Jesse Ainsworth

One of the hardest workers on the Sun Devils, Ainsworth has not only been a consistent field goal performer, but his kickoffs generally pinned the opponents deep in their own territory. The four-year letterman played in all 49 games during the 2003-06 seasons, one of only three Sun Devils to do so in that span. He was only the fourth Sun Devil since 1973 to serve as ASU's kicker all four seasons, joining Mike Richey (1989-92), Luis Zendejas (1981-84) and Danny Kush (1973-76), as he finished as ASU's second all-time leading scorer with 313 points. Ainsworth takes great pride in his conditioning program. He earned Hard Hat Player honors for his work in ASU's winter strength and conditioning program three times -- before the 2004, 2005 and 2006 seasons. He also excelled in the classroom, as he was a three-time Pac-10 Conference All-Academic selection, including first-team recognition in 2005 and 2006. He earned his degree (B.S., Justice Studies) following the Fall 2006 semester. At Thousand Oaks High School, Ainsworth was rated the second-best kicker in the West by PacWestFootball.com. A member of the Tacoma News Tribune's "Western 100," he earned first-team All-League, All-County and All-C.I.F. honors as a kicker as a senior. He was also selected second-team All-State that year. He garnered first-team All-League, All-County and All-C.I.F. honors as a junior, and was All-C.I.F. at punter as a sophomore. Ainsworth averaged 41.1 yards per punt as a senior and was nine of 15 on field goals, including a long of 56 yards. He made 41-, 55- and 56-yarders in one game, the first time ever in California a player had two field goals longer than 50 yards in the same contest. He missed three field goals due to blocks and missed from 56 and 62 yards, but hit 17 of 19 extra points as a senior (both misses due to blocks). As a defensive end, he had nine sacks, 50 tackles, two interceptions and two forced fumbles as a senior. He hit 51 of 52 extra points as a junior and was three of six on field goals. Ainsworth also was a standout punter, averaging 35.6 yards with 88 percent not returned that year. He graduated with a 3.7 grade point average. Ainsworth enrolled at Arizona State in 2003, playing in every game as a true freshman. He started the year as the kickoff specialist, taking over field goal chores by the third contest. He went on to score 55 points, connecting on 25-of-28 extra points and 10-of-15 field goals. In 2004, Ainsworth earned All-Pac-10 Conference honorable mention and was a second-team Pac-10 All-Academic selection. He was named the Babe Alex Demon Award winner for 2004, given annually to ASU's Special Teams Player of the Year, as he ranked second in the Pac-10 and 13th in the nation with 1.50 field goals per game. He led the team in scoring with 94 points and was second in the league in kick scoring and third in overall scoring (7.8 points per game). He connected on 18-of-28 field goals and was a perfect 40-of-40 on extra points. As a junior, the Sun Devils kicker was perhaps ASU's most versatile and frequently-used special teams member, serving as the place-kicker, punter and kickoff specialist. He earned first-team Pac-10 All-Academic honors, posting a 3.58 grade point average and was presented the Clyde B. Smith award, which is given to honor a player's exemplary academic efforts. He led ASU in scoring (80 points) and finished 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) in field goals, and was a perfect 53-of-53 on extra points. In 2006, Ainsworth led the team with 84 points scored, as he converted 14-of-19 field-goal attempts (73.7 percent), with a long of 47 yards. He made all 42 extra-point attempts on the year, stretching his streak to a Pac-10 record 139 consecutive made. He also had 39 of his 70 kickoffs produce touchbacks. In 49 games at Arizona State, Ainsworth scored 313 points, the second-highest total in school history. He connected on 51-of-73 field goals (69.9 percent) and made 160-of-163 extra-point attempts. He averaged 6.4 points scored per game. He kicked off 221 times for a 63.42-yard average, as opponents managed to return just 88 kicks, with 128 resulting in touchbacks. He also punted 21 times for 735 yards (35.0 avg) with nine attempts that were downed inside the 20-yard line and registered five solo tackles.

positives

Has a tall frame with adequate muscle tone...Solid kickoff and mid-range field goal specialist with steady acceleration approaching the ball...Puts in extra time after practice to hone his craft...Likes to kick in pressure situations, boasting five game-winning kicks on his resume...Hard worker in the weight room, evident by the strength his legs display...Capable open-field tackler who hits with force and shows the foot speed to get down and support in a hurry...Shows good explosion into the ball, demonstrating adequate extension and lift...Has enough power behind his attempts to consistently drive kickoffs into the end zone (128 touchbacks on 221 attempts)...Not used on long distance field goals, but shows fluid movement through the ball and very consistent snap-to-toe mechanics (1.29-1.32 second average)...The ball appears to get very lively coming off his foot and he gets it up with good trajectory for field goals and placements...Has adequate hang time on his kickoffs that generally are in the 4.25-4.3 second range...Has the leg control and accuracy to make kicks from the outside hashes...Blocks out any distractions in his approach to the ball and has never had problems kicking in poor elements...Right-footed soccer style kicker...Shows good courage getting down field to cover kicks and can be aggressive making the tackle.

compares to

JEFF REED-Pittsburgh...Ainsworth is bigger than Reed, but both have enough leg strength to consistently pin the opponent deep in their own territory on kickoffs. ASU did not let Ainsworth have too many long-range field-goal opportunities. While you can see on kickoffs that he has the leg strength, you have to wonder if he can make the long three-pointers, especially considering he has hit on only 10-of-25 field-goal attempts from beyond the 40-yard line.

negatives

You can see the leg strength on his kickoffs, but it was hard to evaluate his accuracy on long-range field goals, as he has had just three opportunities to kick past 49 yards and missed all three (10-of-25 lifetime from 40 yards out)...Good at getting down field to gain position on the coverage unit, but his hips look too stiff to change direction, lacking range in his pursuit...Can handle punting in an emergency, but was a little slow with his get-off and did not show reliable hands to field the poor snap.

No injuries reported.

Campus: 4.74 in the 40-yard dash

300-pound bench press

405-pound squat

282-pound hang clean

30-inch vertical jump

9'6" broad jump

10.6 percent body fat

32 1/2-inch arm length

9 1/2-inch hands

Right-footed soccer style kicker

Right-handed

28/33 Wonderlic score.

Attended Thousand Oaks (Calif.) High School, playing football for head coach Mike Sanders

Rated the second-best kicker in the West by PacWestFootball.com

Member of the Tacoma News Tribune's "Western 100", he earned first-team All-League, All-County and All-C.I.F. honors as a kicker as a senior

Selected second-team All-State that year. He garnered first-team All-League, All-County and All-C.I.F. honors as a junior, and was All-C.I.F. at punter as a sophomore

Averaged 41.1 yards per punt as a senior and was 9-of-15 on field goals, including a longest of 56 yards

Made 41-, 55- and 56-yarders in one game, the first time ever in California a player had two field goals longer than 50 yards in the same contest

Missed three field goals due to blocks and missed from 56 and 62 yards, but hit 17 of 19 extra points as a senior (both misses due to blocks)

As a defensive end, he had 9.0 sacks, 50 tackles, two interceptions and two forced fumbles as a senior

Hit 51 of 52 extra points as a junior and was 3-for-6 on field goals

Was also was a standout punter, averaging 35.6 yards with 88 percent not returned that year

Graduated with a 3.7 grade point average.

Earned his degree (B.S., Justice Studies) following the Fall 2006 semester

Son of Jean and John Ainsworth

Father played football at Cal-State, Northridge

Sister, Jenna, plays soccer at Pepperdine

Born Jesse Jon Ainsworth on 6/02/85 in Thousand Oaks, California.