ASU Football: Spring practice No. 14 notebook — position battles still going strong

The Arizona State Sun Devils hit the Kajikawa Practice Fields for the 14th and final time Thursday, finishing their final spring practice before the annual spring game on Friday. The Devils were in shorts and helmets Thursday morning.

Last practice: Tuesday, April 10

Next practice: Spring Game — Friday, April 13 (7:00 p.m.) at the Sun Devil Soccer Stadium

Music: ABC (The Jackson 5), Finesse (Bruno Mars), God’s Plan (Drake)

Injury Update

Defensive back DeMonte King, linebacker Koron Crump, cornerback Chase Lucas, defensive lineman Tyler Johnson and offensive lineman Cade Cote each entered the bubble early and missed a good majority of the rest of practice.

Some first-team switches

Although Tyson Rising started the tempo period as the first-team left tackle, Zach Robertson quickly switched into the position for Rising after a few plays. He did the same thing during Tuesday’s practice but the move didn’t stick when 11-v-11 rolled around.

Although Robertson (6-foot-6, 336-pounds) only has an inch on Rising (6-foot-5, 284-pounds), he does outweigh him by 52 pounds. The left tackle spot, though, may already be solidified as coaches have said that incoming Stanford transfer Casey Tucker will likely grab that starting left tackle spot.

Also, on the defensive side, Khaylan Thomas and Nick Ralston have been just about rotating at first-team middle linebacker. A week ago, Ralston played the starting role, but then on Tuesday, Thomas got it back.

Whoever gets the spot on a given day is pretty minuscule in the grand scheme of a practice because both constantly rotate in-and-out for each other on first- and second-teams. It very well may come down to who has a better spring game on Friday to see who’ll have the advantage come fall.

Jalen Harvey is still everywhere

After getting another interception yesterday, Harvey almost had another couple today.

Manny Wilkins was under center for the first-team offense during 11-v-11 and under threw two straight deep passes down the sidelines. Each pass was intended for a different receiver and was thrown to a different side of the field, the one constant, though, was Harvey.

There was a little wind, so that may have caused Wilkins passes to hang in the air a little longer, but Harvey was all over them. On the first one — pictured below — the DB almost snatched the ball out of the air from receiver Trevor Russell, and ran for a while screaming that he almost had another pick.

Jordan Kaye/House of Sparky

On the next play, Harvey batted the ball out of wide receiver Frank Darby’s hands as Darby had to come back to the ball.

Jordan Kaye/House of Sparky

High praise from cornerbacks coach Tony White

After practice, White was asked to identify a few players who have really helped themselves in spring ball — he was quick to point out two names.

First, he said corner Chase Lucas. Some may see Lucas helping himself this spring as a surprise after coming off a freshman campaign in which in took home USA Today Freshman All-American honors last season.

But, White said that Lucas, “athletically-wise” could go in the first- or second-round of the NFL draft, but added that he can still improve on a lot in his game — “and that’s scary,” White said.

He then talked about sophomore DB Langston Frederick: “Langston, I’m surprised night and day with, just because I didn’t think he was going to be that good.

He also called cornerback Kobe Williams “steady-eddy.”

Tennis ball trickeration

Herm Edwards’ Quote of the Day

First-team offense

QB: Manny Wilkins

RB: Trelon Smith

WR: N’Keal Harry, Kyle Williams, Terrell Chatman

TE: Ceejhay French-Love/Tommy Hudson

OL: Tyson Rising (LT), Alex Losoya (LG), Cohl Cabral (C), Steven Miller (RG), Quinn Bailey (RT)

Second-team offense

QB: Blake Barnett/Dillion Sterling-Cole

RB: Mark “Goose” Cosgrove

WR: Frank Darby, Trevor Russell, Ryan Jenkins

TE: Jared Bubak/Mark Walton

OL: Zach Robertson (LT), Jesse Cozens (LG), Corey Stephens (C), Michael Tate (RG), Kyle Breed (RT)

First-team defense

DL: Jalen Bates, Renell Wren, Darius Slade

LB: Jay Jay Wilson, Khaylan Thomas, Malik Lawal

Tillman: Evan Fields

CB: Terin Adams, Kobe Williams

Safety: Langston Frederick, Jalen Harvey

Second-team defense

DL: D.J. Davidson, Jordan Hoyt, Dougladson Subtyl

LB: Anthony Nicastro, Nick Ralston, Kyle Soelle

Tillman: Tyler Whiley

CB: Kordell Caldwell, Darien Cornay

Safety: Dominique Harrison, Caleb McShanag