Tight end Jalin Conyers emerges as valuable weapon in Arizona State offense

Arizona State tight ends coach Juston Wood sat at the podium at the front of the media fielding questions about his position group after a breakout performance on Saturday against Colorado. Five minutes into the briefing a head peeked around the corner, then quickly disappeared. It was that of Jalin Conyers, about whom Wood was speak.

Wood departed and newly-minted starting quarterback Trenton Bourguet took his turn. As he left Conyers was front and center.

"Superstar," Bourguet said as he departed.

Then Conyers was up.

"I've never been up here before. I feel cool. I'm hanging with the cool people," he laughed, glancing around his temporary digs.

If you get a shot at the main podium it means you're in demand. And Conyers can finally be included in that conversation.

The 6-foot-4, 265-pound tight end turned in a history-making performance in the 42-34 win over Colorado at Folsom Field by catching six passes for 108 yards and three touchdowns. Not only were all three career highs but the three scores of 12, 5 and 21 yards marked the first time in school history a tight end accounted for three touchdowns.

"It was memorable for sure," he said, after settling in. "I think the best part was having my grandpa and little brother there. It was funny. The rest of my family was supposed to come to the game but I have three little brothers that play sports back home, so they recorded the game, didn't even now what happened until they watched it. It was definitely surreal for me especially being done with the game. To be put in that category with tight ends that had been her for me was an honor. It was exciting Definitely something I'll never forget ,ready to keep working."

When interim coach Shaun Aguano took over play-calling duties last week he wanted to make his tight ends a priority. Not only does he have Conyers, but there is another imposing target in 6-foot-8 Messiah Swinson, who create mismatches against smaller defenders.

In addition to Conyers' yardage, Swinson had three catches for 55 yards against Colorado.

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They'll have a bigger challenge at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday when the Sun Devils (3-5, 2-3) face No. 10 UCLA (7-1, 4-1) at Sun Devil Stadium, with the game to air on ESPN.

"I think he's a huge weapon moving forward," Aguano said.  "He feels more comfortable I think in space, blocking in space with his great-big mitts. I mean he makes plays all over the field. So I think he is a lot more comfortable with the schematics that we brought in. He is a mismatch for the smaller safeties, and then they got to tackle that guy. And it looked like in the Colorado game, some guys shied away from that. And he's going full bore. I didn't know he was that fast. And so I tease him. He must have watched Ralphie (the Colorado Buffalo mascot) run through the field at halftime. But he had an incredible game.”

Conyers transferred to ASU last year from Oklahoma where he was recruited as a wide receiver after playing quarterback in high school. The nuances of the position such as blocking are still new to him.

Last year he played in 11 games and managed a modest six catches for 62 yards with the lone touchdown coming against Utah.

"I think the hardest part was blocking," he said of the transition. "Coming here and putting your had in the ground was like something I had never done before. I just had to get adjusted to that. I think what helped me a lot was coach (Juston) Wood teaching me what they're able to teach me so that was the hardest part, and developing in the pass game with my new body, putting on weight and muscle was different, trying to figure out how to move in different ways."

Conyers, a former four-star prospect, hails from Gruver, Texas, a small town of about 1,200. Teammate Omarr Norman-Lott gave him the nickname "Corn" and it has stuck.

"I think the second or so day I was here I said I was from Texas and Omar said, "So you're from cornfield type of area,' and I said, `Yeah, basically.' And from that moment on he started calling me Corn and literally it caught with everybody and I was like, `Why? But hey, good marketing tool for me right?'"

Wood was excited about the way Conyers and his other players responded to the challenge of being more a part of the offensive game plan and hopes to build on that against the Bruins.

"I'm just excited that when the ball did come our way, we made plays. We were where we needed to be," he said. "Obviously going to a bit of a new system was a challenge Not going to lie. Talked to the kids about the challenge on Sunday and Monday and knew that it was going to take extra work, extra preparation to get comfortable with our communication process and operating differently. I was probably more proud of the way they handled that piece and being able to line up, play fast, play confident on Saturday. a lot of work went into getting them to that point, let alone making the plays."

Odds and ends

— Athletic director Ray Anderson was again in attendance, which is not unusual.

— Offensive linemen and team captain LaDarius Henderson (hand) did not practice. Henderson has missed two games and Aguano said Monday he was questionable this week, although Henderson had done some light running. Des Holmes also did not practice so redshirt freshman Ben Bray, a Mesa Red Mountain product, took first-team reps at right guard.

Texas running back Kyson Brown commits

ASU's next recruiting class is up to seven athletes with the addition of running back Kyson Brown from Lancaster High in Lancaster, Texas.

The 5-foot-10, 195-pound three-star prospect has rushed for 506 yards on 66 attempts and eight touchdowns so far this season. He also has 13 catches for 154 yards and two additional touchdowns.

The 247Sports Composite rankings have Brown at No. 74 at his position nationally and No. 191 overall recruit in talent-laden Texas.

He had 29 offers with Houston, Missouri, Purdue and SMU among them.

Reach the reporter at Michelle.Gardner@gannett.com or 602 444-4783.  Follow her on Twitter @MGardnerSports.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Breakout: Arizona State tight end emerges as offensive threat