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The Sun Devils’ new wide receiver room has sparked heat in Tempe.
Following a heartbreaking loss to the University of Texas in the Peach Bowl last season, one thing was clear: ASU football needed more output from wide receivers other than redshirt junior Jordyn Tyson.
In fact, after Tyson recorded 1,101 yards before getting injured against Arizona, the leading receiver was former running back Cam Skattebo. He finished second in receiving yards in the regular season behind Tyson, with 605. The closest wide receiver was former Sun Devil Xavier Guillory with 339 yards.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham and his staff got busy recruiting new talent for redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Leavitt to throw to. Dillingham believes the receiving room is where he wants them to be.
“The wide receiver room is in a really good place,” Dillingham said. “Multiple guys can make plays. I think when given those opportunities, they made plays.”
So who are the main guys in the wide receiver room? To start, Tyson is the number one guy again. On top of his 1000+ yard season last year, he also finished with ten touchdowns.
He got off to a hot start this season against NAU, hauling in 12 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns. As the Texas-born receiver gets more experienced, he’s been able to elevate his game.
“I was short when I was a freshman and sophomore, so I played slot. So now that I’ve gotten taller, I can play outside and slot,” Tyson said. “It makes it kind of hard to double-team or play cloud when I’m just playing the X or just playing the Z.”
The Sun Devils had to rely heavily on Tyson against NAU, similarly to how they had relied on him all of last season. Dillingham, though, said he believes that if they had less trouble with penalties, the yards on the stat sheet would be different.
“We had a big play by Malik (McClain), he would have ended up having three catches for about 80 (yards), and I think that question would be completely different,” Dillingham said on receiver production outside of Tyson against NAU.
Redshirt senior Malik McClain returns to Tempe for his first full season as a Sun Devil after redshirting in 2024. After being targeted four times against NAU, McClain will continue to be a large part of the receiving room.
The Sun Devils also brought in four receivers through the transfer portal. Two of them, redshirt junior Jalen Moss and redshirt sophomore Jaren Hamilton, are set to be starters with roles going forward.
Moss comes to Tempe after three seasons at Fresno State. As a Bulldog, Moss caught 103 passes for 1,269 yards and ten touchdowns. He was named to the Paul Hornung Award preseason watchlist, which is awarded to the most versatile player in college football.
After going down with a minor injury against NAU, Moss will be back on the field against Mississippi State to take on the Bulldogs, according to a depth chart from the Arizona Republic. He has said he believes he can bring a lot to the offense.
“I’m a dynamic playmaker with or without the ball in my hands,” Moss said per SunDevilSource. “I feel like I can do anything any of our other receivers can: block, catch the ball very well, be decisive in routes (and) understand the defense.”
Hamilton arrives in Tempe after two years at the University of Alabama. The former four-star prospect did not see much playing time there, so he’ll take any chance he can get in the desert under Dillingham.
His role will continue to expand as the season goes on after not having a large role in the win over NAU. His offensive coordinator, Marcus Arroyo, spoke on Hamilton’s play in week one and his impact going forward.
“We kind of manipulated what was happening, in-game adjustments,” Arroyo said per SunDevilSource. “He’ll grow, he’ll transition into it. He’s in year one of a system and I’m excited to see what he does.”
With these four at the forefront of ASU’s receiving room, Leavitt has plenty of options to connect with. The reliance on Tyson could be difficult for the Sun Devils, as it can cause double teams to take him away.
For this year, there is potential for better production through the air. Dillingham believes that for the rest of the season, the way he uses his wideouts depends on the opponent.
“For us moving forward, it’s just taking what the defense gives us,” Dillingham said. “We have a lot of confidence in our wideouts, that if a team chooses to double (Tyson) and remove that, that we can run the ball and throw the ball to other people.”
Edited by Jack McCarthy, Henry Smardo and Ellis Preston.
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Niall RosenbergSports Reporter
Niall is a junior studying sports journalism. This is his first semester with The State Press. He has also worked at WCSN and Blaze Radio.
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