Frank

Darby

It’s one of the quietest inactives lists you will ever see, especially at this stage of the season. Aside from Kyle Pitts, who is on injured reserve, Desmond Ridder will be playing with a full deck in his first start.

Darby was a sixth-round pick of the Falcons in the 2021 NFL Draft. He failed to do much as a rookie and was waived ahead of his second season. He later signed with the team’s practice squad. Darby will play a reserve role on the active roster.

The 187th overall pick in the 2021 draft, Darby appeared in 10 games as a rookie, catching 1-of-4 targets for 14 yards. He didn’t test well coming out Arizona State.

Darby was shaping up as a legit prospect in 2019, earning honorable mention All-Pac-12 while tying for the ASU team lead with eight receiving touchdowns (31 receptions, 616 yards, 19.9 average) in 13 starts. Darby played in all four games of his senior season, starting three but seeing limited touches after suffering a rib injury early in the year. He’s not exactly an athletic marvel, with a 13th percentile speed score and a 30th percentile burst score. Darby’s best path to playing time in Atlanta is via special teams.

Darby looks and plays like a tank of a wide receiver. Though his 6-foot-1, 200-pound listing may not suggest it, Darby is absolutely shredded and plays with the exact kind of physicality of someone you would expect from someone as rocked up as he is. Both at the catch point and with the ball in his hands, Darby is a bully and makes defenders pay for trying to contest him. That being said, he is not the sharpest or faster receiver on the block, which is why he has so many contested catch situations on film. Perhaps Darby can show something new in the 1-on-1 drills down in Mobile.

An honorable mention all-conference selection last season, Darby (6'1/200) was expected to lead the way at wide receiver for the Sun Devils this year. However he hit a bump in the road with the rib injury suffered during the first quarter of Saturday’s season opener against USC. LV Bunkley-Shelton led the way in his absence, but only managed to record four receptions for 28 yards. Darby’s ability to stretch the field was sorely missed, as quarterback Jayden Daniels was forced to concentrate on short-to-medium range throws after his departure. Arizona State hopes to have the talented senior back in time for their Pac-12 tilt against Cal this Saturday.

Daniels (6'3/185) didn’t have his best day throwing the football, but a lot of that can be blamed on the absence of senior WR Frank Darby. Without Darby, who left the game early due to a rib injury, the sophomore quarterback played much of the season opener without his top target. The good news for Daniels is that he was impactful on the ground, rushing for a career-high 111 yards on 11 carries. This was the first 100-yard rushing game for Daniels in his Arizona State career, and he’ll look to improve those passing numbers next weekend when the Sun Devils host Cal.

Darby (6'1/200), an honorable mention all-conference selection last season, was expected to lead the way at wide receiver for the Sun Devils this season. But he hit a bump in the road with the rib injury suffered during the first quarter of Saturday’s season opener, and is not expected to return to the game. LV Bunkley-Shelton becomes Jayden Daniels’ top target at wide receiver, while running back Rachaad White can also be utilized in the passing game.

Darby (6'1/200) made an early trip to the team’s injury tent Saturday, but was able to go back into the game briefly. The senior wide receiver has since been sidelined due to the undisclosed injury, with the team planning to re-evaluate him during the halftime break. With Darby out, Rachaad White and LV Bunkley-Shelton have stepped forward to lead the way in the passing game for the Sun Devils.

Darby (6'1/200) was instrumental in ASU’s 31-28 upset of Oregon last Saturday, catching four passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Darby has been a man possessed over the past four weeks, catching 16 passes for 387 yards and seven touchdowns over that span. Darby has taken over the WR1 role from Brandon Aiyuk and should be expected to produce another big game this Saturday against Arizona’s porous pass defense.