Camp Tontozona's 2019 had a combination of perfect weather, a perfect playing surface, and perfect play from the defensive backfield. Here are a few of the sights and sounds from Saturday's practice in front of the Sun Devil faithful.
Quarterback position on lock?
From talking to countless fans decked out in Maroon and Gold, it seems all but announced that true freshman Jayden Daniels will take the field as Arizona State's starting quarterback in 2019. It didn't help Dillon Sterling Cole's case that he missed part of Friday's practice and all but one series of Saturday's practice with arm soreness. The quarterback who took a majority of the snaps was freshman Joey Yellen, who struggled to find open receivers, as the defensive backfield stole the show... more on them in the defense's edition of Sights and Sounds.
The longest pass of the day belonged to walk-on freshman Trenton Bourguet, who connected down the seam with freshman tight end Nolan Matthews. A fun fact about Bourguet, a local Marana High graduate, his father grew up a fan of Joe Montana, and so Trenton spent a bunch of time as a baby donning a #16 onesie. The jersey number he gets to wear for Arizona State? none other than Jake Plummer and Andrew Walter's #16.
Ethan Long took reps at quarterback in warm ups, as well as slot receiver. The player that has been dubbed 'Captain America' by his coaching staff, has found himself being lovingly chided by teammates over the attention he's been getting as a true freshman. After the practice, TE Tommy Hudson jokingly stated that if anybody was looking for Captain America, they could probably find him helping with a teammates' homework.
While I didn't see Long tutoring anyone, I did see him blocking defensive lineman Roe Wilkins 20 yards downfield at one point.
The race for backup running back...
Everyone knows the bulk of the carries will go to Eno Benjamin, but there are four players vying for precious touches behind him. Fifth year senior Paul Lucas missed Saturday's practice with a sore groin, but hopes that he can use his athleticism and experience to contribute to the offense. I spoke with him during a recent spring practice, and he knows he's under the radar, so much so that he speculated that Herm Edwards probably doesn't recall that he was one of Lucas' coaches in the 2014 Under Armour All American game. He said he's also been asked by some of his teammates is he's ever considered running track, not knowing that he has a 10.42 100-meter dash and 2014 state championship in the event under his belt.
Demetrious Flowers and AJ Carter both look physically impressive and rarely seem to hit the turf after the first hit. Fans and members of the media that I've spoken with seem pleased at the way both players have rebounded from limited roles in their first year as students at ASU.
The player whose athleticism, cutting ability, and pass-catching skills seem to be giving him an edge is junior RB Isaiah Floyd. The JuCo transfer, who had 16 touches and two scores, last season is probably the best bet for a third down weapon in the screen game
Young wideouts show what they can do
Everyone knows that Arizona State is as experienced as it gets on the offensive line, as well as at wide receiver, so a setting like Camp Tontozona is a perfect chance to see what some of the second and third string players bring to the table. Freshmen Jordan Kerley and Ricky Pearsall have been impressive enough to think that if they were needed to contribute this season, that Kerley could spell Frank Darby's as a deep threat, and Pearsall could provide ASU with an intriguing option catching bubble screens and fighting for yards. Geordon Porter was basically in the same break-glass-in-case-of-emergency role last year, and I expect him to be a regular contributor in 2019.
I spoke with freshman WR Andre Johnson after Saturday's scrimmage, and the Tolleson native said that he spent his senior season working to improve his GPA, so that when a spot opened up on the roster, he was qualified enough to step in and avoid taking a greyshirt year.
West and Henderson stand out amongst the second group of linemen
The offensive line rotation has been set for a while now- the seniors will be the ones on the field, along with redshirt freshman Jarrett Bell. Knowing that the first string is all set, the second group became an intriguing bunch to watch. 6-7 redshirt freshman Ralph Frias continues to lean out and improve on his massive frame, as does Spencer Lovell. LaDarius Henderson and his shockingly large wingspan drew a lot of conversation in his reps at left tackle on Saturday, with one member of the Arizona State contingent comparing him to a young Levi Jones. One defensive lineman pointed out that it's Dohnovan West that has shown the most, in his effort on the field and in the weight room, amongst the incoming crop of linemen.
Holder battle!
Brandon Ruiz said that both punters, Kevin Macias and Michael Turk are rotating to see who's going to be holding for his kicks. It might not be the sexiest position battle, but it's a battle nonetheless. Ruiz said that he felt the benefit of Arizona State's $1+ million investment in the new turf field as much as anyone, and said the surface was "fantastic" to kick off of. His backup, Christian Zendejas, also made a long field goal in Saturday's practice.
