Sun Devils Energized, Excited After First Day of Spring Practice
TEMPE — Day 1 of spring practice for the Arizona State Sun Devils has now concluded, and football fever has already begun to infect Tempe.
The Sun Devils hit the field Tuesday with energy for session No. 1 of 15 allowed and are ready to put months of negative press and attention in the rear-view mirror with action during practice.
Music infiltrated the air at the Kajikawa Practice Fields, with tempo emphasizing every move ASU made during the two-hour practice.
Most of the story lines surrounding Arizona State center around the quarterback position thanks to the departure of Jayden Daniels.
Passers Trent Bourguet and Paul Tyson are the two candidates for the starting gig, as Bourguet was the man to take reps with the first-team offense on Day 1.
Here’s what the rest of the first-team offense looked like:
RB: Daniyel Ngata
TE: Jalin Conyers
WR: Ricky Pearsall, Elijah Badger, Bryan Thompson
*Andre Johnson also rotated in
OL (from left to right): Isaia Glass; Ladarius Henderson; Ben Scott; Spencer Lovell; Des Holmes
It’s important to remember these lineups could change by the end of spring ball, let alone by Arizona State’s first game.
The Sun Devils will be fielding a brand new secondary after losing all four starters. On Tuesday, we got our first glimpse of ASU’s potential defensive backfield.
Timarcus Davis and Chris Edmonds manned the outside corner roles, while Kejuan Markham and Alijah Gammage had safety duties.
Linebackers Merlin Robertson, Kyle Soelle and Eric Gentry return to provide the Sun Devils with a strong veteran presence in the front seven.
Defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott anchored a front four that saw plenty of rotation at each position.
Before the open portion of practice concluded, we did get to see the offense move the ball down the field, even if it was simply screen passes.
Arizona State will take Wednesday off before again practicing on Thursday, which will again be without pads due to NCAA rules.
“I think the first day of practice for me, you want to make sure that the rhythm of the practice kind of goes,” said head coach Herm Edwards.
“When you have so many new guys, you don’t know how they practice. The first thing I had to do, before we even practiced, was show them on tape, 'This is how we practice here when we’re in helmets.’ Not saying anybody does it different, but you just don’t know. So they needed to get a feel of what needed to be done so that was fun to watch. It was a pretty good day.”
The Sun Devils are still in the infant stages of shaping their 2022 squad. However, football is back at ASU, and everyone at Arizona State couldn’t be happier.