Observations, Takeaways From Day One of Arizona State Fall Camp

TEMPE -- The 2025 Arizona State football season is right around the corner.

Fall camp officially opened up on Wednesday morning - exactly 30 days out from the season opener against Northern Arizona.

Year three of Kenny Dillingham at the helm as head coach is being entered with exponentially higher expectations surrounding the program - the 2024 team was famously selected to finish last place in the Big 12 conference.

Now, the hunters are the hunted - and the roster is fully aware of it. The intensity shown at the opening day of practices was evident nearly the entire way through a nearly two-and-a-half hour timeframe.

Some first thoughts around the first day of practices:

• Sam Leavitt missed a couple of routine throws, but the star QB generally looked sharp, and made some plays with his legs in the 7-on-7 portion of practice.

• Jordyn Tyson was incredible - Dillingham said as much in his post-practice media availability. Tyson made numerous highlight reel catches - including an incredible toe-tap grab in the 7 v. 7 scrimmage.

• Jesus Gomez was incredibly impressive in field goal practice for approximately 15 minutes - only one missed kick was counted, and Gomez wrapped up the time with a make from 50-yards out.

• AJ Ia's presence was undoubtedly felt in stretches - including a diving touchdown grab in between a pair of defenders in coverage during the scrimmage part of practice.

• Raleek Brown was the most impressive running back during day one - showcasing the dual threat ability that made him a four star recruit in the 2022 class. Brown broke free on at least two runs in the scrimmage portion of Wednesday.

• The WR group as a whole appears to be a step up from 2024 - Jaren Hamilton, Jalen Moss, and Malik McClain all had strong moments.

Dillingham was generally pleased with the effort that was shown - even going as far as stating that this was the best first practice that he has witnessed in the role.

The Sun Devils are set to reconvene tomorrow for another practice in preparation of Camp Tontozona next week.

Read more on Kenny Dillingham praising Sun Devil WR coach Hines Ward here, and on the high hopes that Dillingham has for the incoming transfer Hamilton here.