With over a dozen additions from the transfer portal, as well as a handful or so incoming freshmen, a sizable portion of the defensive roster in spring will be comprised of first-year players in Tempe. On the surface, this considerable quantity should be matched by the quality of the players who certainly have the potential to elevate the play of this unit, which does return some proven players from last year.
“We got a lot of new guys. But we have a core group of guys that know what we're doing and what the expectation is,” said defensive coordinator Brian Ward. “And, it's amazing as we go through some of these walkthroughs, and seeing how much recall we have of what we do, and it is night and day. We actually have guys that know our system, and it really does look like we're gonna forward in our second year.”
Any coach will tell you that endless hours of studying game film will still not give you an accurate picture of your opponent as facing them on the gridiron. As luck would have it, ASU played Big 12 conference foe Oklahoma State for the last two years while the Sun Devils were still a member of the Pac-12 (technically, that membership does become a thing of a past on August 1st). While there is plenty to be still discovered and experienced when it comes to the new home of Arizona State, a league where the vast majority of its members are opponents that they rarely faced, playing the Cowboys, a team ASU this season will match up with for a third year in a row, has given Ward and his staff an invaluable first-hand account of the type of offenses they are about to face in the Big 12.
“A lot more 12 (one running back, two-tight) personnel, less spread and pushing the ball down the field,” Ward noted. “You see some of the teams that we played this year (2023), and it's kind of an anomaly with all the quality quarterback play. It (Pac-12) was hands down, maybe the best quarterback conference in the last 20 years of college football. Teams were more willing to really stretch the field. Oklahoma State (who ASU played in 2023) is a great example. They have the Doak Walker Award winner (running back Ollie Gordon) who was on our field, and that's what they want to do. I think it's (the Big 12) is going to be a lot more ball control, a lot more possession-oriented, time of possession-oriented. A lot more analytically involved games.
“In terms of teams having more talent than each other, I don't believe that's going to be this league. I think there's going to be a league full of evenly matched teams. So, it's going to come down to styles, clock management, and managing field position, whereas the Pac-12 in last two years has been who's going to score more points.”
The Sun Devils’ pass rush abilities should be enhanced this coming season. The seemingly entrenched starters at Edge in Prince Dorbah and Clayton Smith return after combing for 10.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, and 51 total tackles in 2023. Elijah O'Neal was one of the better defensive linemen on the roster in the home stretch of the season, and Purdue transfer Roman Pitre and his 6-5 frame bring a needed measure of physicality for this role on the front four. Pitre is someone who could very well carve his niche in the two-deep for Arizona State, but other players are undeniably in the mix as well.
“I know Roman has a lot of a lot of talent,” Ward commented. “We’ve brought in guys like (Cincinnati transfer) Justin Wodtly, who can play inside and outside. We're gonna move (Anthonie) Cooper around. He's played a lot of Edge here and started a lot of games at Edge in years past, and we're going to put him back on Edge but be able to move him inside some of the time, too. So, having that flexibility and the depth in that room is going to create a lot of competition, and we're going to be a lot more efficient in our execution at that position this year because of that competition and because of the different skill sets that (Edge) room brings.
For the time being the rotation picture in the interior of the defensive line is cloudier in comparison. Outgoing senior Dashaun Mallory left huge shoes to fill. Yet, a formidable freshman campaign by CJ Fite does warrant optimism about his ability to be one of the anchors of this unit.
“Talking about CJ, we're really expecting him to make that second-year jump,” Ward stated. “We’re talking about a true freshman that came in and, really, by the fifth game of the season, became a mainstay for us up front. He's able to not only hold his own but sometimes show flashes of being a dominant player as a true freshman right off the bus. He's gotten bigger and stronger, and I’m really excited about his development.
“Guys that have already been here like Tristan Monday, guys that we brought in like (Arizona transfer) Jacob Kongaika and (Purdue transfer) JP Deeter, and I talked about Justin Wodtly, and we have some young guys too like Landen Thomas and Kyran Bourda. And I know I'm missing somebody here, but just off the top of my head…and that's the one thing that you'll notice about our defensive line is that we're a much more physical group than we were last year.”
Depth is another trait that will define the Sun Devil defensive line, with 21 scholarship players taking to the field on the first day of spring practice. Head coach Kenny Dillingham and Ward have mentioned on several occasions how the lack of depth had hurt their ability to practice at a high level in the second half of the season, contributing to the team’s struggles. With no shortage of bodies this time around, Ward expects the influx of bodies to produce more productive practices.
“Kenny says it all the time; it always starts up front,” Ward said. “You look at the best teams in the country or the teams that have the biggest and the best offensive and defensive lines, and they have depth because the more depth you have in those positions, the more guys that you're going to rep, and these are really those are developmental positions.
“Usually, true freshmen don't come in and get an opportunity to play as true freshmen. It’s (defensive line) a position where guys have to get comfortable and get bigger and stronger. 18 and 19-year old guys have to get used to playing against 21, 22, 23-year old guys. And when you start getting that ‘old man strength,’ that makes a difference. So having that depth and being healthy in those two areas is critical for us and our development.”
