With big play threats like senior tight end Chris Coyle and sophomore running back D.J. Foster lining up for the ASU football offense, it was a backup tight end that stole the show on day two of fall camp.
Senior tight end Darwin Rogers hooked up with redshirt sophomore backup quarterback Mike Bercovici over the middle on the most explosive play of the day, something Rogers believes will happen a lot more this season.
“I just want to go out there and show people I can make plays,” Rogers said. “Most people think I’m just a blocker, but I just want to go and prove to people I can run and catches passes like Coyle too.”
Rogers, a junior college transfer last season from Arizona Western College, caught three passes for 31 yards and a touchdown last season behind Coyle, who set the ASU single-season record for receptions by a tight end.
Rogers said after spring he decided to “step his game up to the next level”, something he hopes will take the pressure off of Coyle and open up the offense.
“Coyle is a big threat in our offense, so most defenses are going to key on him,” he said. “It will take a lot of pressure off of him and open up the passing game if I come out and do stuff that’s unexpected.”
To do the unexpected, Rogers said he worked on the little things he didn’t learn while at Western.
“Coming from (junior college), I didn’t know a lot of the proper techniques and now with this year being my second as a tight end, I’m working hard to get better,” Rogers said.
Bercovici has seen first-hand the improvement Rogers has made thus far and said he thinks his role in the offense will be much different than last year.
“He really worked on catching the ball because he knew his role more as a blocking guy and that’s not his mindset, which is admirable for him,” Bercovici said.
Besides being a hard worker, Rogers has the size at 6-feet-4-inches tall and 244 pounds, to be a go-to option in the Sun Devil attack, Bercovici said.
“When you look at him, he has NFL size for his position and he’s surprisingly fast for his position,” he said.
Sun Devil coach Todd Graham has even noticed Rogers’ improvement over the past year and the added worth he can now bring to the offense.
“Darwin was probably one of the most improved players from our first spring to our last fall,” Graham said. “He’s steadily gotten better. He’s been consistent.”
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Danny__Shapiro
