On the opening kickoff of the 94th installment of the Territorial Cup contest, ASU freshman kick returner DJ Taylor stood in the endzone in Tucson’s Arizona Stadium, preparing for the game's first play. The pigskin arched high into the heavens before plummeting into the grasp of Taylor. The freshman made a basket catch stepping to his right before turning his body to the open field before him. Using his explosive speed, Taylor ran to the left before cutting back right, dodging past four Wildcat defenders. Next, he beat the kicker on a swift move to the right again. Taylor shifted into his electrifying stride, flying all the way to the endzone for a 108-yard touchdown (officially 100 yards on the stat sheet) in the first 11 seconds.

Taylor’s play set the tone for the entire contest, and in a season where the Sun Devils had acquired two tough one-possession losses to the L.A. schools beforehand, it was the catalyst that set the tone for the pure dominance Arizona State would display across the next 119 minutes of football that remained for the squad in 2020.

Much like other areas on the roster, the outlook of ASU on special teams will remain mostly the same heading into 2021, and with Taylor in the mix, special teams cordintor Shawn Slocum had nothing but positive things to say about the freshman when he sat down with the local media on Monday.

“He’s a young player that learns something new every day,” Slocum said. “There’s a lot to that, so he’s been great about the learning part of it and when things come up in practice, when we are trying good-on-good and when I say that, maybe our number one kickoff return team on the field with the best of the rest kickoff coverage team. So, we’re getting good speed in our face and good in our regard.”

Slocum, whose unit ranked first overall in the Pac-12 in average kickoff return yards over the small sample size of four games and first in kickoff coverage, expects the path to be much harder to tread in 2021, though, as conference opponents are sure to game plan and know what to expect from the incendiary freshman.

“I think we will have to deal with different kick locations,” Slocum referenced. “I think if you look back at our 2019 game against USC, that’s what people will attempt to do…. Brandon Aiyuk took the first kick out past the 25 (yard-line) from deep in the end zone, and then on the next one, he took it for 98 yards, I believe. From that point on, they started kicking it all over the place.”

“We had a number of skill players in the back end of that, so we had great field position…. If we’re getting those types of kicks from our opponents, then we’ll be able to deal with it and try to create good field position. So that means that we’re going to have to have a number of players backed up back there that can catch the ball and have the ability to advance it and put us in good field position.”

If Taylor is the clear-cut favorite for kickoff returns, then the yin to his yang in the punt-return department is junior running back Rachaad White, who possesses a near-nuclear ability to find holes on the line of scrimmage and explode out of them with his speed and agility.

“First of all, I think you’d begin in the punt return part of it talking about Rachaad White,” Slocum asserted. “He continues to develop and has been good at practice; he’s catching the ball really well.”

A slew of skill players awaits in the wings behind White, though, as the roles amongst special teamers are much more fluid than starting depth charts on offense and defense. Players from both sides of the ball want their piece of the punt-return pie in Tempe, including the kickoff man Taylor.

“Behind him, we’ve recruited a number of receivers and (defensive backs) who have good return skills,” Slocum said. “We do have a crowd, and part of spring training is making a determination of what direction we’re going to move when we get to training camp. And I think you’ll see guys like DJ Taylor is also a punt returner. We also have (freshman wide receiver) Elijhah Badger; we got (senior cornerback) Jack Jones, who’s still in the picture. We got (freshman receiver) LV Bunkley-Shelton. So, there’s a number of guys back there that have the ability to do it, and so that helps us.”

With so many options in Slocum’s face, the veteran coach also mentioned how important it is to develop players with return-focused skills so that he has options come fall.

“We’ll definitely settle probably two to three in each, and then those are the guys that will get the primary reps in practice. We’ll get game-ready when we get training camp. Right now, it’s about player development and us identifying the guys that need to fit in different areas.”

The final battle being waged amongst the special teamers is for the starting placekicking job, shared between junior and redshirt freshman kickers Cristian Zendejas (who entered the transfer portal in January) and Jack Luckhurst.

With Zendejas gone, Luckhurst remains in the picture but has received competition from other roster members.

“It’s a competition on a daily basis, and we got three young men here that are doing that: Jack Luckhurst, senior Logan Tyler, and freshman Jace Feely and they’re all improving quite a bit,” Slocum said. “So, I’ve been really happy with the first seven practices that we’re improving the way we are. We’ve also got a young man coming in that we signed in this last class, (freshman) Eddie Czaplicki, that will join the young men that we have here. It’s a competition, and the best guy will be a good player.”

Overall, special teams in spring ball are more about development and training – teaching a multitude of players skills and refining them so that they are sharp and ready to go in the fall. When August swings around, returns and coverage of both kickoffs and punts are plays that can change the game when it really matters, so it’s best not to be overlooked during the spring when extra reps and practice can make an entire world of difference.

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