Although ASU football started spring practices just over a week ago, rising sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels has already noticed just how different his second year as a starter will be with new offensive coordinator Zak Hill joining the program.
"Everything last year was detail-oriented," Daniels said. "But this year is a lot more movement, so everyone's gotta know a lot more."
Last season, Daniels completed 60.7% of his passes and threw for 2,943 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also rushed for 355 yards and three scores. None of the aforementioned passing statistics for Daniels were top three in the conference last year.
But Daniels' 8.7 passing yards per attempt last year was good for third in the conference despite having 338 passing attempts, which was just the eighth highest out of all starting quarterbacks in the Pac-12.
It's his performance last year that has some of his teammates excited for what Daniels can do in 2020.
“Hey, y’all heard it here first," sophomore offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson said. "Jayden Daniels is a Heisman candidate next year. Jayden is that guy — he’s my quarterback; he’s that good.”
Redshirt sophomore wideout Geordon Porter is looking forward to playing with Daniels in Hill's new offense.
"What's impressive is that it gives him more time to be more versatile, more time to be under center," Porter said of the offense. "... It's more pro-style now, he gets to run a lot more different things."
Hill praised Daniels' arm talent, especially from deep.
“What I really noticed with him is his ability to make any throw and especially throw the deep ball," Hill said. "He throws the deep ball probably better than any quarterback I’ve seen. And with the air and the touch, (his arm) just has some natural throwing ability."
Daniels said Hill's offense has the potential to elevate his game to a higher level.
"With coach Hill, we have a lot of shifts and motions," Daniels said. "... It’s something that’ll take me to the next level and take my game to the next level.
Hill praised Daniels' athleticism and composure, observing that he feels like Daniels can do "anything." However, Hill did point toward mechanics as a place that needs work.
Specifically, Daniels has focused on improving his footwork during the offseason.
"(I need to) keep working on my footwork," Daniels said. "You know, doing a lot of under center drops, I’ve been watching a lot of pro film, so I’m trying to just pick stuff that they do."
One thing that isn't going to change, though, is Daniels' attitude. He remains his composed, steadfast self.
"He’s an even keel all the way through whether it’s highs or lows in practice," Hill said. "He’s very coachable."
Daniels believes his composure defines who he is on and off the field.
“I’m not really a hothead, I’m more of a cool guy," Daniels said. "There are some times when you gotta get mad about things, but I would never show it on the field. If I show that I’m getting mad, everyone else is getting mad.”
At one practice, head coach Herm Edwards showed media members a humorous system he uses to hold everyone accountable, even starters like Daniels. Edwards displayed a photoshopped picture of various ASU players inside a jail cell with the coaches as wardens.
Players that don't perform well in practice get "handcuffs." Edwards pointed out that Daniels is not exempt from the joke if he doesn't perform well.
"I told Jayden, 'Don't think you're too big, now,'" Edwards said. "'You may find yourself in there. But I do think that if you find yourself in there, Zak will have the key to get you out.' ... We're having fun with this."
On a more serious note, Edwards emphasized that Daniels needs to step into a more serious leadership role on and off the field during his sophomore season.
"He's going to be pressed upon to be a leader," Edwards said. "That wasn't required last year for him, and it was done purposefully by me ... but now, this is his offense."
Reach the reporter at cvanligt@asu.edu and follow @Connor_VL on Twitter.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