A sizeable number of new faces will also define the linebacker group. Zyrus Fiaseu was San Diego State’s Team MVP last season and, along with New Mexico State’s top tackler in 2023, brought over a combined 177 tackles, 21.5 for loss, and eight sacks. Arkansas transfer Jordan Crook is another veteran addition here. These three will join Tate Romney, who was a starter last year, and senior Caleb McCullough, who enjoyed his best season as a Sun Devil.
“We brought in more depth, and we brought in a lot of experience,” Ward commented. All three of those guys (transfers) played a lot of football, and they played as much football as the guys that we have coming back in Tate and Caleb. And I’m excited about K'Vion (Thunderbird), Krew (Jackson), and Martell (Hughes) and their development. So, there’s gonna be a lot of competition there, and may the best man win.
“We need to get four or five guys ready to be used in specific situations. They all have to be good enough to have a role and be dialed in because our linebackers have to be leaders; they cannot have off days. They have to be the most consistent group on our defense in terms of bringing in every single day because they're the guys that this whole defense looks to get in our fronts and our calls communicated. They’re the centerpiece of our defense. It's going to be exciting because we got a lot of talent and a lot of guys who played a lot of good football in that room.”
Shamari Simmons, ASU's Team MVP, heads the safety group. Montana Warren, who played in only one game as a freshman due to a preseason injury, is a notable returner on this unit. USC transfer Xavion Alford is a de facto 2024 addition since the NCAA essentially sidelined him during his first year in Tempe. Those three are joined by New Mexico State transfer Myles Rowser and Florida transfer Kamari Wilson to form one of the more intriguing position groups for ASU.
“I'm really excited about this group,” Ward admitted, “and what’s cool is that it's a group that balances each other out. One man’s strength is another man's weakness, and it's going to allow us to play different personnel packages. Defense is all about getting your best players on the field at the most opportune moments, and there's going to be a lot of competition there. You can literally call Xavion Alford a transfer because he hasn't played a snap for us yet, so I'm excited to see what he can do when the whistle blows, and it's real because he's a natural leader. He's a guy that he brings it every day. He's super consistent, never has an off day, and his teammates love him. So, I hope he can take a leadership role.
“But there are other guys in that group, too, that have played a lot of football. Shamari Simmons he's the quiet killer. There's not a tougher guy in America that is on a football field anywhere, physically or emotionally. He brings it every single day, and he's an incredible leader. We brought in a couple of other really good transfers, too. So at least we got a lot of competition, and it's gonna be fun to see how all of this plays out.”
Compared to other units on this side of the ball, the cornerback group will be second to none, as newcomers will provide the most competition for ASU’s returning players. Ed Woods and Macen Williams (at nickel back) are proven veterans who will need to hold off a talented group of transfers and maybe even a true freshman or two.
“I'm telling you we're really excited about that group, and the reason is that there's just a different mindset in that room now,” Ward explained. “They just want to know it. Every one of those guys wants to be the smartest guy in the room. Guys like Ed and Keith (Abney), they're driving that. I coached Javan (Robinson) up at Washington State. He's used to what we do, and he's very familiar with our system. I would say that when I was there, nobody was more talented than him out of the corners that I had up at Washington State, and I think there are three of them that made it into NFL camps the last two years, and he might have been the most talented one even though he was the youngest guy. So, he knows it. He knows the expectation and what the standard is.
“And then you bring a guy LT (Welch), played at LSU, and was coached incredibly. The guy has a business mindset. He's played against and practiced against the best receivers in the country, maybe the best receiving corps in the country last year, every single day. So, he's seen the best, and he's really football savvy and smart. This group overall is going to allow us to really run our whole package.
“At nickel back, it’s a three-deep. You got Macen Williams, who's a returner; you got Cole Martin, who played a lot last year at Oregon, and he is the prototype nickel that you want. And then you got Keith Abney, who could play inside-outside. He's smart, he's big, and he's physical. You literally can put him anywhere, and him learning the position is a matter of time. So, it’s a three-horse race there. And some of those young guys that came in, Chris Johnson, Tony Nkuba and Rodney Bimage in the cornerback room that you can see maybe one of those guys down the road moving into one of those safety or nickel positions.”
The requisite number of players up and down the roster should allow Ward to build a more formidable depth chart than last year and one where he would like to see that fifth man beyond the two-deep heavily contend and earn reps during practice and later in games. As the ASU staff learned last year, there is power in numbers; a shortcoming in that regard in 2023 should now be a strength in 2024.
“Competition drives performance,” Ward said. “You can give a guy a position and it can be just be his. And he's not gonna respond like the guy who knows that if he doesn't bring it that day, he could lose his spot. And that's right now how it is for our whole back seven. It’s driving every guy in that room. I tell our guys that it's not what you do when we're (coaches) around. It's not just about making it to every workout, it's not making to every class, being at the training room on time. That's not what's gonna separate you. It's what you're doing when no one's watching.
“This is no different from the message I gave last year. But this group (the entire defense), because of the competition and the depth we have at every position, the cream is gonna rise to the top, and we're really excited about it.”
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