Three @ASUFootball Players Named to 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl Top 250
TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State WR Frank Darby, CB Jack Jones and CB Chase Lucas were named to the 2021 Reese's Senior Bowl Top 250 watch list, as announced by the Reese's Senior Bowl on Thursday.
The Reese's Senior Bowl is the nation's most prestigious college all-star game, as it annually serves as the first step of the NFL draft process.
One of college football's top big-play wide receivers, Darby is coming off a 2019 campaign in which he finished 10th in the nation and second in the Pac-12 with a 19.87 yard per catch average. The Jersey City, N.J., native caught 31 passes for 616 yards and eight touchdowns on his way to earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors last season. Darby came on during the second half of the season, accumulating 16 catches for 387 yards (24.2 yards per catch) and seven touchdowns during one four-game stretch – UCLA-USC-Oregon State-Oregon – that included a four-catch, 125-yard, two-touchdown outing in ASU's upset of sixth-ranked Oregon. Next year, Darby, who earlier this year was named to the Biletnikoff Award Preseason watch list, will look to become the third consecutive Sun Devil receiver to be drafted and join former teammates N'Keal Harry (2019, first round) and Brandon Aiyuk (2020, first round).
After transferring to ASU in 2019, Jones made an instant impact in Tempe, collecting 45 tackles, 13 pass breakups, three interceptions, and a forced fumble. Jones earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors for a season in which he played in all 13 games (one start) and tied for ninth nationally with 16 passes defended while finishing 12th in passes defended per game (1.33). He recorded three interceptions in ASU's three-game winning streak to end the season and was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week following the team's win over Arizona in the Territorial Cup. Jones had six combined tackles (five solos) and two interceptions, becoming the first Sun Devil with multiple interceptions in a game since Gump Hayes picked off Patrick Mahomes (Texas Tech) twice in 2016. Jones was the 15th highest-graded corner in the Pac-12 with over 500 snaps in a conference that was loaded with talent at the position.
Lucas has been an integral part of the Sun Devil defense since being named a freshman first-team all-American by the FWAA and second-team by USA Today in 2017. Last season, Lucas started all 13 games at cornerback for the Sun Devils and paced a secondary that helped ASU record 72 pass breakups – 10th most nationally and the most since posting 75 in 2012. Lucas finished with 54 tackles (50 solo) and 4.5 tackles for loss and allowed just one touchdown in coverage, the second-lowest total in the Pac-12 and 19th-lowest total nationally. He also added a field goal block, four pass breakups, an interception, a fumble recovery and a fumble forced. In 2018, Lucas was fourth on the team with 62 tackles, including 6.0 for loss and 2.0 sacks. He was also second on the team with three interceptions while adding five pass breakups. Lucas had the sixth-most defensive stops among Pac-12 corners with 17 and was credited with just two touchdowns allowed when targeted, tied for 8th-fewest in the Pac-12. Lucas earned Pac-12 Second Team honors at defensive back in 2017 after an incredible freshman campaign in which he allowed just 40 catches despite being targeted 78 times for a menial 51.2 completion percentage while allowing an NFL QBR of 72.4 with two interceptions and six passes defended.
The Reese's Senior Bowl has had 93 total players and 40 selected in the first three rounds each of the past two years, including 10 first-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft. The 93 figure represents nearly 40% of the total draft the past two years. One thing that differentiates the Reese's Senior Bowl from other all-star games is the participation of two full NFL coaching staffs. Last year, the two teams were coached by the Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals and there were over 900 credentialed NFL personnel in Mobile, Ala., for game week.
The Reese's Senior Bowl will be played on Sat., Jan. 30, 2021 (1:30pm CT) at the University of South Alabama's Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Ala.