ASU Football: Notes and observations from last Friday practice of spring

(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)

The Sun Devils held their 12^th Spring practice Friday night at Kajikawa Fields exactly a week before the annual Spring game.

The team started with drills for each position group. These included practicing footwork, pass-catching, technique work with practice dummies and the linebackers running through formations.

LB Koron Crump, DB’s Chase Lucas, Preston Liger and TE Michael Gombert all were limited or did not practice. They were part of a group that went to the dome before or during position drills to get treatment and/or do individual work.

The session was also heavy in special teams work led by assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum.

The group worked on punt-blocking then ran through kickoff return simulations. Receivers Ryan Newsome and Kyle Williams along with running back Trelon Smith all split time returning, indicating they’re the best options ASU has to return kicks in the fall.

The team then moved into scrimmages, which occurred in two waves. There were four drives, two with the first-team and two with the second team, before the team split off into position groups and worked on fundamentals or talked with coaches.

After that, scrimmaging was back on and continued through the remainder of practice.

Here are some observations from Friday’s session:

Sophomore Trelon Smith made his case for playing time with a couple nice runs early in the scrimmaging period, showing off his speed and shiftiness. He split time at RB with fellow sophomore Eno Benjamin on the first team offense, eventually taking the majority of reps.
The defense played well overall, especially the secondary, who broke up several passes for both the first and second team.
It’s evident that Manny Wilkins is still getting on the same page with his receivers, especially star wideout N’Keal Harry. The QB stayed after scrimmages with his receivers to practice goal-line throws.
Juniors Dillon Sterling-Cole and Blake Barnett split second-team reps at QB, indicating a competition for the backup quarterback position.
The highlight of scrimmages was a Wilkins strike to senior receiver Ryan Jenkins on a go-route up the seam for a touchdown. Jenkins will be one of many receivers vying for increased playing time after the season-ending injury to John Humphrey.

Here’s how the roster was set for the scrimmaging period, minus the o-line:

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE:

QB: Manny Wilkins

RB: Trelon Smith, Eno Benjamin

WR: Frank Darby, Kyle Williams, Ryan Jenkins

TE: Tommy Hudson

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE:

DL: Renell Wren, Jalen Bates, Darius Slade, George Lea

LB: Malik Lawal, Koron Crump, Nick Ralston

DB: Terin Adams, Kobe Williams, Evan Fields, Jalen Harvey, Langston Frederick

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE:

QB: Dillon Sterling-Cole, Blake Barnett