Returners fill the Arizona State roster for 2025, but behind Jordyn Tyson, returning wide receivers accounted for just four catches and 156 yards in 2024.
Tyson accounted for nearly a third of ASU football’s receiving with his 1,101 yards on 75 catches and 10 of its 26 receiving touchdowns. Meanwhile, the other four returning wideouts are 2024 redshirts Malik McClain and Zechariah Sample as well as 2024 walk-ons Derek Eusebio and Coben Bourguet.
“The biggest challenge this spring will be probably (the) large influx of new guys, especially wideout. It’s a whole new roster at wideout,” offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo said Thursday.
Newcomers to the room include transfers Jalen Moss (Fresno State), Noble Johnson (Clemson) and Jaren Hamilton (Alabama), as well as incoming freshmen Chance Ables, Cory Butler Jr., Harry Hassmann and local product Uriah Neloms out of Gilbert San Tan Charter.
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“A lot of new guys who, a lot of them have already played, which is nice,” Arroyo said. “They’ve got a little bit of a background as we assessed them in the recruiting and part of them was where they played at and what they did.”
To Arroyo’s point about experience, Moss comes in with the most experience at the FBS level, boasting 1,269 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns over 25 games the last two years. Johnson and Hamilton, however, enter with 19 games combined over the last two seasons and only Johnson’s three catches for 16 yards to show for it.
Hamilton comes in with the reputation of a speedster, which ASU lacked for the most part in last season’s group, getting occasional production out of injury-riddled Jake Smith. Sample brings speed as well, but an injury kept him on the sideline for most of the season.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham said Johnson’s high school tape stood out to him when he was a top-60 wide receiver prospect in the 2023 class from prior to the limited game reps he got at Clemson.
“JT’s going to be the lead horse in what we do, obviously, because of the experience he’s got, and we put him in a position last year where I really used him in every which way we could and that was part of it,” Arroyo said. “Now we got some other guys that are going to be able to step up the role, and I think when you’ve got some balance away from him and next to him, you can really manipulate the defense in a lot of ways.
“Whether it’s Moss, whether it’s Jaren, whether it’s going to be Noble, whether it’s going to be any of those guys. Malik only played in four games. … I mean, it’s going to be some guys out there away from the core that’s going to be some real dudes and to have the depth is going to be huge.”
What’s expected out of ASU’s Jordyn Tyson as a leader?
Tyson now knows what it takes to succeed not only in Arroyo’s system but under position coach Hines Ward’s tutelage. Both were in their first seasons at ASU in 2024.
“I think for Jordyn, it’s more of him versus him, you know, the act of contentment. Just because you had a phenomenal year, you still got to go and work harder each day,” Ward said.
The MVP of Super Bowl XL, Ward said he doesn’t normally talk about his playing career, but he shared with the group a valuable anecdote about how even after that year, he came into training camp with his name across his helmet. It served as a reminder that he had to prove himself once again — just as he did as a third-round pick in his rookie year.
“So I’m constantly on Jordyn about doing the little things right, you know, putting that name across his helmet and regardless if I know and the world knows who Jordyn Tyson is, I still want to see JT, ‘J. Tyson’ across that,” Ward said.
The position coach, who said he turned down other coaching opportunities to remain at ASU for a second season, plans to be harder on Tyson than he was in 2024 because of the expectations the receiver has set for himself. Tyson is being recognized as a top-three returning wideout in the country.
“I look for him just being an ultimate pro, being more of a leader on the football field,” Ward said. “He always likes to get in the back of the line. I said, ‘It’s time for you to get in the front of the line. I need you to start going first on all the drills and leading by example, and then the rest will follow you.”
He said Tyson, a noted reluctant leader, has earned the respect of his teammates through the production of last season as well as how he attacked his shoulder rehab this offseason. The receiver was in the building until 11 or 12 each night.
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