ASU Football: Five Thoughts After Five Spring Practices

We've learned a lot through the first five spring practices.

Donnie Druin | Mar 24, 2022

ASU Football: Five Thoughts After Five Spring Practices /

The Arizona State Sun Devils are now a third of the way through spring practice, as the fifth of 15 scheduled sessions wrapped up on Wednesday.

New faces from the transfer portal have now settled their feet at Arizona State, while a handful of early graduates from the 2022 recruiting class have also made appearances.

Old faces from last season and beyond look to put previous disappointments behind them in what has been a productive slate of practices for the Sun Devils.

Phrases such as "can't shovel sunshine!" and "it's a bad day to own cloud stock!" have rang through the air at spring practice in reference to the weather.

Bad day to own cloud stock in Tempe! #ForksUp #SpringBall #paradise pic.twitter.com/zoxWTralFy
— Joe Connolly (@Coach_Joe28) March 23, 2022

It's early in the process, yet there's a genuine excitement in the air for ASU's football program moving forward, and that's where we'll start.

Five Thoughts After Five Arizona State Spring Practices

1. If the sky is falling, don't tell ASU players

Here's a few facts: The NCAA's investigation still hangs over Arizona State. The Sun Devils welcome a historically small recruiting class and a handful of top players, including quarterback Jayden Daniels, transferred out of the program. Five coaches, including coordinators on both sides of the ball, departed ASU.

Here's another fact: Energy around the program couldn't be higher. Head coach Herm Edwards and offensive coordinator Glenn Thomas deflected questions about the investigation and players leaving via the transfer portal.

Their focus is on the players and staff that's currently at Arizona State, and through five practices, they've brought nothing but high energy and a liveliness that, at least for a second, makes you forget everything that's happening outside of the white lines.

"I'd say (the team is) more chippier. It's a lot of opportunities to be (had), so everybody (is) hungry to get it. If you can see during the whole practice, we got a real competitive defense. It don't matter what it is, even when we were in strength conditioning it was competitive," said linebacker Eric Gentry.

"(It feels like we have our) backs against the wall. People don't believe in us, not everybody thinks we can be the same team as we were last year. They'll find out during the season, during the spring game, whatever. Honestly, I'm proud of this team and everybody from the defense."

Attribute that to a fresh opportunity to hit the field or a chance to write history the way this team wants to, but one thing is for certain: Nobody is hanging their heads at Arizona State. This team is ready to roll.

2. There's no clear winner of ASU's QB battle thus far

Quarterback Trenton Bourguet has taken majority of first-team reps in practice, but make no mistake, no passer really has an advantage over the other. Bourguet and transfer Paul Tyson have both had to learn Thomas' new offense.

An interesting anecdote Edwards offered when he spoke with reporters: Arizona State's starting quarterback may not even be practicing with them currently.

"Is the quarterback here? Is he not here? We don't know that. Hopefully he's in the building. If not, there's always plan B (the transfer portal)," said Edwards.

"I always said, a plan that can't be changed is a bad plan. So if you have a plan doing something and it has to be changed, you better be in a position to change it. And so we'll be in position to do what we have to do to make sure we get the best quarterback to play the position.

"Hopefully the guy is here. I'd love for that to happen. We don't know that yet because it's the first day of practice. That's where it's at."

Prior to the start of spring practice, we hosted a mailbag where readers asked who would emerge as the starting quarterback. Our money was on Bourguet before ASU took the field. Now, we're not so confident.

3. Arizona State's front seven will carry them in 2022

There's a few holes Arizona State's had to fill over the offseason, leaving groups such as the offensive line and secondary as question marks for the coaching staff to solve.

One area they'll be able to lean on? The front seven.

The Sun Devils retain their three starting linebackers in Merlin Robertson, Kyle Soelle and Eric Gentry while welcoming back Jermayne Lole among a cast of strong performers across the defensive line.

