As the 2023 Arizona State football season kickoff is now less than a week away, program veterans such as junior tight end Jalin Conyers have high hopes for the upcoming campaign. As the program went through a significant revamping of its roster and welcoming a new coaching staff, the excitement for the 2023 season is growing more and more ahead of the August 31 kickoff versus Southern Utah.
There is no question that the 2022 season was one of the worst in ASU’s history as the team not only had a 3-9 record but also fired former head coach Herm Edwards. Following an inexpiable home loss to MAC opponent Eastern Michigan.
Following that rough start to the season, as running backs coach Shaun Aguano took over the interim head coach duties, the team seemed to rally somewhat, capturing a signature win against the then-No.21 ranked University of Washington in Tempe. The only other victory last year was on the road against Colorado, a breakout game for tight end Jalin Conyers. His three touchdowns that afternoon in a 42-34 victory were the most by a tight end in ASU single-game history.
Conyers, an Oklahoma transfer who joined Arizona State prior to the 2021 season, tallied six catches for 62 total yards and a touchdown in his inaugural year with the Sun Devils. Through the first seven games of 2022, it seemed that this pace would be maintained, as he posted 76 yards on eight receptions. Yet, in the last five games, Conyers had 346 of his total 422 total yards registering five touchdowns.
His 229 receiving yards after the catch were the 21st-highest tally of all FBS tight ends. Furthermore, his 422 receiving yards on the year were the most by a Sun Devil tight end since Chris Coyle had 423 in 2013. Conyers could very well eclipse the Sun Devils’ tight end record of 57 receptions established by Coyle in 2012, especially in an offensive scheme that figures to prominently feature him as a prime aerial target in ASU's offense.
Since his presence arose, Conyers has become the face of the program alongside head coach Kenny Dillingham, as both have taken the Tempe scene by storm. Conyers was featured at Pac-12 media day, started a podcast, and signed NIL deals with businesses such as the Jones Auto Group and Burrito Express. With that hype off the field, Conyers is now anxious to make his presence known again, and this time to a larger extent, on the gridiron.
“It’s about damn time,” Conyers said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been on the field. We left a bad taste in our mouths when we went up to U of A and lost that last year, and that was our last game. We’re definitely coming to Mountain America Stadium to set a new thing on everything for the season. Make a statement first game, so it’s going to be exciting; it’s going to be fun when I go out there with my guys.”
High expectations aside, there is undoubtedly a lot of progress that the ASU offense has to make following a 2022 season where this unit ranked in the Pac-12 ninth in total offense and scoring, as well as eighth in yards per game. The Arizona State tight end feels as if a new pace employed by the offense is the foundation for the expected improvement.
“I think a lot of it has to do with our tempo and being in football shape in order to do what we need to do,” Conyers explained. “So I think that has been a good part of it. Other than that, just getting comfortable with one another. We kind of have our set lineups of what we want to do and what we want to get done. It’s trying to get that all together and get ready to go play.”
Conyers knows that the offense has done a good job progressing in the preseason with their performance and grasp of a new playbook, as well as doing a better job eliminating the large volume of mental mistakes that plagued them last year, manifested in their 72.33 penalty yard average which was a conference worst.
A couple of years back, Conyers was part of a much smaller transfer group, nowhere close to the near 30-player wave of newcomers this year. Dillingham’s immense overhauling of the roster was done in hopes of achieving the desired program turnaround sooner rather than later. In the transfer portal era, the first-year head coach took full advantage of a robust transfer portal and was also able to add a good measure of quality along with the large quantity of newcomers. Conyers has certainly been impressed with the mark his new teammates have been able to make since arriving to the team.
“Anyone in a Sun Devil jersey that decided to come put this on here is meaningful,” Conyers noted. “We're talking about guys right here [points to defensive back Dee Ford], you got guys like that come in ready to play, big pieces coming in ready to make an impact. I think a lot of them had to get the culture going. A lot of it was trying to get everyone set with what we wanted to do with rules and stuff. Now we are on that level; we are all really good, and all the guys that came in and transferred are ready to go.”
Next Thursday represents the first opportunity for Conyers and his teammates to showcase the fruits of their hard work at Mountain America Stadium. The always outspoken Conyers truly takes into consideration the community’s energy, emphasizing that being successful is a genuine united effort. The tight end isn’t oblivious to the reality that only by ultimately winning games will the team see the support level swell.
“I just think seeing all those fans out there is going to be awesome,” Conyers remarked. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had Mountain America Stadium packed like that, so for a first game, it’s going to be super cool to have them out there. Obviously, winning brings people into games, so that’s our goal to keep doing that.
“We’re going to keep trying and put stuff together, go out there and make our fans proud. Go out there, play for us and everybody in Tempe.”
If you missed our promotion earlier this month, you get ONE LAST CHANCE at a deeply discounted preseason annual subscription promotion! Click on this link to enjoy 60 PERCENT OFF a new annual subscription
