With ASU’s 2019 spring practice in the books, redshirt junior receiver Frank Darby- the team’s leader in yards per catch last season with 20- feels like he’s had as productive of a spring as any of the three he’s been in Tempe.

“I feel like this was my best one since I’ve been here,” Darby said. “I’ve worked on a lot of things that were messing me up the last couple springs. I got the opportunity to show the coaches what I could do and I’m ready and looking forward to the season.”

Even at an older position group, Darby relished in the opportunity to lead the younger receivers that got reps throughout the month and impart his wisdom upon them when he saw chances to do so.

“I’m out here showing my young receivers how it works,” Darby said. “When I see some of the young receivers mess up on film, I try to pull them to the side and let them know ‘you got to do it this way.’ I just got to be a vet and show them what I can because it’s them after me.”

There were a handful of underclassman receivers who saw the field a lot this Spring due to seniors John Humphrey and Ryan Newsome being injured, and Kyle Williams often not being present due to conflicts with classes.

However, one has stuck out in Darby’s mind, and it likely will not surprise Sun Devil fans who keep their tabs on their newcomers.

“(Geordon) Porter,” Darby said. “We told him that we needed him to step up big- he’s one of the scholarship receivers- and what he did today was outstanding.”

Overall though, the redshirt junior believes the wide receiver group as a whole could have performed much better throughout Spring practice.

“As a group, I wouldn’t say that we did as great as we’d be expected to do,” Darby said. “We had a little bit of mental errors going through, and that was one thing we were trying to eliminate, you know that and dropping passes. I feel like we could’ve had a better Spring with consistency, but you just got to get better from there.”

Darby admits that there’s “not too many of us,” when it comes to the depth of his position, but he expressed his excitement for the guys returning from injury as well as the incoming freshmen.

Plus, he feels strongly about the camaraderie that the Spring group has established with each other throughout the month.

“I love my receiving core, this is probably the best receiving core I’ve been here with,” Darby said. “Nobody hates on each other, everybody loves each other, we help each other, we show love in the team room. Yeah, this is the best receiving core I’ve been around.”

Whether or not this actually holds true in Darby’s mind, it’d be hard not to believe that statement when observing him on the field.

Before practice, during team warm-ups, when doing drills and even in-between reps; the most consistent part of his game is the energy he brings day in and day out.

It’s something that the Jersey City, New Jersey native takes great pride in as a big part of what he brings to the table.

“I feel like my energy is big here, especially with the receiving core,” Darby said. “I try to get them pumped before every practice, try to get their mindset like ‘be a dawg, be a dawg,’ you know you got to go beat the opponent in front of you every time you get the opportunity to.”

“I feel like when you’ve got more energy than the other person, they’re going to be scared to guard you, so I just try to get them all rowdy, pumped up you know try to start the momentum of everything and letting them feed off my energy.”

That galvanization which he provides practically every time he steps on a football field comes from a place of deep gratitude for the path his life has taken, as well as pride in representing where he’s from.

Darby traveled much farther than any of his teammates to play for ASU from his hometown in northeast New Jersey. He aims to show his hometown people through his actions and his performance that they should have hope for their own lives.

“Some of the things I’ve experienced since I’ve been here, you know with football, it’s just something I didn’t expect,” Darby said. “Just being a kid from Jersey, ain’t too many people make it out. I’m the first one to go actually straight to a D-I college from high school from my town, and I’m just trying to keep going, trying to be successful as possible.”

“I just want to show them that there’s hope in Jersey, you just got to have the right mindset and you got to just block yourself from all the distractions and just be focused and go get whatever you got to go get.”

With the team losing star wideout N’Keal Harry, who accounted for nearly 36 percent of the team’s receiving yards in 2018, to the NFL draft, Darby understands his established role as a deep-pass catcher could set him up for a breakout season this Fall.

“I’ve been waiting for my big bro N’Keal to get out of here,” Darby said with a smirk, “so I can show them what I can do. This is the opportunity right now, so right now I’m just trying to take advantage of it as much as possible and show them I can do it.”

Several months now stand between Thursday’s Spring practice finale and the team returning to the practice field this Summer. Darby seems to have the same thing in mind as nearly every other player who’s asked what they’re going to work on, “get bigger, faster, stronger.”

Although ASU’s receivers may be much less entertaining to watch with Harry no longer present in the lineup, the Sun Devils have quality players that provide different skill sets within the position, and Darby looks to do his part and do everything in his power to make sure his teammates are right there with him.

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