Losing guys such as D.J. Davidson, Tyler Johnson and Shannon Forman is no easy task to overcome, yet the Sun Devils believe they're capable with incredible depth at tackle and defensive end.

Under new defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson, there's also been a shift in mentality within Arizona State's defense: Shut up and play ball.

"I want them to play football. Let's control our emotions where we don't get to the point where we become combative, and just be competitive," said Henderson.

The Sun Devils believe there's reason for hope within the secondary. Cornerback Timarcus Davis and safety Kejuan Markham saw plenty of time last season, making them prime candidates to take over two of the four open starting roles in 2022.

When it comes to the front seven, however, majority of the spots are sealed with veterans returning to put an exclamation point on their work.

4. Arizona State's offense still is a mystery

Heading into spring practice, we knew little of what Thomas wanted to accomplish on the offensive side of the ball. Through five practices, we have a little clearer idea of ASU's offense might look like.

There's been plenty of motion and play-action for the Sun Devils, with some formations involving under center snaps and others ran out of the pistol formation.

There's also rumors of the offense wanting to be more balanced when it came to their rush/pass ratio.

Edwards acknowledged many of ASU's penalties last season came before the play on offense.

"I go back to the non-competitive fouls, those are the ones you can correct. Whether it's movement, whether it's noise, whether it's too many shifts in formations, I don't know," said Edwards.

Well, you can count out the shifts in formations if spring ball has been any indication of what the Sun Devils plan on doing offensively.

When it came to utilizing running backs, the Sun Devils will have talents such as Daniyel Ngata, Xazavian Valladay and Tevin White at their disposal next season. Thomas sounds as if he's planning on utilizing a variety of backs.

"I think you need to have multiple options. Even in the NFL these days, if you have two or three guys that can do it, just from a longevity standpoint, that bodes itself well," said Thomas.

"I mean, it's hard to say you're gonna put all your eggs in one particular guy and then God forbid something happens (where) he's injured or whatever the case may be. So you need to be able to utilize, maybe take some reps, take some hits off of that main guy, your starter, whether there's injury involved or just a maintenance-type situation. The more guys you have, the better off obviously you'll be."

Thomas also admitted he would have to help shape the offense to the strengths of whoever emerges as the starting quarterback.

Combine that with spring installs already being vanilla for the sake of the players grasping it, and it's no surprise we haven't been given a detailed list of differences between Thomas and former offensive coordinator Zak Hill.

5. Expect transfers to play a major role for ASU

Arizona State was relegated to the transfer portal last season and saw a handful of their guys step up to the plate. Expect more of the same heading into 2022.

Tight end Messiah Swinson has been everything as advertised thus far, and even if Jalin Conyers does hold on to the unofficial starting job, still expect Swinson to see solid snaps through the year.

Valladay appears to be the real deal at running back and will at worst share snaps with the other backs into the stable. All Sun Devils still expects him to emerge as the leading back at some point in the season.

Offensive linemen Chris Martinez and Des Holmes have held onto their unofficial starting positions along the offensive line through the first few days of spring practice, and it's realistic to imagine Martinez at minimum will still be in his spot come opening night.

And of course, Tyson could very well end up with the starting quarterback position. He's got the size and arm strength to make coaches think twice about sitting him.

On the defensive side of the ball, lineman Nesta Jade Silvera figures to be a force after transferring from Miami. Safety Khoury Bethley arrives with quite the reputation after taking home first-team All-Mountain West honors.

Players such as linebacker Rodney Groce and tackle Emmit Bohle are also pieces the Sun Devils could look to this upcoming season.

The transfer portal saw ASU add help across the board, as Arizona State did a superb job of snatching talent after a forgettable recruiting class.

"But I think if you're looking at certain positions, and for us it was the offensive line, we need some veteran guys to play because we feel like we have a pretty good team coming back. So there's certain positions you dabble there," said Edwards on adding so many players through the transfer portal.

If the transfers pan out like their current trajectory suggests they could, the Sun Devils could walk away as major winners thanks to the veteran talent added.

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