(Photo: Allyson Cummings)
With a defensive unit that is one of the most inexperienced in the country—a unit that has seen three true freshmen assume starting duties—the safety position for the ASU football team was largely viewed as the spot with the most returning talent entering the 2014 season.
After all, the ascent of Damarious Randall to starter in 2013 (thanks to a 17-tackle performance against Notre Dame) to dominant force and team leader this season has been invaluable for the Sun Devils.
Marcus Ball, who many consider to have the highest ceiling of the group of players at the safety position, was being relied upon to shed his injury-laden collegiate career and turn in a stellar season at the bandit safety position.
The waiting game on Ball’s health has been a long and arduous one. For much of fall camp, he was unable to fully recuperate from his shoulder injury that ended his season a year ago. Now at full health, he has had lingering difficulties in shedding the rust and getting back to game speed.
“(Ball) is one of our best 11 guys,” Graham said. “He is just a couple of weeks behind in his fundamental development. I can tell that he is back to normal and progressing and getting better every day. He has a great spirit.”
Graham uttered those words nearly two weeks ago. Eleven days and an attempted switch to SPUR linebacker later, and Ball has yet to crack the starting lineup.
Consequently, Graham has had to get creative with his rotation at the bandit safety position, opposite of Randall at field safety. As much as it mirrors a Billy Beane-esque platoon system in which players are started or benched based on the favorability of a given matchup, Graham has been quick to shoot that idea down.
“It’s going to be who the best safety is,” Graham said. “We moved Marcus Ball up to SPUR because of the triple option and we didn’t have (Ezekiel) Bishop available to play. So Bishop is the backup SPUR; Ball is the backup bandit safety competing to play there.”
Graham went on to add that because of his performance off of the bench against New Mexico, Jordan Simone has earned the starting nod at bandit safety, at least for today’s matchup against Colorado.
“Don’t count James Johnson out—he’s competing big time at free safety,” Graham added. “Whoever are the best two safeties out of those four guys are going to play.”
So, how do we decipher all these statements from Graham? Here is a visual representation of what the third-year head coach has in mind:
| Field Safety | Bandit Safety |
| #3 Damarius Randall | #38 Jordan Simone |
| #31 Marcus Ball | |
| #18 James Johnson |
But disregarding Graham’s rhetoric for a brief moment, it should be noted that James Johnson has been utilized much more (one start against New Mexico, compared to zero starts for Ball) and has been more productive (seven tackles, compared to the two from Ball) than Marcus Ball has. Thus, despite Graham’s post-practice comments, Johnson is the more likely bet to be the actual backup bandit safety at this point.
Regardless of the “starter/backup/third string” label though, Johnson continues to approach the situation in good spirits.
“I’m looking at it as if I am a starter every time,” Johnson said. “Regardless of how many reps I get, I’m trying to take every one 100 percent, full go.”
Jordan Simone, who has alternated conversely between starter and backup with Johnson, has similar thoughts.
“(It’s important) just to have confidence in myself, and do what the coaches ask me to do every day,” Simone said. “I am just coming in here to get better, not worrying about what the rotation is or if I’m starting or not. I’m coming in here to play.”
For some teams, this situation could prove toxic, as egos are left malnourished because of the lack job security and the constant need to prove oneself. But for Simone, Johnson and the rest of the safety corps, the resulting competition is yielding the highest levels of play.
“It elevates all of our play,” Simone said. “Definitely. We’re competing every day and we’re pushing each other. We’ve all gotten a lot better because of that.”
Follow Jacob Garcia on Twitter @Jake_M_Garcia or connect with him on LinkedIn.
