Arizona State coaches excited for return of Jalen Moss, increased depth

TEMPE — After transferring to Arizona State, wide receiver Jalen Moss only played 26 snaps in the season opener against Northern Arizona before sustaining a foot injury and dealing with a sickness.

With the Sun Devils currently on a bye week, Moss is likely to return to the field for the team’s Week 7 matchup against Utah. Moss was an active part of the offensive plan prior to the season, so the coaching staff is looking forward to being able to implement him once again.

“It’s great,” offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo said Wednesday. “An opportunity to get a guy back who you invested a lot of reps with in spring.”

The primary receiving target for ASU this season has been Jordyn Tyson, but Arroyo emphasized that adding more players into the mix would be beneficial.

Tyson accounts for 81% of Arizona State’s catches from wide receivers this season, hauling in 39 passes across the team’s five games.

“It’s really good to add some more depth to the wide receiver corps,” Arroyo said. “It’ll mix up the personnel a bit more, which is good.”

Malik McClain has been the closest player to a second receiving option this year, but still only has five catches on the season. The coaching staff tried to get Jaren Hamilton more opportunities following Moss’ injury; however, the redshirt sophomore only had his first reception of the year last week against TCU.

Before coming to Arizona State, Moss spent three seasons with Fresno State. He redshirted his first year before being used both as a receiver and a returner for the Bulldogs.

Over those two years, Moss had 103 receptions for 1,029 yards. He also had 559 return yards across a combined 33 punt and kick returns.

“Obviously another guy who can catch the football, who’s caught 90 catches, maybe 100 catches in his last two years in college football,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “So, a guy who’s done it under the lights which is huge for us … getting a guy who’s just caught a lot of passes.”

Derek Eusebio is one player who has received more playing time in Moss’ absence, but the two could still coexist in ASU’s offense. Moss is more of a possession receiver, while Eusebio could be brought in for more explosive shots.

“He’s a veteran guy who’s played a lot of snaps,” Arroyo said of Moss. “I think there’s some control passing and areas of strength for him that I thought lend to our strength in regard to playing catch, normal downs.”

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