Donnie Henderson has ASU's defense crystallizing as position battles endure
Arizona State defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson does not sugarcoat the situation.
Henderson knows how he wants his defense to function. He won’t let things slide. Exceptions are rare when he lodges at the control panel of his defense. That amount of discipline is necessary when considering the errors and penalty issues that caused games to snowball last season.
Before the team stretches, the defense practices as a unit. Even though there is no live ball, the coaching staff can pick up on a lot.
Setup and stance. Knowledge of assignment. Eye discipline. Awareness, before and after the snap. Vocality to relay adjustments in reaction to changes brought forth by the offense.
The grizzled coaching veteran keeps overwatch over it all. When mistakes are made, swift corrections follow.
“Nobody said anything about the motion,” Henderson wondered aloud, the sharp tone in his voice piercing every ear on the field. “Why?”
The defense had just watched defensive back Saadite Green Jr. (playing the role of a receiver in motion) orbit into the backfield. Green’s presence there caused a shift in coverage. Two players started toward him as the ball was snapped. The shred of space that opened was entirely self-inflicted.
“Do we have some in our mental excuse some mental errors? Yes. Physical errors I can deal with, you know, but the mental errors hurt you,” Henderson said. “It’s like I told the guys; if we keep the ball in front, we got a chance. If the ball goes over our heads, that’s when the problems begin.”
The type of player that will get on the field this fall was cleanly outlined by Henderson at the start of preseason camp. “I think it goes back to being able to line up, being confident enough that you know what to do, and you play hard,” Henderson said. Using that criterion as a rigid framework through nine practices, ASU has been able to solidify most of its starting lineup.
‘We’ve been talking about the best 11,” Henderson said. “I’m probably at the best nine. I know I’m at nine; I can count nine right now. And then there’s competition at three different spots to get two of them.”
An unpacking of that quote is as follows:
Nine starters are decided upon
Joe Moore, Anthonie Cooper, Omarr Norman-Lott, and Nesta Jade Silvera make up the defensive line. Henderson had to replace fifth-year starting defensive end Michael Matus, who tore his ACL and is out for the season. Luckily, Moore has looked explosive and taken a step forward in his development. Henderson described the redshirt sophomore’s progression as “steady,” but he’s not alone. Cooper, Travez Moore, and Dylan Hall have all had their shining moments at practice, too.
“I feel good about them,” Henderson said. “It’s like the question about depth. We got depth. Depth is not our problem right now. We got enough guys that can go out there and participate, but is it the right guys doing the right thing at the right time? We got guys that can go play. Now, some of them haven’t played a down, but at the same time, you got to give them the opportunity.”
Behind those four, Merlin Robertson, Kyle Soelle, and Connor Soelle make up the base linebacker trio. Auburn transfer Ro Torrence, a hulking 6-3 with length, has taken the most first-team boundary cornerback reps with Timarcus Davis nursing a knee injury. Chris Edmonds and Kejuan Markham are a fluid alternation at strong safety – either of them could get the nod.
The position battles
They are likely at the second safety position, the second cornerback position, and the inside nickel slot. An injury to Jordan Clark complicates things, who played nickel exclusively last season. Clark was expected to maintain his role there while learning safety to become another chess piece of the secondary. His absence essentially decreases quality depth at two spots.
Macen Williams saw increased snaps at nickel over the spring, but he’s also a strong candidate for the second outside cornerback spot. There is stiff competition between him, Keon Markham, and Ed Woods. But if Williams ends up as the superior outside cornerback, the nickel spot is in limbo. The coaching staff is trying out DJ Taylor as a potential substitute. Although Taylor was acclimating well and swatted away a touchdown during 11-on-11 on Thursday, he’s only dipped his toes in for a week.
Khoury Bethley, an experience four-year starter who transferred from Hawaii, is a nimble rover who delivers a powerful downfield thump and has shown good anticipation. But there is a steep drop-off between him and the guys behind him. Alijah Gammage and Willie Harts are splitting reps but are inconsistent in coverage. Jalin Conyers and Messiah Swinson, ASU’s athletic tight ends, have a noticeably easier time gaining separation on them. With that being said…
The safety rotation is an advantage
The position is a mixed bag of players. However, the depth is much better than last year. Henderson admitted he had concerns about the back half of the secondary during the 2021 season. Evan Fields got hurt, which allowed Kejuan Markham to step up and gain experience. DeAndre Pierce spent drives on the sideline getting checked out by ASU’s athletic trainers, although he did not miss a game. When they were out, Henderson cringed at the thought of sending unqualified players out as the last wall of defense.
Now there are a handful of safeties with various strengths. Edmonds had eight picks at Samford. Bethley played more snaps (1,037) than any safety in the nation last season. Kejuan Markham has good size and his experience filling in for Fields to draw from. Gammage earned a scholarship this preseason and looks more comfortable than he was in the spring. Harts has made the most of his opportunity before – he snagged a pick-six in the 2019 Sun Bowl.
The idea is to find pairings that complement each other.
As many guys that I can rotate back there, I see versatility,” Henderson said. “We got several guys that communicate very well. And we got some guys that listen very well. We got some guys that, you know, just tell me. So that’s why you see the combinations because some guys do things better than others.
“But what I get to find out is who talks to who. If I’m uncomfortable talking to you, I might not have you at that situation. But if I know you’re comfortable talking to another guy, let’s see how you two play together. Because when it hits the fan, you two could be playing together, and guess what, you got to get to know your roommate, so to speak.”
Henderson will determine those cohesive tandems before the Sun Devils open the season against Northern Arizona on Sep. 1. He seems content to let that focus remains on the training for now, not on the strength of the opponent the team will face off against in less than two weeks. NAU recently embarrassed ASU’s in-state rival. Henderson pledged to avoid similar suffering.
“Everybody knows what happened last year to the school down the road that went up there. That can’t happen. You can’t let that happen. If you think about that, we got a problem already.”
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