’ and we’re able to put him in position to make plays and he does it. I think you’ll see the light turn on to just another level.”

Edwards, who was a defensive back himself for nine NFL seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, speaks about Lucas in the same manner. The two have formed an unmistakable connection after just nine months of working together. Edwards takes to Lucas differently than the other players he works with, often pulling him off to the side for one-on-one talks and demonstrations.

When Lucas looks at Edwards, he thinks, “I want to impress this man.” He sees someone that played his position at the highest level, someone to solicit advice and instruction from. It’s a relationship that Lucas feels has already helped him improve immeasurably.

It just may pay off for him, too, when he’s ready to enter the NFL Draft.

“Herm Edwards has the connections that everybody wants but also, he’s played there, he’s been there,” Lucas said. “After I’ve seen him (in the Miracle at the) Meadowlands and his achievements, I just wanted to be like him, especially at my position. Herm Edwards as your head coach, there’s a lot of things you have to do right.”

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