ASU Football: Several freshmen promise to contribute early

(Photo: Adam Stites/WCSN)

It was an uneventful practice session for Arizona State football on Friday morning, as the media portion of the day featured no 11-on-11 drills and was predominantly special teams focused. That’s been a consistent theme for the team during fall camp, as they hope to improve upon a unit that was far below average in 2013.

Following the practice, head coach Todd Graham spoke to the media and the conversation revolved mostly upon the early impact made by some freshman on defense.

With two freshman slated to start, Tashon Smallwood and D.J. Calhoun, Graham also raved about the early contributions of Armand Perry, Christian Sam, Emanuel Dayries, Renell Wren and Chad Adams.

The big news of the day though, was that safety Marcus Ball is not yet cleared to play. Despite practicing in a white jersey and going through tackling drills on Friday, Graham said that the redshirt freshman will find out on Tuesday if he’s cleared to play against Weber State in the team’s season opener on Thursday night.

Lauderdale still adjusting

After signing day in the spring, four-star junior college transfer Eric Lauderdale was considered one of the crown jewels of the ASU class. Months later, many of the young players on the team have ascended into the starting lineup and found roles with the team.

Lauderdale surprisingly hasn’t been one of those players. Instead, he’s buried as the third-team Z receiver in the latest update of the team’s depth chart.

“It’s been rough for me kind of but it’s coming along,” Lauderdale said. “The Speed difference, timing…everything has to be perfect on offense anyway, but it’s just the little things like getting the right alignment that I have to work on.”

Those little things have kept Lauderdale working later than most on average practice days. On Friday, Lauderdale and scout team quarterback Rathen Ricedorff were the last two players on the practice field, working with Aaron Pflugrad, a former ASU wide receiver and current graduate assistant.

Lauderdale admitted that the adjustment from the level of play at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, Calif. to that at ASU was more than he expected.

“It’s still football at the end of the day, but everything is up tempo and faster. Everyone’s athletic so you just have to adjust,” Lauderdale said.

Despite his struggles to contribute right away, Lauderdale said that he is optimistic about the team’s offensive prowess and that they’ll be ready for the season opener in six days.

“We have little minor mistakes in practice, but we get in trouble for those things, like jumping offsides, so that gives us discipline,” Lauderdale said. “Other than that, I think we’re ready. Everyone’s up to the tempo, we’re in shape, so I think it’ll be fun.”

Practice Notes

– The only green jersey at practice is Carlos Mendoza, who is still using a crutch.

– Matt Haack seems to have a stranglehold on the starting punter job, but he’s been inconsistent at practice. If there’s a huge punt that impresses onlookers, it’s usually from Haack, but he also manages to hit punts off the side of his foot with a frequency that is a little too high for comfort.

– Ball security has always been a point of emphasis for Todd Graham since arriving at ASU, and the turnovers have dropped plenty in his time with the team. Still, it’s been a consistent point for the receivers in particular, who have worked on ball security drills just about every day.

– While it’s still very much up in the air who will take kick return duties, the punt return job appears to be all Damarious Randall’s.

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