ASU Football: Edwards still seeks improvement from Daniels and passing game

(Photo: Dom Contini/WCSN)

Arizona State Football head coach Herm Edwards has said it in nearly every press conference this season: the Sun Devils have to get more explosive plays in the passing game.

As Edwards spoke Monday, the same words fell off his tongue.

It came with some caveats, though. ASU won on Saturday night against Washington, and has rebounded from an at-times embarrassing two game losing streak with two straight wins. Senior running back Rachaad White also won his second straight Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week Award after dousing the Huskies for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Additionally, the weather in Seattle was brutal, and it affected not just ASU but the local team – who could be considered used to it – as well.

Still, Edwards is not into excuses regarding the matter.

“[White] is running really hot right now,” he said. “He’s doing good, and he’s making a lot of plays in the passing game and in the running game. But we have capable players at receiver and two more capable backs. And [junior quarterback] Jayden [Daniels] has done a nice job running the ball as well – he’s been a part of that, but we definitely need to make some plays in the passing game.

“We have to do that. It’s important. If we can get that going, things become not [necessarily] simpler, but we’ve got some options.”

It was not Daniels’ best performance on Saturday night. The play calling perhaps factored in, as Daniels only attempted 16 passes, but the junior threw for only 90 yards with a touchdown and an interception and posted his second-lowest quarterback rating of the season with a 117.9 mark. ESPN’s QBR metric, which uses 100 as an indicator of perfect and 50 as one of average, graded Daniels at 43.4, also his second-lowest of the season.

Edwards said it is Daniels who needs to step up, as the running game has been nearly unstoppable during ASU’s two game win streak.

“We’ve got to get explosive plays in the passing game,” Edwards said. “We run it good enough now that we’ve got an opportunity. We just have to hit it when the opportunity presents itself.”

Daniels’ ability to capitalize on those opportunities has seemingly declined in 2021. His yards per attempt this season is 8.2, the lowest of his career. When the metric is adjusted to account for attempts that result in a touchdown or interception, Daniels’ mark drops to 7.4 yards per attempt, the lowest of his career by 1.6 yards.

While the starting quarterback’s YPA is still the best in the Pac-12 despite it clocking in as a career low, the mark that the adjusted metric produced moved Daniels down to eighth in the conference at 7.4. A 66.9 completion percentage – also good enough for first in the Pac-12 – suggests that Daniels simply isn’t moving the ball very far downfield. According to Edwards, those stats don’t lie.

“You always want options on offense and you always want to make defenders defend the field,” he said. “You have to make them defend the whole field, not just the box. If you can spread the ball and throw it some, you make them defend the field. That’s important.”

Edwards also praised the Sun Devils’ offensive line on Monday, saying that the group has hung tough while supporting a heavy run game. He celebrated the group’s job in pass protection too, seemingly putting more of the onus on Daniels when it comes to the passing game delivering.

“Passing is all about timing and when guys aren’t open or the [defense throws] a coverage at us that defends it, the offensive linemen are kind of sitting there,” Edwards said. “They have a clock in their head too saying ‘Hey, the ball should be out,’ and when it’s not, all the sudden everyone is saying they didn’t protect the quarterback. [And I say] well, I don’t know about that.”

To Daniels’ defense, ASU’s pass catching core has been in flux most of the season. Only junior wide receiver Ricky Pearsall and redshirt freshman wide receiver LV Bunkley-Shelton have been available for all 10 games in 2021, and despite relative success, Bunkley-Shelton entered the year as a backup after his first season in Tempe consisted of just four games.

Highly-touted players like redshirt freshmen wide receivers Johnny Wilson and Elijhah Badger have only played in four games each due to injuries and other issues. Redshirt sophomore wide out Andre Johnson, who was listed as a starter exiting Fall Camp, and Utah transfer Bryan Thompson, a senior, have not played in five and three games respectively.

Edwards seemed understanding of ASU’s less than ideal position in the pass catching corps on Monday, but still believes improvement can be had for the Sun Devils.

“I think there are some opportunities out there,” Edwards said.