(Photo via Ethan Schwager/WCSN)
On Sunday, Arizona State Football held a light practice filled with skill work as it gets set to open up the season this Thursday against NAU. Afterwards, the demeanor from several players was light as well.
“You see it from my face,” sophomore defensive lineman B.J. Green II said. “I’m just jittery. It’s like Christmas time. [You] get to go out there and reap the rewards of what you’ve been working on all year.”
Despite the excitement, ambivalence still surrounds the program leading into Week 1. Several Sun Devils gave their thoughts on the storylines still to be determined.
Running backs all set to pitch in
With All-Conference rusher Rachaad White moving on to the NFL, the Sun Devils are now tasked with replacing his dual-threat production. A combination of four backs – redshirt sophomore Daniyel Ngata, senior Xazavian Valladay, sophomore George Hart III and freshman Tevin White – will be tasked with filling the gap, with the committee possibly presenting challenges for opposing gameplans.
“In terms of the rotation of the running backs, I feel like we’re all interchangeable,” White said. “I don’t feel like there’s so much of a one, a two, a three spot. … I feel like, especially from a coaching standpoint, you don’t so much have to look at the running backs and be like, ‘Okay, for example, Danny (Ngata) is for this down, X (Valladay) is for this down. We’re all all-down backs.”
All four running backs are also slated to play a role in the passing game, with White’s excitement gushing at the opportunity.
“Hands down, yeah,” White said. “Anytime I can catch the ball, that’s like my game. That’s where I feel comfortable. So if I catch the ball [in the] open space, I’m happy.”
White even mentioned it’s possible that Valladay or Ngata could lead the team in receptions.
Green proud of D-line depth, self-growth with help from Rodriguez
Last season, Green was able to take advantage of limited playing time, leading ASU in sacks as a walk-on freshman. Now elevated in the pecking order, he took the time Sunday to credit defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez for his role in the process.
“He’s like a Mr. Miyagi almost,” Green said. “It doesn’t make sense until it needs to make sense. Last year, it sounded like a whole different language to me and now this year, it all clicks. And when it clicks, it clicks. He always has that stuff like, even when you think you know everything, you don’t.
“… I feel like we just got to pay him back. You know what, you can never really pay that back – the knowledge and opportunity that he’s given me personally.”
With Rodriguez melding the unit, Green also praised the depth of the defensive line. Despite losing multiple starters due to injury and graduation, he is confident that the young group’s opportunities in the Las Vegas Bowl last December can transition into success this year.
“We saw what we could really do as a D-line that last season,” Green said. “We [are] just going to let this carry over and then some, with this season having some stuff not really to prove to anybody else, but to prove to ourselves.”
Johnson Jr. ready for “prove-it year”
While unknowns surround the Sun Devils’ wide receiver group, redshirt sophomore Chad Johnson Jr. was brutally honest and certain about one thing: he’s finally prepped to play.
“My first two years, I wasn’t ready, to be honest,” Johnson said. “I feel like I’m ready to go now. It’s been a very long process. I had a surgery in between, maybe took a step back, but now I feel like I’m better than ever, ready to go.”
While the Los Angeles native still doesn’t know his place on the depth chart, he insists it’s time to prove his worth.
“I don’t want to get forgotten at Arizona State,” Johnson said light-heartedly. “I need to go out there and do something.”
A common theme for ASU this camp has been crowded position groups brimming with players ready to step up, like Johnson, White and Green. Still, the situation sits as a twilight zone between talent and inexperience, and only Thursday night can give the outside world a better idea of the picture.
