It’s no secret that the level of expectations placed on this Arizona State football team for the upcoming season is quite different from the weeks and months that led up to the 2021 campaign. Key players exhausting their eligibility, declaring for the NFL draft, or merely just transferring out of the program have certainly dampened the buzz regarding this year’s Sun Devil squad.
Needless to say, the ASU players, publicly and privately, are more than eager to change that narrative and try to become perhaps the surprise team of the Pac-12 conference. Opinions will undoubtedly vary on whether that scenario can materialize, but if this program can ultimately defy the critics is naturally hinging on the performance of a select few players.
We identified two such players, in particular, graduate transfer quarterback Emory Jones and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott who could very well be instrumental in the level of success the Sun Devils could have this upcoming season.
Granted, any given signal caller on any given team and their performance in the fall can be labeled as the eventual barometer of the team. Yet, ASU will likely be the only conference team whose starting quarterback will be a post-spring practice arrival. A shortened acclimation period prior to fall camp and the 2022 season only heightens the sense of urgency of Emory Jones’ preparedness for this year. Couple that with the fact that first-year offensive coordinator Glenn Thomas is hoping his players can continue and grasp a new system, one that his presumed starting quarterback is in the midst of a crash course learning a scheme foreign to him.
Jones, who started 12 of Florida’s 13 games in 2021, passed for 2,734 yards, posting 19 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. ASU’s newest addition was an extremely accurate passer with an impressive 64.73 completion clip and showcased his dual-threat capabilities by pacing his team with 758 rushing yards scoring four rushing touchdowns. He may not have big shoes to fill following the departure of three-year starter Jayden Daniels who transferred to LSU prior to spring practice and is coming off a season where is presided over the second to last worst pass offense in the Pac-12 and ranked 10th among the league quarterbacks in passing average, but there is no guarantee that he can play at a considerable higher caliber than Daniels.
The Florida transfer does have some needle-moving attributes, though. With several question marks in Tempe concerning the collective talent at wide receiver, a heavier reliance on the ground game is a mere given as being the DNA of the ASU offense this season. This film analysis feature by staff writer Cole Topham illustrated how Jones breaks tackles at top gear and does so in a natural fashion. He demonstrates fluidly and scampering at a level that isn’t always guaranteed with the classic dual-threat quarterback.
As you would expect, his mobility and run threat capabilities allow him to execute read-option at a high level of effectiveness. He has demonstrated the ability to key opponents and correctly anticipate defenders’ actions to determine when to handoff or pull the ball. Again, orchestrating an offense that will be content to pound the ball on the ground more often than not, Jones’ abilities in this department will be crucial.
But let’s face it, Jones’ passing aptitudes are the one single element that will determine if the Sun Devils were truly able to upgrade the position and if this offense can even come close to a balanced offense and one that opposing defensive backs will have to respect. His quick release and deft touch on his passes are the best weapons in his arsenal, and his mechanics and technique are at a level you would expect a veteran quarterback to possess. The fact that his improvisation proficiencies and his ability to deliver the ball accurately under duress are some of his prime attributes as well surely fit a landscape of an offense that may go through considerable growing pains when trying to carry out an offensive philosophy foreign to all and doing so with a significant number of newcomers in the skill positions.
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“The main thing coach Thomas mentioned was my poise,” Jones described in a previous Devils Digest interview, “my poise and everything I’ve been through and just how I always stay confident in myself…being poised in the pocket even when things aren’t going my way. I’m always next up, ready to keep on going and keep fighting. I never quit, and that’s the main thing.”
And in a 2022 season that could be peppered with challenges, it’s exceedingly important for ASU to have a quarterback that radiates calmness during a storm.
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Some may argue that Omarr Norman-Lott allowed Jermaine Lole, the player who was more than likely ahead of him on the depth chart at the 3-technique defensive tackle position, to dictate his feelings concerning his future ASU. If you recall, ONL exited the portal as quickly as he entered it following Lole’s decision to transfer out and ultimately sign with Louisville. Either way, Norman-Lott’s return was unquestionably welcomed with open arms as he is ready to fill the void in a role proven veterans such as Lole once occupied.
Playing in a position that is hardly a stat generator and doing so in the reserve role playing behind outgoing senior Shannon Forman, who is now part of the Sun Devil coaching staff, ONL still posted very respectable numbers of 30 tackles, four tackles-for-loss, and two sacks. And if you believe in momentum that can carry over from last season, coincidentally, his best game in 2021 was in the Las Vegas Bowl against Wisconsin, where he tallied eight tackles, albeit also registering some crucial penalties in the waning minutes of that game.
While it’s expected of every defensive lineman to be equally adept both at rushing the passer and stopping the run, one could maintain that this specific demand is placed heavier on the 3-technique position more than any other player on this unit.
Sometimes a player is only as good as the competition he faces every day in practice, and it would be hardly hyperbolic to state that ONL will have his hands full in this department. One player who will push him is sophomore BJ Green, who not only earned a scholarship earlier this year after arriving in Tempe as a walk-on but was also the biggest surprise for the Sun Devils in 2021, culminating the season with a team-leading five sacks, the first true freshman walk-on this century to lead the program in that category. The other player is graduate student and Maryland transfer B’Ahamd Miller who seldom played last year but was turning heads a few months ago during spring practice.
Playing 11 games last year was huge for a player who had multiple minor injuries that affected his availability since arriving in Tempe. Some will say, though, that his increased mental focus this year is not only the most important element that gives them an edge in a battle for a starting role but also an aspect that can and really, for the sake of the ASU defense has to elevate his play a significant number of notches.
In a previous interview with Devils Digest, ASU defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez stated that Norman-Lott is a player with immense potential who has still barely scratched the surface in that regard.
“Omarr is a guy where it’s time for him to take that next step,” Rodriguez noted, “be somebody that we can count on every single down. His bowl game was really a great step for him. It was encouraging for me to watch him go out there and just compete consistently with technique. He played at end; he played at 3-technique. He did a hell of a job; he really did. That’s the best game he’s played, and he went out there, and he did the tough stuff.
“So, the next step is to get him to win consistently in pass rush, to be available in pass rush, and get him out there with the speed group. So those are all things that are going to be on the table, and I know Omarr can do it.”
Whether it’s the departure of Lole, Forman exhausting his eligibility, or DJ Davidson selected by the New York Giants a few months ago, the interior of ASU’s front four will have to be a productive unit in the Sun Devils’ defense in order for the team to fully realize the overall strength of its front seven, a clear anchor for this side of the ball. True, the defensive line on paper does enjoy a good deal of depth, perhaps at the highest level, we’ve seen in years from any ASU team. Nonetheless, Omarr Norman-Lott, more than any player on defense, will have to fully realize his God-given talent for Arizona State even to have a chance to try and duplicate the impressive defensive stats it tallied in 2021.
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