Prentice Gill leads up young receivers’ room with 'group effort'
In Tempe, there’s been a changing of the guard in the position room of wide receivers’ coach Prentice Gill. Long gone are the days of premier wideouts such as N’Keal Harry, Brandon Aiyuk, and Frank Darby, as a new generation of pass-catchers and playmakers loom in Tempe.
Gill sat down with the media on Monday for the first time this spring to discuss his new position group, one that has very little combined experience, but off-the-charts potential.
The Arizona State passing game struggled in 2020, dwarfed by the mammoth effort of the offensive line and the dynamic duo of running backs in junior Rachaad White and freshman Chip Trayanum, who proved to be one of the best backfield pairings in the entire country. Behind a now experienced offensive line and with junior quarterback Jayden Daniels at the helm, the only aspect of Arizona State’s to-be offense in 2021 that holds a shroud of doubt is the wide receiver room.
Some of 2020’s struggles on offense can be attributed to growing pains within offensive coordinator Zak Hill’s system, which is a complex and complicated one that hinges on the dramatic use of pre-snap motion, chaos, and pre-snap analysis of the defense, all areas in which the receivers struggled. With just four games in 2020 and the struggles in the receiver room, Daniels regressed to a 58.3 completion percentage.
However, Gill looked to be optimistic when discussing the development of his receivers in the system on Monday.
“They’re very comfortable in the system (this year),” Gill mentioned. “The defense-reading ability is not where I would like it to be, but it’s getting a lot better. I think us now understanding what Coach Hill is trying to get out of the calls and the motions and the shifts. We aren’t just doing it to do it anymore, we are doing it with a purpose, and I think that’s why the offense has looked so much better. We are light years ahead of where we were at last year with spring ball.”
Key figures amongst Gill’s group are redshirt sophomore Geordon Porter, who came alive late in the 2020 season, logging a massive 63-yard touchdown reception in the final game of the season against Oregon State. Redshirt freshman Andre Johnson, a local product out of Tolleson Union High School returns after logging a breakout campaign in spring ball last year and earning limited reps and receptions in 2020, with his highlight being a 35-yard catch at home against UCLA.
“He’s been evolving a lot,” Gill said of Johnson. “He stays even keel; you can coach him hard, and he’s not sensitive to it. He’s been playing well this spring and making a lot of plays. He’s a good young man.”
Gill went on to use Johnson’s youth as an example for the inexperience but overall promise of the group: “Dre is super young, the whole group is young. The oldest guy in the group is 20 years old, so that’s the bright spot about the whole deal.”
Out of the 12 receivers currently in Gill’s wide receiver room, Porter was the oldest player to take snaps in 2020. Along with Johnson, Gill also mentioned two freshmen who have turned a corner in their individual development: Chad Johnson Jr. and LV Bunkley-Shelton.
“Chad has come a long way; he looks like he belongs now; it looks like he’s in college,” Gill said. “I’m really excited about him. I hate that he’s out a couple more days because of turf toe, but I think he’s made the biggest turn. Dre (Johnson) is always constantly getting better. LV – he was good last year, but he shocked me; he’s gotten a lot better.”
Bunkley-Shelton, who shared starting reps as a slot receiver with sophomore Ricky Pearsall, had a mixed bag of a season in 2020, logging just 11 catches for 100 yards total. The freshman has been through a lot over the last few months after losing his father in January.
“I was a little worried about (his improvement) with him missing so much of winter workouts with his family deal, but he has improved,” Gill said.
Another key piece of the Sun Devil receiving core this year will be rising sophomore Elijhah Badger, who was ruled academically ineligible for the 2020 season. The Folsom High School product from Sacramento, Calif. was a top player in his class, and despite not taking the field with the Sun Devils in 2020, he was able to practice with the team throughout the season.
Now in spring ball, Gill commented on Badger’s abilities through the first week and a half of practices.
“He’s superior athletically; he’s just got to clean up a lot of the technique things,” Gill said of the freshman. “He plays hard, definitely is a playmaker. When we go live, I think we really haven’t even seen his best ability because he’s really good with the ball in his hand. He just needs to clean stuff up technically, but he has all the tools. His ceiling is high; we just got to keep working.”
Elsewhere in the passing game, Gill spoke to the development of the Sun Devil running backs and their ability to catch the ball, adding another dynamic to ASU’s aerial attack to diversify the offense beyond just a ground-and-pound approach like 2020.
“Chip (Trayanum) has worked really hard on catching the ball, and I think he’s made himself at least an asset in the pass game to be able to get out of the backfield and catch the ball,” Gill explained. “If I’m being honest, though, Rachaad (White) is almost like a receiver. He can run routes, catch the ball very natural. I think Rachaad helps us a lot in the pass game.”
As inexperienced as Gill’s group may be, there’s a group on the other side of the ball in Tempe that will ensure the ASU receiving core is ready for the season come August. Defensive coordinator, Antonio Pierce’s group is the most experienced and veteran part of this Sun Devil roster, with six players returning instead of opting to go to the NFL Draft. For Gill’s young guns, that means they have to learn in a trial-by-fire type of environment, and to succeed; they must earn it.
“It’s great (that the defense is challenging),” Gill rationalized. “Those guys are 23, 24 years old, and it’s a good thing we aren’t playing against them on Saturday. They give us a really good look, and they challenge us. I’m happy to say that we are starting to give them (back) what they gave us early in spring ball. There are going to be some days where they just take the day, and that’s expected with a group that has played that many games and seen that much football.”
With a group of receivers who are still very much all on the rise, both as a team and individually, Gill lacks a standout marquee receiver like a Harry or an Aiyuk. He has guys who can catch the ball, but not someone who can beat their man on every play and get a grab when it’s truly needed.
For Gill, though, he’s not too worried about it at this stage of the season, as it’s more important to create a group atmosphere full of capable players, instead of running a one-horse race into August with a standout player alone.
“I would like it to be a group effort, but if I’m being honest, I would also like to go the other way. I’m looking for a marquee receiver,” Gill said. “I want somebody to pop; I try to challenge them every day with that. It’s always good when a whole group effort is there because the defense can’t key in. The goal is to get a marquee receiver and maybe two marquee guys, and then the group effort for the rest of the players that are coming in and helping for them to be at that elite level too. I do see this group right now developing as a group effort.”
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