(Photo: Marina Williams (WCSN)
TEMPE — The defensive back tried turning his head to locate a moonshot of a ball unleashed in his direction. He was about 40 yards from the line of scrimmage, defending in the end zone. When he turned to search the sky two large hands entered his field of view from above his face mask, collecting the ball and disappearing again all in a flash. Touchdown.
The defender ended up on the floor. Arizona State Football’s redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jordyn Tyson stood over him, somehow now without his helmet, glaring at him. The entire ASU offensive team joyously rushed over.
It was a moment of triumph for a receiver who had to miss nearly the entirety of the 2023 season due to multiple serious injuries in his knee. Not competing on the field was a new challenge for Tyson, who wasn’t used to looking on.
“[Sitting out] is tough,” Tyson said. “I never did it before. I played football every year of my life. Since I was about seven. So it was the first time it ever happened.”
After missing almost a calendar year of action the fact that Tyson has stood out making big-time plays in spring camp comes as a revelation to many. Not to him though.
“I wouldn’t say surprising,” Tyson said. “I would say deserving. I felt like I put the work in that I needed to on my knee, on my ankle, and on overall flexibility and strength. Just everything. I put on 15-20 pounds.”
Tyson wasn’t the only Sun Devil receiver returning to the gridiron this spring. Former Texas and USC redshirt senior receiver Jake Smith transferred to the Valley of the Sun ahead of the 2023 season as well. Being a two-time undergraduate transfer, he was required to sit out a year.
Smith was allowed to practice with the team but was unable to participate in games. With no external payoff of playing in front of thousands of fans in Mountain America Stadium, he found his own intrinsic adoration for the sport in its purest form.
“I learned how to enjoy the game a little bit more,” Smith said. “Last year, I was just [practicing] with no end goal at the time because I couldn’t play. So I was just playing for the love of the game and just enjoying it.”
All the time spent, on the ASU sideline and in the same position group, naturally fostered a bond between the two as they both patiently bided their time waiting for the opportunity to be difference makers.
“Me and [Smith] are real cool,” Tyson said. “We were in the training room together a lot of time. Just talking about getting back and getting this team better where it needs to be.”
Before missing last season Tyson was a highly anticipated incoming transfer from Colorado after a standout freshman year in 2022. He played nine games for the Buffaloes leading the team in receiving yards on the year before getting injured. In fact, he ranked in the top ten amongst all true freshman receivers in the nation in receiving yards.
Tyson has always been explosive. He ranked fourth in the country in yards per catch at an average of 21.36 when he played. He won Pac-12 Freshman of the Week and Special Teams Player of the Week after posting 115 receiving yards and a touchdown, as well as 131 punt return yards with another score, for a total of 246 yards and two touchdowns against, ironically enough, Arizona State in 2022.
Tyson is a fluid route runner with the ability to lose defensive backs late in routes and has an advanced route tree. Spring practices have shown he has the hands to back up his athletic capability as well. Now he’s ready to add even more firepower and a complete game to an already dangerous receiving unit.
“I’m gonna add a big play,” Tyson said. “I think we got a lot of big play receivers. Just the overall effort, overall blocking, and overall route running. I think I add a lot to the group.”
Smith is the other focal piece figuring to be added come fall. The Arizona native is one of the state’s most decorated high school football recruits in recent memory. Hailing from Notre Dame Prep in Scottsdale, Ariz, he won the 2018 National Gatorade Player of the Year as a running back and wide receiver his senior season. That year, he totaled over 2,300 all-purpose yards scoring 39 times and winning a slew of other accolades.
Coming out of high school 247sports tabbed him a 4-star and ranked him the eighth-best receiver recruit in the class of 2019. He would end up committing to Texas. In two seasons combined (one being shortened COVID) he appeared in 20 games hauling in 48 total catches for 568 yards and nine touchdowns. After transferring to USC before 2021 a foot injury derailed his Trojan career.
Now he factors to be a tempo-changer in the Sun Devil receiving corps. He’s comfortable lining up in multiple positions across the formation and can help attack defenses in any variety of ways.
“I add some speed for sure.,” Smith said. “A guy who can win one-on-one matchups and some versatility.”
There may have been a silver lining for both Tyson and Smith having to wait until this season to get involved. Now they will hone their craft under the direct tutelage of 14-year NFL veteran wide receiver Hines Ward, who was recently appointed ASU’s new receiving coach after the departure of former receivers coach Ra’Shaad Samples to Oregon.
Ward’s reputation at the position precedes him. The two-time Super champion and one-time Super Bowl MVP relishes the opportunity to not only develop his receivers on the field but develop them personally off of it.
“I love coaching,” Ward said. “I love helping young men. That’s my blessing to these guys. God wanted me to continue to touch lives. Not just football players, but men in life. They have to understand that there’s more than life. I get it. I love the game. Play as long as you possibly can. But at the end of the day, it’s not just about football.”
Tyson and Smith, who are no strangers to off-the-field development, can now learn under one of the game’s very best at the highest level.
“We’re excited,” Smith said. “We believe in him as a coach. We think he’s going to be a great leader. I also think it’s just cool to have an NFL legend around and coaching us.”
Like Tyson’s highlight-reel touchdown grab in practice, spring camp has offered — if only in a flash — a glimpse of the immense talent returning in both him and Smith to the wideout room. The struggle of enduring time away from the sport they love is over and in its place now stands the promise of explosive plays coming soon to Tempe. Now they must deliver.
“It feels amazing (being back on the field with his team),” Tyson said. “We got a lot of great players. We have a lot of potential to be good. We just have to put it to the maximum capability.”
