ASU Football: Running back job up for grabs among Ngata, Valladay

(Photo: Brendan Belfield/WCSN)

With the departures of Rachaad White to the NFL Draft and DeaMonte Trayanum to the transfer portal, Arizona State Football hopes to maintain its level of production in the backfield despite a changing of the guard in 2022.

Following the conclusion of the 2021 season, the front runner at the running back position was redshirt freshman Daniyel Ngata. Ngata, while third on the depth chart, saw considerable time early in the season due to Trayanum’s injury absence.

In his time as the No. 2 running back, Ngata rushed for 216 yards on 32 carries while scoring touchdowns. But now with White and Trayanum gone, the question is how will Ngata manage being the Sun Devils’ go-to player in the backfield.

“To be consistent, that’s the biggest part,” ASU running backs coach Shaun Aguano said after practice Monday. “Consistent mentally, consistent on the field …and getting better, and better, and better the more carries he gets. He’s been going in three [or] four times. Now can he carry the ball six, seven [or] eight times in a row and keep that consistency and strength? That’s what I’m looking for from him.”

Ngata did get a chance to impress in that role in the Las Vegas Bowl in December, but finished the game with an underwhelming 23 yards. He did score one touchdown in the 20-13 loss to Wisconsin.

Many will look for Ngata to emerge as the starting running back, but graduate transfer Xazavian Valladay from Wyoming could give Ngata a run for his money.

Having racked up 2,211 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground during his time at Wyoming in addition to 351 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns, Valladay brings valuable game experience to the table.

“He’s very explosive – like his explosiveness is really nice,” sophomore running back George Hart III said about his new teammate. “He has really good knowledge of the game. Like I go up to him sometimes and ask him ‘What did you see?’ Like sometimes he’ll be calling out cuts before the play even started, so I’ll be trying to pick his mind too.”

Hart wasn’t the only member of the team with good things to say about the veteran transfer. Despite the emerging competition, Ngata took the time to acknowledge Valladay’s talent.

“I like his play style …I’ve never seen a style like that, so it’s just really intriguing watching him play, watching how he runs,” Ngata said. “…I think he’s a really good player. He moves really well. He moves in his own way really. I’ve never seen anybody move like that for real, so it’s intriguing.”

Not only is Valladay quick and shifty, but according to Ngata, he also has a level of strength that will surprise many.

Valladay even drew comparisons to White from Aguano in terms of his style of play and his role off the field in the ASU locker room.

“I didn’t have the maturity in that [locker room],” Aguano said. “So when I looked at the transfer portal…the maturity level needed to be dealt with. I needed to bring somebody that has played snaps before in big games…I knew from a workhorse standpoint that [Valladay] did that at Wyoming and carried the load, so I’m confident he’ll do that again. The maturity level I needed in that room, probably the same way that I did when I brought in Rachaad to fulfill that need that we had.”

There’s one aspect of their game that both Valladay and Ngata hope to improve upon to try and replicate White’s production from last year: their role in the passing game.

Last season, White led all Pac-12 Conference running backs in receiving with 456 yards. His ability to catch the ball out of the backfield was a huge asset for the Sun Devils.

“Downfield, out of the backfield passes, I don’t know maybe we’ll see me out of the slot, I’d be open to anything, just anything to help the team,” Ngata said. “I’m really trying to improve my receiving game as much more as my running back game because that’s just football, really.”

As far as one back standing out as the starter, Aguano believes that only time will tell.

“I think again we’ll go through the season and whoever is the most productive will get more playtime, and I think that’ll happen within the first two games because I’m still [it] feeling out, especially with Daniyel too,” he said.

With Ngata and Valladay both being on the shiftier side, it’s easy to question who will replace Trayanum as a bigger power back. Aguano hopes that freshman Tevin White will be able to step into that role.

White, a four-star recruit out of Virginia, is the highest-ranked freshman in ASU’s 2021 recruiting class, but with Valladay and Ngata above him on the depth chart, he’ll likely spend more time watching and learning from the sidelines than he will on the field.

Nonetheless, White is a part of a very tight-knit running back room, a signature of Aguano’s time as the running back’s coach for the Sun Devils.

“Just with the group we’ve got now, I think we’re really close too, so it wouldn’t change how the relationship with me, Chip and Rachaad was,” Ngata said. “Like George, [redshirt sophomore running back] Deonce [Elliott] and [Valladay] even, like the way [Valladay] came in, it kind of felt like the way I came in. Everybody brought me in kind of like family, and I just try to represent that same way to [Valladay].”

Valladay spoke further about the welcome he’s received at ASU saying, “It’s been very accepting. Daniyel, George and the rest of the guys in the running back room, honestly the rest of the guys on the team, they welcome me with open arms and everything’s been great so far. There’s not anything negative that I could say about this team. I feel like everything in this situation is very positive and it’s moving forward.”

According to Hart III, as the competition at running back heats up, the bonds will grow stronger.

“Coach Aguano always talks about it, like it’s a competition, but don’t try to like have it like a bad competition,” Hart III said. “[Guys are] coaching up each other so we can all be the best that we can be to help the team win.”