ASU OL Dohnovan West named to The Athletic’s Freshman All-America team

Dohnovan West helped man the ASU offensive line after injuries forced change before the first game of the year.

For his performance in the season, West was named to The Athletic’s Freshman All-America First Team.

The Athletic’s Max Olson wrote that West projects to be a staple of the offensive line over his college career.

The true freshman started every game for the Sun Devils, moving from center to right guard after two games. It’s never ideal to have to play at this level as a 277-pound true freshman — and the Sun Devils relied on two freshmen up front — but the former wrestler proved his toughness and should be a mainstay on the line in Tempe.

The true freshman opened the season at center when Cade Cote got injured, and then moved to right guard after two games. In West’s first start at right guard, a win at Michigan State, offensive line coach Dave Christensen graded West’s performance at 98%, according to SunDevilSource.com.

West’s strong play continued throughout the season as ASU went 7-5 and earned a Sun Bowl berth.

He is the lone Sun Devil on the list.

Quarterback Jayden Daniels was not selected for either the first or second team, though he was mentioned in the article.

Olson wrote the decision for second-team quarterback was difficult, but he ultimately went with USC’s Kedon Slovis, who was named the Pac-12 offensive freshman of the year. The other two players he considered were Daniels and Dillon Gabriel of UCF.

Sam Howell of North Carolina was selected for the first team, which Olson called an “obvious” choice.

Former Gilbert Highland High School punter Austin McNamara, now on Texas Tech, was selected for the first team. He was No. 17 in FBS with an average of 45 yards per punt, downed 19 punts inside the 20 and nine within the 10-yard line. McNamara was also a first-team All-Big 12 selection.

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