Arizona State Sun Devils 2018 Football Preview

Arizona State Sun Devils 2018 Football Preview

Opening Statement: Moving on from former head coach Todd Graham was a must for the Sun Devils last fall, but what happened in the search for his successor was a complete mess. They had Kevin Sumlin in the palm of their hands, but then insisted that any new coach would have to retain the coordinators that had been in place under Graham, so Sumlin walked away, and ended up at arch-rival Arizona instead. The administration movd on to hire former NFL head coach Herm Edwards, who had not coached in a college program since 1986 (San Jose State), and had not coached at all in a decade. Edwards immediately came on board and showed how ridiculously ill-informed he was about taking over a college program, and then the coordinators that were a must take  for any new hire walked away themselves a month into the process. It only stands to think that the wreck of a hiring process will likely continue into the season and beyond, because the hiring of an irrelevant Herm Edwards put this program behind by several years.

Breakdown Offense: Offensively, the Sun Devils had some moments last fall, as they averaged 31.8 points per game, as they scored 30 points or more 9 times. They averaged 255.7 yards passing per game, and added an additional 175.46 yards rushing per contest.
The QB position is really in the hands of Manny Wilkins once again, but there is little to no depth behind him, as Blake Barnett, his primary backup a year ago, transferred for the second time, landing at USF. Wilkins passed for 3270 yards last fall, with 20 TDs and 8 INTs. He completed just over 63% of his passes. He has to stay on his feet this season, because after him, there is a massive void.
The run game is essentially in the same boat as the passing game, as depth and experience does not exist. Demario Richard and Kallen Ballage are both gone now, and the job falls to Eno Benjamin, who carried the ball just 23 times last season as a freshman. Trelon Smith, a sophomore, is the next most experienced back available, and he carried just once last season.
Wilkins will have the joy of having WR N'Keal Harry back once again for his junior season. Harry posted a line of 82-1142-8, and averaged over 13 yards per catch a year ago. Harry may just be the best returning receiver in the PAC-12. Kyle Williams, who posted 66-763-7, returns as the Z receiver. Tommy Hudson holds the Y Receiver spot, but caught just 2 balls last season.
Jalen Harvey and Ceejhay French-Love are the H receivers. Harvey caught 33 passes last season, while French-Love caught just 3 passes as a TE.
The line has some issues, as the Center job is a wide open competition right now. Cohl Cabral and Zach Robertson are the tackles as we head into the summer, and Cade Cote and Steve Miller are holding onto the OG jobs. Tyson Rising and Quinn Bailey are the reserves at OT, while Alex Losoya is holding on as a key reserve at OG.

Breakdown Defense: It was the defense that indeed broke down last fall, as the Sun Devils allowed 32.8 points per game while allowing 30 points or more on 10 occasions. Teams passed against ASU to a total of 274.9 yards per game, and ran for 174.77 yards per game against this defense.
Jay Jay Wilson will be lining up at DE instead of LB this season, and finished with 4 TFLs last fall. Dougladson Subtyl is holding the opposite DE spot after spring ball, as the JUCO transfer gets his shot. Renell Wren and Shannon Forman will step in at NT and DT. Wren finished with 3 TFls last season. This group will be battle tested, and needs to step up well above levels of production from a year ago. There is no real depth at the DE spots, and George Lea is the lone reserve up the middle with any real sort of experience.
There is an open competition at the WILL spot at LB as we head into fall, with nobody grabbing the edge for the job out of spring ball. Khaylan Thomas is the projected starter at MIKE, but finished with just 17 tackles a year ago. Tyler Whiley has the job at SAM, but had just 3 tackles a year ago. This group needs some help and some experience, and could get battered early on. Malik Lawal is the only real reserve that has anything locked down so far, and that is as the backup to the MIKE spot.
The good news on defense is that the Devils have a solid corner tandem returning in the secondary in Chase Lucas and Kobe Williams, as they combined for 13 total PBUs last fall. Lucas finished tied for the team lead in INTs with just 2, and finished with 59 tackles. Williams finished with 36 tackles. Dasmond Tautalatasi is back at Safety, and finished with 3 TFLs last fall, but finished with just 22 tackles. Demonte King is the other starting Safety, but had just 37 tackles a season ago.

Breakdown Special Teams: Brandon Ruiz was a busy guy last fall at PK, having hit 19/27 FG attempts, and he is back as the kicker once again in 2018. He needs to work on his accuracy and tighten up his game a bit. Michael Sleep-Dalton is the Punter, but he struggled quite a bit last fall, averaging 39.9 yards per punt.
Benjamin and Smith, the two returning RBs, are slated to return kicks this season with Ballage moving on. Neither one blew the doors off the job in limited action last season. Harry will be returning punts, after a host of players failed to lock down the job last fall.

Final Analysis: If you are a Sun Devil fan, here is your fair warning. Be worried. This team has lacking amounts of experience in key areas, little depth across the board, and a coach who is almost insanely out of touch with how the college game works. This could be one of the longest seasons in recent memory coming up for this program, and the recent history has not been overly wonderful. If any one key player gets hurt on offense, the entire roof could cave in, and the same could be said on defense, where even finding a key player to rely on right now is hard enough. I just do not see this team being favored to win more than 2 total games this season.