After Heavy Defensive Turnover, ASU Looks to Rebuild Its Identity

(Photo: Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)

TEMPE – In both college football and the NFL, teams often see regressions in defensive production year over year. Many underlying factors, whether it’s installing a new scheme or dealing with roster turnover, can disrupt defensive communication and keep players from operating on the same page.

But with Arizona State football, its defensive regression was a curious case for a team that brought back nearly its entire 2024 starting lineup. Defensive coordinator Brian Ward remained the playcaller as well. Yet even with that continuity, ASU went from allowing 22.6 points per game to 24.5.

Perhaps the Sun Devils’ familiarity with one another created a high enough floor to keep the slide modest. But unlike last season, ASU enters 2026 with many new faces on the defensive side of the ball. One of them is junior linebacker Owen Long, who arrives with experience in a zone‑heavy system that mirrors Ward’s scheme.

“My freshman year at Colorado State, we actually ran a very similar system to this,” Long said. “It’s kind of the same language and everything, so this is something I’ve already played in.”

Long declared Tempe his new home after two seasons in Fort Collins, where he logged 980 defensive snaps across his two‑year stint. According to Pro Football Focus, 61.4 percent of his coverage reps as a freshman came in zone. That number dropped to 25.1 percent in his sophomore season.

Long enters a linebacker room that lost starters Jordan Crook and Keyshaun Elliott to the NFL draft, along with Tate Romney to Oklahoma State through the transfer portal. The three former Sun Devils combined for 1,484 defensive snaps last year, and that’s the workload ASU now has to replace.

Long, the reigning FBS leader in tackles with 151, expressed eagerness to carve out a role on defense. The chance to play in a scheme he’s already familiar with only adds to that excitement.

“I like playing in this style of defense, It kind of allows the linebackers to run and hit,” Long said. “One of the best parts of my game is being able to run and tackle.”

The Sun Devil linebacker core will also turn to redshirt senior Zyrus Fiaseu and junior Martell Hughes, both of whom are expected to step into larger roles. Before a season-ending injury, Fiaseu showed promise in the four games he played. He did, however, post a notably high missed‑tackle rate of 27.3 percent, albeit in a small sample size.

Hughes is coming off his most involved season at ASU, playing a career‑high 307 defensive snaps along with 197 on special teams. The Sun Bowl against Duke was his first career start on defense, and it offered a glimpse of what his workload could be this season — 79 defensive snaps compared to just six on special teams. He finished the day with nine total tackles.

“I didn’t expect that much action that would really come my way during that game,” Hughes said. “Being able to make those tackles out there, it felt natural.”

The Sun Devils lost three linebackers, but the attrition didn’t stop there. Defensive ends Elijah O’Neal, Clayton Smith, Justin Wodtly and Prince Dorbah are all headed to the draft. For incoming freshman Julian Hugo, that could mean a real chance at playing time in his first year.

Originally from Cibolo, Texas, Hugo was one of ASU’s standout additions in the 2026 class. 247Sports graded him as a four‑star recruit who chose the Sun Devils over Big 12 programs such as Arizona, Texas Tech and Utah. He described the opportunity to play right away as the deciding factor in choosing ASU.

“With four D-Ends leaving, I had a big opportunity to play my freshman season and that really stood out to me,” Hugo said. “Taking that big step and filling those shoes for this team next season is one of my goals.”

With the interior defensive line, the Sun Devils are staring at a double‑edged sword. On one side, Jacob Rich Kongaika declared for the draft last January, leaving ASU to replace more than 500 snaps.

On the other, junior lineman C.J. Fite chose to return to the Valley and reclaim a starting role despite being draft‑eligible. With his short‑term future decided, Fite is zeroing in on the finer points of his game to keep developing.

“Just focus on the little things,” Fite said. “The biggest thing is to focus on the process and not the end goal.”

The Sun Devils lost eight of their most experienced defenders, reshaping the core of both the front and the linebacker room. Additionally, ASU will have 2,989 snaps to replace in the secondary after five players, headlined by corner Keith Abney II, declared for the draft, and Javan Robinson transferred to Wisconsin.

All of that turnover forces the Sun Devils to lean on the few veterans who remain, and redshirt junior safety Adrian Wilson has emerged as a leader for ASU’s secondary. Wilson has seen the floor and the ceiling of Ward’s system, and he believes the influx of new faces doesn’t have to mean another step back.

“I don’t think there’s a limit,” Wilson said. “I think if we come together and listen to Coach Ward and all the pieces fall into the right places, I think we are going to be scary.”