ASU Football: Previewing the Sun Devils’ 2022 special teams unit

(Photo via Brendan Belfield/WCSN)

In a season marred by unpredictable offensive performances, special teams were rarely placed in a position to succeed during the 2021 season.

And while ASU will look for their offense to put more points on the board this season, special teams will look to bring a higher level of importance to the field for the Sun Devils.

With kickers, Christian Zendejas, who handled most of the placekicking, and Logan Tyler, who specialized in kickoffs, gone, the Sun Devils’ special teams unit will look a little different going into the 2022 season.

Through most of preseason camp, all eyes have been on the competition at quarterback. At the same time, however, the starting kicking position was also up for grabs.

Both redshirt freshman kicker Jace Feely and freshman kicker Carter Brown have battled fiercely for the starting spot, and it’s paid off for both of them.

“[The competition’s] been great honestly. Jace has done a really good job this offseason,” said Brown. “He’s really improved, and he’s really pushed me to be the best I can be as well.”

Feely’s improvement over the offseason has impressed coaches and players alike. But rather than overworking himself, Feely says his vast strides in kicking have come from balancing practice with fun.

“I think the biggest thing for me is not over kicking, not being overcritical of myself, and just going out there and having fun,” said Feely. “…I like to kind of step away from kicking a little bit during practice, you know joke around with the guys maybe catch a couple punts, kickoffs whatever, just have fun.”

For Brown, the biggest adjustment so far has been the change from high school to college.

“Honestly just being with all the guys and being with [ASU head coach] Herm [Edwards], it’s completely different than high school,” said Brown. “It’s honestly like being a pro, and it’s just been fun to learn and just kind of get things from all the other guys to get ready.”

With the strides both kickers have made, special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum was hesitant to name either player as the go-to guy. Instead, he opted to leave the door open including the possibility of seeing both athletes kick regularly in games.

“I think we may have to just go with the hot hand, and we’ll let that play itself out,” Slocum said. “Fortunately, there’s no book written on how you have to do that, and we’ve got two good players here, and we’ll just keep moving forward with both of them.”

The kickers aren’t the only special teams player to make improvements to their game coming into the season.

Slocum also spoke positively Tuesday about sophomore punter Eddie Czaplicki’s abilities with the season opener quickly approaching.

Czaplicki himself wasn’t shy about mentioning the work he put in during the offseason to improve his punting.

“I was really, really attentive to my form,” Czaplicki said. “I was on the jugs probably close to a half hour every single day, you know, perfecting my drop and things I was trying to work on, and also, just the strength. I put on probably about 8-10 pounds of muscle, got a lot more explosive…”

Last season, with over 45 punts, Czaplicki averaged 43.42 yards with 13 punts going for more than 50 yards and 18 of them landing inside the 20-yard line.

This season, fans can expect to see Czaplicki’s roles increase. On Tuesday, the sophomore confirmed that he will be adding kickoffs, and holding to his responsibilities this season.

Despite the added responsibilities, Czaplicki has experienced a rise in confidence aided by no longer being a freshman. The added confidence, he says, has only helped his game.

“The best way to have confidence is to be confident in your work, and I definitely feel confident about my work in my offseason, so definitely seeing it translate on the field more,” Czaplicki said.

On the opposite side of punts and kicks, redshirt sophomore defensive back D.J. Taylor was the first player to come to Coach Slocum’s mind as the return man.

“[Taylor is], I think, highly improved over what he was as a younger player,” Slocum said. “Now he’s making better decisions. He’s made an approach to practice each repetition like it’s game-like, and I’ve expressed to him the need to demonstrate the ability to make good decisions, and so I feel like he’s done that.”

Taylor is the only return specialist from last year to be featured on ASU’s roster this year. While returning punts, Taylor averaged 13.64 yards on 14 tries. He averaged 21.88 yards on 24 attempts when returning kickoffs.

While Taylor is the main player the Sun Devils will look to for big yardage on returns, Slocum listed plenty of other players, who he believes could provide support in that area.

“Right now at kickoff returner, we’ve got D.J., we’ve got [redshirt sophomore running back] Daniyel Ngata as a factor,” said Slocum. “[freshman wide reciver] Javen Jacobs was an excellent returner in high school, and he’s done some good things in practice. [Senior wide receiver] Charles Hall has got good speed…and we could even go to [redshirt sophomore wide receiver] Elijhah Badger.”

When talking about punt returns, Slocum again mentioned Taylor and Jacobs while also including another new face.

“And the punt returns I would say D.J…[redshirt junior wide receiver] Cam Johnson is showing a very consistent ability to catch the ball and make good decisions…We’ve got depth in those two spots,” Slocum added.

As the first game gets closer and closer, the Sun Devils’ plans across the board become more solid. With special teams positioning mostly solidified, ASU moves another step closer to being ready to take on NAU on September 1.