With one week and six fully integrated team practices in the books, Arizona State’s 2020 football campaign is starting to take shape; however, before ASU travels to face USC in its opening contest on Nov. 7, several questions must be answered.
Key position battles at running back and on the offensive line are principle among those questions, along with the immense potential of ASU’s new-look offense under the command of new offensive coordinator, Zak Hill.
On Friday, Hill and running backs coach Shaun Aguano raved about their three running back candidates, each providing praise and input on freshmen Deamonte Trayanum, Daniyel Ngata, and junior transfer Rachaad White.
“We feel really good about all three of those guys,” Hill said of the trio. “They’re getting fairly full reps and taking advantage of them. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, and we can use them in different ways. It’s nice having different backs, different styles of runners back there too.”
Trayanum (No. 16 RB in Class of 2020) and Ngata (No. 8 RB in Class of 2020) has been involved in the battle for the position since spring practices, and each brings their own flavor of running to Tempe.
Trayanum, who stands at 5-foot-11 and weighs 230 pounds, and hails from Ohio, brings a lot of power and physicality to the line of scrimmage.
“He is going to be one of those guys that’s really tough to break down and bring down,” Hill said. “It’s going to be fun to see him in live situations and people actually having to tackle (him) because he’s got some physical nature to him.
In comparison, Ngata, a California native who is 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, is shifty but still possesses the ability to stay on his feet and run with power.
“Daniyel is a guy that is very good in space, he’s elusive, he’s still a physical runner and has really good balance,” Hill explained. “He can make you miss and is another guy who can catch (the ball) out of the backfield.”
The freshmen duo of highly touted high school recruits has excited the coaching staff at fall camp thus far, but their impressions fall short in comparison to Rachaad White, a junior transfer out of Mt. San Antonio Community College. White turned heads with his speed and experienced, student-of-the-game-like demeanor in the first two days of practice.
“Rachaad brings a different element,” Aguano described of his most experienced back. “He’s that slasher back that’s great out of the backfield. And then he brings a little bit of experience from an older perspective. He’s brought a good (mentality) into the locker room for those younger guys.”
“He’s just so fast, slippery and can kind of use tempo a little bit too,” Hill said, backing up Aguano’s testament. “(He can) slow a guy down and then hit the gas. He’s very elusive, he’s got good vision, and he’s tough to tackle. He’s got good hands out of the backfield as well.”
Having three capable players at one position, all jostling for a singular spot, can prove to be a headache for coaches. The pressure of evaluating each player and comparing which piece will best fit into a vast array of situations is no easy task to deal with; however, for Aguano, the competition between the trio could be described as a “good headache:
“I think (choosing a starter above the other two) will be a headache maybe coming into the game because they’re so competitive,” Aguano noted. “They want to compete and win. They’ve come from programs that have always won; that’s something I like about them. Some games from a personnel standpoint, we will use one more than the other, but I’m happy with all three of them.”
Another aspect that has been difficult in the selection process for Aguano is the protection portion of playing running back. Assisting in pass blocking and protections is an essential role of the position, a role in which Aguano says the trio has been flawless.
“For me, (the role of pass-blocking and protections) makes it frustrating because they’re doing everything right. I’m hoping maybe somebody doesn’t do something right, and somebody else moves up the depth chart,” Aguano chuckled. “All three of them are very football savvy…and they push each other. The other day I walked into our room, and all three of them are going over pass protections together. You don’t see that when they’re competing for a job.”
While there can only be one definitive starting back for the Sun Devils on Nov. 7, Hill remained positive and optimistic about getting all three of the backs playing time, fitting with Aguano’s sentiments.
“We are trying to see which guys fit which plays, but also which of those guys can process what we’re doing, who’s making the most mental errors, to kind of see which ones we feel best about on the field ultimately,” Hill said of the running backs. “I see all three of those guys plan and being successful and doing well for us this year.”
With a three-pronged approach at running back, Trayanum, White, and Ngata will become ASU’s version of Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld in Greek mythology. The trio is tasked with filling the shoes of one of the greatest backs to ever don maroon and gold, current Arizona Cardinal Eno Benjamin.
In order to replace Benjamin, ASU must focus on a different position group that has seen various changes and shake-ups throughout the first week, the offensive line.
Out of the five spots, only two definitive positions have been secured.
Cade Cote, who was slated to begin the 2019 season at center before breaking his foot, will start at the position in 2020. Cote won his appeal for a sixth year of eligibility over the summer, using the foot injury and a previous shoulder injury as the swinging point in his dispute for another year against the NCAA.
Kellen Diesch, a 6-foot-7 graduate transfer from Texas A&M, has been playing at the left tackle since spring practices and is the clear favorite for protecting Jayden Daniels’ blindside.
The biggest unanswered question on the line is the battle at right tackle between the 2019 starter, now-true sophomore LaDarius Henderson, and redshirt freshman Ben Scott.
Scott, a 6-foot-5, 305-pound player from Hawaii, received reps on the interior of the offensive line in 2019 and in spring practices but has emerged as a suitor for the right tackle position against Henderson over the first week of preseason practices.
With the right tackle battle at the forefront of the discussion, Hill and ASU’s coaching staff began swapping their two guard candidates, Dohnovan West on the left and Henry Hattis on the right, to see which meshes better with their outside counterpart.
Hattis is a graduate transfer from Stanford. West, a freshman All-American in 2019, started at center and right guard for the Sun Devils last season.
“We’ve moved a few of those pieces around and seeing what fits and where Henry feels the best and trying to find (Henderson) and Ben and the (best) combinations there. (We are) trying to figure that out a little bit,” Hill said of the offensive line changes.
For Hill, the big preaching point to the offensive line is staying strong and building their durability and toughness back up to game time-shape.
“We are really harping on that right now, the physicality and toughness piece because our defense is tough,” Hill explained. “They’ve given to us all they got, and they’re punching us in the mouth at times, and that’s good. It’s good for us. The O-line needs to see that.”
Under Hill, ASU’s new offense has a plethora of options to play with. Behind the new offensive line, Daniels, the cornerstone and leader of the offense, has three capable running backs behind him, an experienced deep-threat receiver in Frank Darby and his group of hard-working underclassmen like Johnny Wilson, LV Bunkley-Shelton and Ricky Pearsall and a flexible tight end/h-back corps led by Case Hatch.
The firepower of ASU’s offense is unquestionable, yet the complexity of Hill’s schemes remains a bridge that the team must cross. So complex that even ASU’s experienced secondary was baffled by the diversity.
Nevertheless, ASU’s opener against USC in L.A. is over four weeks away. 29 days remain until Jayden Daniels, and his 10 counterparts take the gridiron against their first true defensive test; however, Hill believes that his offense has been tested in practice and is going to improve because of it.”
“That’s a tough secondary to go against (in practice each day), it’s a challenge,” Hill admitted.
“They’re very confident, and I love that about them. Those corners are very confident, and they’re hard to deal with, so it’s exciting. We kind of get on each other a little bit, and we have fun in one-on-ones and out at practice. The competitive nature starts to rise.”
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