In the past two weeks, the ASU football team has added a pair of wide receivers, addressing what had developed into a position of need for the team since the end of last season.
With last year's superstar Jaelen Strong heading to the NFL and Strong's veteran heir apparent Cameron Smith out for the season with a knee injury, Todd Graham's team desperately needed help in the way of pass catchers.
Tim White signed his letter of intent on April 15. A speedy junior college star, White has two years of eligibility remaining.
Shortly after, on April 27, Devin Lucien transferred from Pac-12 rival UCLA to ASU and as a graduate transfer, he will be able to play immediately for the Sun Devils.
White has the higher upside of the two but given the current state of the ASU passing offense, it's fair to say that both additions will make valuable contributions in the upcoming season.
A year ago, the team was going through a serious defensive overhaul having lost nine starters and trotting out a unit heavily laden with freshmen and sophomores.
Now, having lost quarterback Taylor Kelly and Strong along with multiple offensive linemen, the offense will be going through the same sort of transition.
With Lucien and White in tow, that transition figures to go more smoothly than without them.
Lucien started five of 13 games last year for the Bruins, hauling in 29 catches which was good for third on the team.
White, a competitor in the long jump and triple jump at the College of Canyons, has strong experience as a kick returning and will likely compete with Kalen Ballage for that job.
Having a wealth of wide receivers will be a boon for the Sun Devils in the coming year.
Incoming starting quarterback Mike Bercovici is generally regarded as having a stronger and more accurate arm than Kelly had, so even with the presence of Ballage and Demario Richard in the backfield, ASU will likely throw with greater frequency than it did in the past.
ASU was 6th in the Pac-12 in pass attempts last year with 467, good for 34th in the nation.
Sun Devil receivers recorded 281 receptions in 2014, 82 of which belong to Strong. Foster was second on that list with 62 so it stands to reason that he will claim the lion's share of Strong's targets, but no matter which way you split it, there will be plenty of passes to go around.
If Todd Graham's team is going to build on the success it had a year ago, it's got to hope that Lucien and White have some of those passes coming their way.
Reach the columnist at Ian.C.Beck@asu.edu or follow @ICBeck21 on Twitter.
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