Arizona State’s WR room post Jordyn Tyson has still elevated in its talent level
When Arizona State’s 2025 campaign ended, a pressing question began to ring around the program’s offense for next season: Who is going to replace the production of junior Jorydn Tyson after he heads off to the NFL?
Tyson declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft was a surefire conclusion. Since the end of the season, he’d been toward the top of mock draft boards and wide receiver rankings. He earned this paramount through electrifying performances, including a 10-reception game against then-No. 7 Texas Tech to knock off an undefeated Red Raiders team in Tempe.
With the departure of Tyson– a projected top-10 pick in the NFL Draft– the Sun Devils had a massive void to fill headed into the transfer portal window. Fortunately, with the pedigree that Tyson built working under wide receivers coach Hines Ward, attracting talent wasn’t an issue for head coach Kenny Dillingham and Co.
“When you have (Tyson), and you see his success, and then you have coach Ward coaching, it’s definitely a place that people want to be at,” Dillingham said. “I feel really good about our group. I feel like our coaching staff did an unbelievable job, evaluating people and getting them in here.”
It’s not just Dillingham who was impressed by ASU’s wide receiver overhaul; the No.3 and No.9 wideouts in the 2026 transfer portal both made the transition to Tempe. Dillingham noted he was aiming for experience amongst the transfer, and he got just that in two upperclassmen with power conference experience.
The No.3 wide receiver Omarion Miller followed in the same steps that Tyson took, transferring from Big 12 foe Colorado down to ASU. Miller was phenomenal in 2025, scoring eight touchdowns while averaging 73.5 yards per game in 11 games, the third most yards per game in the Big 12.
Miller and Tyson talked many times before he transferred to ASU. The pair still talks consistently as Tyson prepares for a transition to the professional level, and the prospect of working under Ward was something that drew Miller to the program quickly.
“Working with a Hall of Fame receiver,” Miller noted. (Ward has yet to be a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist despite making the semi-final list for 10 years since 2017) “Just learning from him every day. The on and off the field things, I feel like, it’s making me a better person, on the field and off the field.”
Miller, listed at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, dominated in 2025 in a variety of ways. He has size and explosiveness to blow by defensive backs and make plays downfield. But he wasn’t the only marquee name that ASU brought in.
Standing 6-foot-5 and 217 pounds, Boston College transfer Reed Harris is the next jump-ball specialist in Tempe. Harris is a deepball enthusiast, finishing third in the ACC in yards per catch at 17.1 last season. Combine that with 673 yards, good for 12th in the conference and five touchdowns, and he’ll provide verticality to a special level in 2026.
“We joke a lot and push each other on the field,” Harris said of Miller. “We tease in the locker room—it’s just good vibes.”
“He’s got good hands, and when we’re watching film, I’ll watch him and just see what he does and try and pick up little things, and I think my focal point is the jump ball, and I think he’s been watching me.”
As for Miller, he’s noted a similar story to Harris regarding their relationship, the wide receiver room goes deeper than just those two, and the competitive spirit they display seeps into all levels of the room.
“It’s going to be hard for teams to game plan against us,” Miller said. “With all the receivers we have. And just Reed like he’s unguardable. Nobody in college can hold him. We are very competitive, each and every day. Everybody tries to come out here and try to steal the show…that drives a group, that’s what a group needs.”
Harris, like Miller, noted the recent success of Tyson in why he wanted to come to ASU. Seeing the blockbuster success of the 2024 team couple with an exciting, growing program, made coming from Boston to Arizona a no-brainer.
“That gives me a lot of inspiration,” Miller noted on developing into an NFL-caliber player in Tempe. “But I’m just not trying to think about the future right now. I just want to finish up spring ball and get through spring and make practice.
“All I had to do was jump on one phone call, and I knew this was the place I wanted to be at.”
Thus far, the wide receiver group has proven to be exciting and productive. Last Saturday, the Sun Devils held an open scrimmage for fans to watch the 2026 team battle up close. Only a few receivers were able to make notable catches on the day, but they all provided incredible value for a booming run game.
By blocking like their lives depended on it in the secondary.
“This just feels like a different, new, I mean, I don’t know if it feels like something else,” Dillingham noted when comparing the current roster to previous ASU teams. “You want to know why we were having explosive runs? The backside wide receivers are sprinting over to cut off guys. And when you block well on the perimeter, you create explosives.”
For Harris, that skill is something he’s grown to take pride in. Working in Ward’s mantra of ‘No block, no rock’ highlights the importance of perimeter blocking.
“You can just be yourself around him,” Harris said about Ward. “He’s a great coach…just laying the boom, but you can’t receivers can’t block like that no more cuz you get a targeting penalty.”
In regard to pass catching, the quarterback position is one without a defined starter in the latter stages of camp. However, the receivers and signal-callers have been given plenty of opportunity to work amongst each other and play live reps against different defenses.
“It’s building really well with all four of them,” Miller said. “Just getting reps with them every single day. Being able to push the ball down the field and the accurate throws that they can, get in and out of routes.”
Fortunately for Dilligham, players have taken it upon themselves to build chemistry and improve, spending time together outside of scheduled practice time, and even sticking around after each two-hour session to get sprints in or throw a football around, mocking situations that didn’t pan out during practice.
“Our guys are still out here,” Dillingham said. “I mean, after practice, trying to get better. I mean, and it’s not just one group, it’s four groups out here just trying to get better.”
