ASU spring practice social media recap: Defense shines, freshman TE impresses in Day 2

They say the second day is always better than the first, and that rang true for Arizona State on Thursday as the football team returned to the field for their second practice of spring ball.

After much of the first practice was focused on resetting the focus and culture, Kenny Dillingham took things up a notch.

The practice started with the distribution of Arizona State's first official height and weight lists for their team, showing off several physical transformations for their players.

While Tuesday saw several former players - Cam Skattebo, Melquan Stovall, and Xavier Guillory - show up to observe practice, Thursday brought in former starting center Leif Fautanu, himself a draft hopeful.

Kenny Dillingham made it a point to play Queen's "We Are the Champions" nonstop in the first practice, later explaining his goal is to make the Sun Devils' 2024 Big 12 championship season feel "irrelevant" as they set their sights on new goals. Clearly, he didn't feel the message was absorbed yet, playing the song again on Thursday.

One side of the field was clearly fueled by the motivation, as Arizona State's defense had another big day. Cornerback Rodney Bimage, who is fighting for a starting role this year, made more big plays after a solid first day of practice.

One player who is competing with Bimage is transfer Nyland Green, whose size and length was on display Thursday.

One of the most exciting returning starters on defense is defensive tackle CJ Fite, who led the defensive line rotation last season and showed off his improved strength in practice.

The defense wasn't the only unit having fun, of course. Sam Leavitt and Jordyn Tyson continued to get more work in, rebuilding their elite connection after Tyson's season-ending injury last year.

Transfer receiver Jaren Hamilton also showed off his wheels, which could earn him a prime spot in the receiver rotation this year.

Then there's transfer running back Kanye Udoh, seen by many as the frontrunner to replace Skattebo as the Sun Devils' top running back.

Of course, the star of the day was freshman tight end AJ Ia, who made several big plays in individual drills and looks to be way ahead of his years.

Ia's performance even earned some praise from Dillingham after practice.

Elsewhere, transfer kicker Jesus Gomez got another opportunity to practice his kicks, an area that Arizona State needs to drastically improve this year. Fans will be ecstatic to hear Gomez has looked good so far.

After practice, Dillingham spoke about how much the depth of this year's team has improved, and how that gives him confidence going into 2025.

Dillingham also announced that their next practice, Saturday at 6:00 PM, will be open to the public. His reason was to open it up to the fans and try to recreate some measure of added pressure for his players, hoping to ratchet up the intensity early on.