Herm Edwards knew the ASU offense was in need of a drastic change. Lack of scoring and creativity was painfully evident in the last two seasons, and new offensive coordinator, Zak Hill, knew the catalyst for his hire was to fix those aspects on the Sun Devils.

Hill also knew that in the efforts to employ a 180-degree change to this side of the ball, he had to be cognizant of what would fit the skill set and comfort level of quarterback Jayden Daniels. All through the preseason, the Arizona State signal-caller has been content with the balanced approach Hill has been employing.

“He’s asking me what I like and what I want to run,” Daniels described. “And he’s going back to the film and seeing what best works for me. It’s just very exciting just knowing that I’m able to go to somebody and talk to him about oh, this is what I want to do. Or I like this, but I don’t like this. That’s just the relationship that we’re building.”

Redshirt-senior wideout Frank Darby declared last week that is the best wide receiver group he has been a part of during his ASU career, and this is certainly a meaningful statement since he has been a part of units that have included back-to-back first-round picks in Brandon Aiyuk and N’Keal Harry.

Daniels’ targets this year, while inexperienced at the collegiate level, were highly-touted recruits coming in. Freshmen receivers LV Bunkley-Shelton (No. 86 in the 2020 Rivals 100) and 6’6 four-star recruit Johnny Wilson will have big roles alongside Darby. This is why the ASU quarterback himself is quite bullish regarding the aerial weapons he will have at his disposal in 2020.

“The guys that came in at receiver this year, those are the future of what the coaching staff is recruiting,” Daniels stated. “We got Prentice (Gill) … new receiving coach, so he’s recruiting these guys that he wants for the future. Those are guys that could potentially come in and play right away. That’s the guys that we want. Guys that can come in and play right away and fight for a job. And we just want guys that (are) going to come in and compete, help us win and get to our goals we want to get to.”

While Bunkley-Shelton has not played with Daniels at the college level yet, the two already have a connection as they played in the Ground Zero seven-on-seven club during their high school days. Their connection these days is just an extension of productive previous interactions on the field.

“I know that he’s a good route runner. He knows how to get open,” Daniels explained. “He has deceptive speed. He’s just eager to learn. He’s always asking questions. He knows his stuff. He catches the ball.”

Daniels has also known Wilson since high school and has been impressed with his cerebral approach to the game.

“His football intelligence,” Daniels said. “He knows a lot. He’s able to learn fast and get a good grasp of the offense being here for that short amount of time.”

While COVID-19 has forced official team activities to be shuttered for several months, Daniels said he was able to maximize the unexpected extended downtime in two separate areas. First off, he said it helped the offense take a “more in-depth” look at their goals for the season. He added that the hiatus also helped him bulk up his much-discussed slight frame.

“One of the best things that helped me was when COVID did hit because I was able to go back home,” Daniels recalled, “put on some more weight and then come back out here and just get bigger and strengthen in different areas that me and coach Joe (Connolly) and the strength and conditioning staff talked about.”

Daniels, who naturally has NFL aspirations of how own, said he has been paying close attention to what Aiyuk, his former teammate, has done in his first three NFL games as a rookie for the San Francisco 49ers. The former ASU wide receiver has nine receptions for 109 yards as well as four carries for 69 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a nifty scoring run last week against the Eagles on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, which went viral.

“Me being a 49ers fan, I always watch the games but now it just makes it even better that my best friend and my brother is playing for the team,” Daniels said. “And it’s really no surprise to me what he’s doing. That’s why they drafted him in the first round. We all know that he’s a playmaker. All you have to do is to get him the ball and you see what he can do jumping over people, making contested catches, those type of things.”

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