Last year around this time, ASU football coach Todd Graham was trying to prove to Sun Devil nation that he was a good fit for the program.
Fast-forward a year and Graham is on the other side of things, trying to prove that the newcomers, and there are a lot of them, will make last year’s 8-5 team even better.
Through a week of practice, Graham is impressed with what he’s seen from both sides of the ball.
“I can’t tell you one newcomer that we’ve brought here that I’ve been disappointed with in the first four days of practice,” Graham said. “I couldn’t say the same thing last year. So I think our coaches did a good job of recruiting and getting the right guys.”
Graham’s immediate focus has been on the transfer players, who he says can come in and make an immediate impact in the depth chart.
“Our biggest challenge is those junior college guys,” Graham said. “We need to get them ready; I think they will have the biggest impact. “
Junior Joe Morris and sophomore Jaelen Strong, teammates last year at Pierce College (Calif.), are already battling for first team wide receiver reps because of the departure of last season’s top receivers Rashad Ross and Jamal Miles.
“There’s not really much separation right now, so it’s a nice competition,” Morris said.
Defensively, Graham mentioned junior defensive end Marcus Hardison as another transfer standout.
Graham didn’t dismiss the notion of starting freshmen right away, either, and gushed about his past successes coaching them.
“I think we’ve had like seven freshmen All-Americans as a coaching staff,” Graham said. “We have no problem playing freshmen that are ready to play.”
Safeties Marcus Ball and James Johnson were the first freshmen to come to mind to Graham, who is still deciding on who will fill the field safety spot vacated by Keelan Johnson.
Ball has got first teams reps during the last couple of practices and Graham noted that a freshman, although he did not mention anybody specifically, could be the young guy to jump in immediately.
“I think on defense there is a chance for one freshman to start,” Graham said. “I think a couple more in the two deep.”
Team depth is also something Graham said the newcomers, 26 of them in total (18 defensively), bring to the table.
Graham said he knows his team is mostly fixed, though, and is hoping the newcomers can help push the Sun Devils to this year’s goal, the Rose Bowl.
“We have a whole bunch out there that are in the two or three spots, but we just have to stay healthy up front on both sides of the ball but I’m not that worried about it,” Graham said. “I don’t think we’re an inexperienced team either; I’m not going to say oh we’re a young team. We’ll be graduating 14 players on defense this year. This is the year, we’ve got a veteran crew and we better be good.”
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu or on Twitter @Danny__Shapiro
