Only a few things are certain in life – death and taxes foremost among them, but for Arizona State football, the starting five of the offensive line is about as definitive as it gets. The position battles and unanswered questions that hung over the group over past years are no more, as 2021’s front five have logged numerous years working together and paved the way for ASU as a serious threat when running the ball. The core three have been working with each other for three years now, while the graduate transfers from 2020 maintain their veteran status. As a whole, this offensive line possesses experience and is very comfortable with each other, injecting the group with confidence.
“We are all pretty comfortable with each other,” redshirt sophomore right tackle Ben Scott said on Tuesday. “We are still trying to get better day by day; you can never be too good. We still work on calls and getting even more comfortable with each other and facing the work we have to do.”
Scott is one of four returners along this year’s line, retaining his position as the right tackle after starting all four games in 2020. 2021 will be his second year as a starter anchoring down the right side. Scott’s roommate, redshirt sophomore LaDarius Henderson, will also enter 2021 as a second-year starter after starting nine games in 2019 at left tackle at just 17 years old.
Now much wiser and experienced, Henderson credits the overall comfort and trust amongst the offensive line to their connections off the field.
“For starters, a lot of us live together. We pretty much do everything together,” he explained. “We are probably the most close-knit group on the offense…. Because we are all close friends, we can be very straightforward with each other. If we don’t think somebody is doing something right, it’s no hard feelings. If I overset or do something wrong with my technique, Ben Scott can always come up to me and tell me to fix it, and he’s not gonna hurt my feelings.”
As a 17-year-old starter on the offensive line in 2019, Henderson didn’t have a ton of time to integrate with his peers just a few years ago. His mind and body were still carefully navigating the college football world as he protected the blind side of junior quarterback Jayden Daniels. In 2020, Scott beat Henderson out for the starting right tackle spot, allowing Henderson to nurture his talents and allow his body to develop. Long gone is the 6-foot-4, 285-pound freshman. The redshirt sophomore now stands 6-foot-5 and weighs in at 310 pounds.
“I’m very ahead mentally in my development here,” Henderson mentioned. “I’m so glad I got to start my freshman year and experience that because nothing beats experience in-game. Now my body is caught up, so I’m just ready to go out there and show everybody what I already know about myself.”
In the middle, the only three-year starter on the offensive line is junior center Dohnovan West, who played with Henderson in the middle and as a guard in 2019, as well as Scott in 2020. West, an All-American and an Outland Trophy Watch List player for 2021 is poised for a very solid season in maroon and gold, snapping the ball to Daniels. He’s had the opportunity to grow alongside guys like Scott and Henderson and also harps on their ability to perform due to comfort and experience together.
“The chemistry has been getting better and better,” West said. “Knowing what each and every guy is good at and their tendencies allows us to get more comfortable with each other. I feel like that’s helped us a lot.”
West, much like Henderson, was thrown into the fire as the starting center for the Sun Devils as a freshman. He’s bounced around to guard over the past few seasons but now returns to his spot, snapping the ball for 2021 with the departure of Cade Cote. Again, much like Henderson, West says he feels much more ready to take on the task than he was as a freshman.
“Compared to where I was freshman year making the calls and everything, I feel a lot more comfortable reading the defenses, breaking down the fronts, and making the calls,” West listed. “The responsibility relies on me more. I’m the one who makes the call, and if I don’t make the right call, I will be blamed for it.”
Filling in the gaps alongside Scott, Henderson, and West are the two graduate transfers who joined the team last year, right guard Henry Hattis and left tackle Kellen Diesch. The duo was instrumental in creating space for the Sun Devil running backs in 2020, and Diesch excelled at protecting Daniels’ blindside, earning an All-Conference honorable mention.
“They bring the experience up on the o-line for sure,” Scott said. “Henry coming from Stanford and Diesch from A&M, they help us keep building on that chemistry and working together.”
While most of the offensive line is battle-tested through their experiences over the last several seasons, they still find themselves fighting hard in the trenches every day in practice going up against one of the most formidable defensive lines in the conference. Defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez has many messages and sayings he tells his players, but one of the most popular of his phrases is “iron sharpens iron.” Through five practices in fall camp, Rodriguez’s unit has certainly given the offensive line a run for its money, producing formidable battles during inside-run periods, OL vs. DL one-on-ones and full 11-on-11 team periods.
“(Facing the d-line every day) gives me great confidence going into the season,” Diesch said. “That’s probably one of the toughest defensive lines we will get to face, so it’s a great challenge every day. They’ve come a long way since last year. Coach Rod has done a great job.”
I mean, I don't know about too many different defensive lines in the PAC 12 that have a coach like ours,” Henderson added. “Coach Rod has done so many great things that are new. Going against them every day has helped us a lot, and seeing new movements and techniques requires us to perfect ourselves too.”
As far as position coaches go, new offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh has been a success through his short tenure with the team thus far. The old-school position coach of small stature yet big character is a massive supporter of fundamentals and technique. In fact, the first words to come out of the mouths of Scott, Henderson, West, and Diesch about their new position coach was to describe how much of a “technique” guy Cavanaugh is.
“He’s very good with technique,” Diesch said. “He shows us great blocking schemes and various techniques to help us. It’s great learning from him.”
“Coach Cav is always drilling us with technique,” Scott chuckled. “He’s always making us better scheme-wise. He’s very much a technique kind of guy, so we are always doing that.”
With the combined experience across the offensive line which has been a gathered and accumulated over the past several seasons, the Sun Devil front five is one of the only definitive position groups you will find in fall camp. Much like the rest of the team, this has been a place and a group that has been schemed up for a long time to finally reach, and now that they’re here, they are ready to face the challenge and show what they’ve got.
“We are in a pretty good place right now; we are a very solid o-line group this year. We are ready to go,” Henderson said emphatically. “We’ve done some great things this offseason, and I would say this is about as ready as we can be right now. We want to win the whole thing. Pac-12, Rose Bowl. That’s the mission.”
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