In June, ASU Football’s Director of Player Personnel Al Luginbill sat down with media members and offered an admission. The Sun Devils were behind in the 2019 recruiting race.
They had no public commitments and had yet to address their biggest concern: the quarterback position. If panic hadn’t set it, it was looming.
Fast forward six months, the trials and tribulations are in the past. Luginbill, along with four coaches, sat at the podium Wednesday again, announcing ASU’s 17-man early-signing period recruiting class that excludes two greyshirts, wide receiver Andre Johnson and offensive lineman Alijah Bates.
“We spend a lot of time evaluating players that fit this program and fit our DNA,” Edwards said. “Today, we bear the fruit of that. We had a really nice day.”
Here were two of the main takeaways from the over-40 minute press conference.
Quarterback competition:
Herm Edwards looked over to offensive coordinator Rob Likens, the task brought up seemed to give Likens wide eyes. You could tell he’s given it some deep thought.
“That’s coach’s (Likens’) problem now,” Edwards said on the quarterback competition. “He’s got to figure out the reps. Between him and (defensive coordinator) Danny (Gonzales), how we’re going to practice. They know at two hours, the cart comes out on the field and picks me up and I leave. My feet start hurting.”
Four-star Jayden Daniels and three-stars Ethan Long and Joey Yellen all signed with ASU on Wednesday, setting up a quarterback competition, along with redshirt sophomore Dillon Sterling-Cole, slated to begin this spring.
Long and Yellen committed back in June, but a few months later Likens knew the Devils were still thin in the quarterback room and needed to add a third for the Class of 2019. Enter Daniels.
A dual-threat option out of Cajon High School in Southern California, Daniels threw for over 14,000 yards and ran for another 3,500 in his four years. He’s the highest-rated prospect ASU signed on Wednesday, bringing along some notoriety to spring’s competition.
He also presents a bit of a conundrum.
As Likens was quick to remind the media sitting in front of him, only one of the four is going to play. And having three of your four scholarship quarterbacks (excluding Ryan Kelley whose future seems up in the air after shoulder surgery) being freshman could be a recipe for disaster.
At least it used to be.
Likens said he wouldn’t have signed a trio of quarterbacks in one class a few years ago. But the landscape of recruiting quarterbacks in college football has changed. Transfers are in, continuity is out.
“You almost can’t have enough quarterbacks,” he said.
Perhaps he’s right. But that won’t make judging the competition any easier. Before listing some of Daniels’ video-game numbers, he talked about Yellen, a three-star pro-style quarterback from Mission Viejo, California.
“I thought Joey Yellen was the best pure passer, decision-maker and accurate guy all rolled into one that I saw out there,” Likens said.
Then he moved on to Long, a three-star pro-style quarterback oozing with athleticism. That, though, wasn’t the first thing that came to mind for ASU’s offensive coordinator.
“I thought Ethan Long, he’s kind of a mixture of the two,” Likens said. “His leadership skills, I’m serious. The first (person) he reminded me of when talking to the kid, I sat down and I was looking around and I was like, ‘Man, I feel like I’m talking to Tim Tebow.”
Likens said he thinks ASU’s system is engineered to where it could fit a pro-style or dual-threat quarterback in “fairly easy,” adding to the collective eagerness until the competition begins in February.
Sun Devils looking for their DNA:
There were six chairs set up in the ASU media room on Wednesday. Edwards, Likens, and Gonzales had one. ASU Director of Player Personnel Al Luginbill and recruiting coordinator Antonio Pierce each occupied one as well.
The sixth was for Mandrake, a mythical figure of sorts.
“That’s my guy,” Edwards said. “That’s the mystical man, Mandrake. When I started coaching football a long time ago, I’m looking for Mandrake. And this is what he looks like. Those are the type of guys we want to bring in, the Mandrake guys. I haven’t found him yet but I’m looking for him.”
Against Oregon earlier this year, freshman safety Cam Phillips was supposed to be in the deep middle of the field but tried to jump a slant route for the interception, something Edwards had told him only Mandrake could pull off.
Phillips came back to the sideline after his assignment error allowed Aashari Crosswell to get beat, Gonzales said, and told his defensive coordinator, “Coach, thought I was Mandrake for a second.”
Mandrake is the ideal player for Edwards. But, the Sun Devil head coach knows he just needs players with some of Mandrake’s attributes, namely height, length and speed, the “DNA of the Pac-12,” he said.
He wants guys that look good getting off the bus.
Some of that was addressed on Wednesday. The Sun Devils added offensive linemen Roman DeWys (6-foot-5, 290-pounds), Ladarius Henderson (6-4, 280) and Ben Scott (6-5, 290), tight end Nolan Matthews (6-5, 240), defensive lineman Amiri Johnson (6-6, 230) and others.
Edwards philosophy is simple in theory: The best player plays. Because of it, too, ASU didn’t force itself to go out and sign and junior college player or add someone with loads of experience. He would rather have a talented player with no experience than experienced players that won’t “buy-in to the program.
“We’re probably going to have one of the youngest team in the Pac-12,” Edwards said. “We’re OK with that because we’re trying to build something.”
This season, ASU started five, sometimes even six players on defense without hesitation. As the season progressed, they improved, they were given room to make mistakes and learn. It may be no different this season.
“Talent eventually gets experience,” Edwards said. “You know how it does? You’ve got to play them. You can’t be afraid to play them and I’m not afraid to play young players.”
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