ASU Football: Wicker shaking things up along the defensive front

(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)

Today was the first practice for Arizona State since returning from Camp Tontozona, and it was also the first practice of the last two-a-day for the Sun Devils.

The portion of practice open to the practice was uneventful in regards to action as the 11-on-11 drill lasted just a handful of plays. The most intriguing part of Monday morning’s practice was freshman defensive lineman Joseph Wicker seeing first-team reps at the 3-technique ahead of sophomore Tashon Smallwood.

This development shifted redshirt senior linebacker Antonio Longino to Devil. Longino started last season at the position. Sophomore linebacker DJ Calhoun moved to WILL, and he was also involved with pass rushing fronts when ASU lined up with three down linemen. Graham mentioned his desire to get his slew of talented and effective linebackers on the field as much as possible, and these shifts help those efforts.

Kalen Ballage expects to be everywhere on the field

Sophomore running back Kalen Ballage had a solid Camp T that included several explosive plays. The team continues to toy with the idea of utilizing the 6-foot-3 Ballage at Devil, but with options emerging like Longino, Wicker and redshirt junior Edmond Boateng along with Graham wanting to get more of his linebackers on the field, the likelihood of Ballage regularly playing both ways is decreasing.

That in mind, Ballage was pleased with his performance this fall, and a big part of it is the basic fact that he is healthy. He was not able to participate in Camp T last year due to injuries, so he’s already ahead of where he was at this point in 2014.

“We practice so much,” Ballage said. “So we’re getting back to our routine… It feels good to be healthy.”

Joseph Wicker fighting for first-team reps

Wicker saw getting first-team reps at Devil during Camp T, and today he started at the 3-technique. He says he is comfortable in either position due to the fact that he played both in high school.

After his first experience at camp, Wicker took note of the high-tempo offense the Sun Devils use to put pressure on defenses.

“(Camp Tontozona) was tiring,” Wicker said. “A lot of stuff going on. First time going to it, a lot of thrown at you, but you get used to you. Tempo here is fast, so you got to be prepared for it, but you got to get in game-shape.”

Practice Notes