Every year, a fresh crop of walk-on players is initiated into football brotherhoods across the country. They often differ from their scholarship counterparts, holding a chip on their shoulder and edge to their game to separate themselves from the pack. No. 25 Arizona State has several strong walk-on players who provide depth across the ranks and contend for spots along the second team; however, no ASU walk-on has caused quite the stir as freshman defensive lineman B.J. Green II.
It all started on August 5, Arizona State’s second day of fall camp. In the hallways of the Student-Athlete Facility at Sun Devil Stadium, graduate defensive end Tyler Johnson and redshirt junior Michael Matus spoke in their first in-person media scrums since the onset of COVID-19. The experience edge rushers navigated the media’s questions, guiding reporters around their mindsets ahead of the coming 2021 season, as well as highlighting players in their position group that have stood above the rest in their effort and commitment to the cause.
Both players highlighted experienced members of the group, such as senior 3-tech Jermayne Lole and graduate transfer Travez Moore. Out of the young crop of players, though, the only one, they both mentioned was the freshman walk-on from Bogart, Georgia.
Ranked by Rivals as a three-star defensive end turned 3-technique tackle Green was ruled ineligible to play at Carrolton High School two days before the 2020 season began. The then high-school-senior transferred to Prince Avenue Christian on the east side of Atlanta for another chance at glory in his senior season. Green found success at his new school, leading his conference in sacks, causing chaos in backfields all season long as his team fought all the way to the state championship game.
Despite solid results at his new school, the transfer caused complications with Green’s recruiting process. At 6-foot-2 and 260 pounds, the young 3-tech was told he was too small, and his arms were too short to play at a Power 5 school. Green received offers from the likes of Arkansas State, Appalachian State, Liberty, Navy, Penn, and Georgia State, but before signing day, his mind was still not made up.
Then, he received a phone call. On the other end of the line was ASU defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez.
“I was sending out my film to everybody,” Green said. “Before Signing Day, I was just praying and everything. Then Coach Rod hit me up a few days before Signing Day and told me he had an opportunity for me, and I just took it.”
Green made the trip to Tempe as a preferred walk-on, but since his arrival, he’s performed at the level of a scholarship player. Despite not being on scholarship, his effort and commitment to the defensive line speak for itself. Even Rodriguez’s mantra, a Game of Thrones reference, struck a chord with the freshman 3-technique.
“We are going to be very strong as a unit this year,” Green mentioned. “We come closer and closer every day as a brotherhood. That’s what Coach Rod says. He tells us the lone wolf dies, and only the pack survives; he even makes us say it with him. This is a real brotherhood; it’s not something that we just say. We mean it.”
“We have to be unselfish; that way, everyone gets to the goal they want to get to, which is a win at the end of the day. I think that’s how we play. With every rush, you have to know what you’re going to do. If you do the wrong thing, you’re going to mess up someone else. It’s about accountability.”
Green is one of two true freshman defensive linemen in an extremely experienced group of pass rushers in Tempe this year. His rookie running mate is another southerner, freshman defensive end Gharin Stansbury from Centerville, Louisiana. The pair of linemen played together at the Edge Assassins program in high school and ultimately grew to knew each other after their respective commitments.
“Gharin is a pretty cool dude,” Green chuckled. “We look at plays with each other. He’s a defensive end, and I’m a 3-technique, so we work a lot with each other. It’s good that we’re just in sync as freshman. There were only the two of us in our class as freshmen, so we had to talk to each other about everything, looking over plays and everything that way. When we get into it, we hit the ground running. “
As a player of smaller stature, Green separates himself from the pack with his quickness, high-energy motor, and hands. The freshman explodes off the line with significant force before using his hands to battle past his offensive opponents.
“I get going real quick,” he smirked. “Once I get going, it’s hard to stop.”
Green’s hands were so good, in fact, that Matus, known by his teammates and even his coach as “the technician,” sang Green’s praises as a potential player to follow in his technical footsteps. Matus also understands Green’s struggle as a walk-on and underrated recruiting option.
“B.J is doing it the right way,” Matus said. “I can relate a lot to B.J. in being underrecruited from high school or things of that nature. Everybody kind of looks at you and doesn’t think you can make the play. He can make plays. I think he’s done a great job of taking on the technique and being the technician.
Johnson’s praise more so gravitated to Green’s motor and effort through the first few days of practice, which he has continued to display across the duration of fall camp.
“B.J. (has been a standout),” Johnson said. “He’s put a couple of linemen on their behind, so that’s good to see. It shows how strong he is, and I’m sure Coach (Rod) sees that already. We are just trying to figure out where we can put him, where we might be able to use him in certain packages, maybe in the future. He’s definitely progressing a lot.”
With such strong impressions amongst his position group, playing time and potentially a scholarship are in the cards for Green. On Monday, he said that a scholarship was his ultimate goal, along with “making a name for himself.” His peers know his name. So does his position coach. Even the all-seeing head coach Herm Edwards has not missed the chance to hype up the prospect of the young defensive tackle.
“He’s impressive…. One thing I think he’s realized is if you’re a walk-on guy, you’re going to have an opportunity,” Edwards explained. “Every year, we have given at least one or two scholarships to walk-on guys. He’s making the most of it, and that kid can just play. You watch him, and you’re like, ‘whoa.’ He’s got a lot of confidence.”
“There’s always a story. Maybe Power 5 schools went at him but didn’t have enough scholarships. I’m glad he’s here; it’s a good get for us.”
The Georgia native has found a home in Tempe, and despite growing up in the dense heat and humidity of the south and a tough acclimation period to the desert, he prefers the Tempe heat, much like he enjoys taking advantage of every opportunity that comes his way. Green believes in the cause and the messages that have been laid out for him by Edwards, but specifically by his position coach. He owes it all to Rodriguez.
“When it’s your time, you have to take every opportunity you have,” Green said. “He preaches no excuses, giving it all you have. He has real pride in us being together as a group. He has faith in us and believes in us. I wouldn’t be here if he didn’t believe in me, honestly.”
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