Breaking down the Sun Devil defense at the bye, trick-or-treat style

(Photo: Jannah Din/WCSN)

Aside from superstars, coaches never know what to expect from their players in terms of production from season to season. Production is a variable that can be altered by injuries, changes to the coaching staff, getting supplanted by a high-upside athlete, etc. Point being, you just never know.

Luckily for us, we know exactly who has been producing and who hasn’t because the Sun Devils have played a reasonably large sample size of seven games. Our assignment? To find out which players have been dishing out bags of goodies or those handing out bags of dental floss. Players will either be tricks or treats based off their performance thus far.

First lets take a look at the players who have probably had one too many candy bars in their lifetime, the defensive line.

Treat: Davon Coleman

Coleman spent much of last season in head coach Todd Graham’s doghouse (not literally, of course). Graham even went as far as saying, “A guy that I didn’t really think would make it,” according to azcentral.com’s Doug Haller. Coleman had all the physical capabilities, but the problem was mental. However, this season, Coleman has put the whole package together. The six-foot-two, 276-pound defensive end has gobbled up the opposition like he would to miniature-sized candy bars.

He is second on the team with 32 total tackles, 19 of those are solo tackles. The senior has been great at beating one-on-one coverage all season long, Coleman has seven tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, each good for second best behind Carl Bradford’s 9.5 TFL and 4.5 sacks.

Junior Onyeali was diagnosed with a season-ending shoulder injury after ASU’s loss to Stanford. Despite Onyeali being the “Devil” linebacker, he was a potent pass-rusher when opposing teams got into third and long situations. Furthermore, Jaxon Hood missed two games because of a hamstring injury. Needless to say, Coleman’s stellar season could not have come at a better time for the Sun Devils. I almost forgot to mention that he even has a touchdown catch.

Trick: Will Sutton

Yeah, that’s right: Will Sutton.

Look, I get it, teams are scheming against Sutton. Opposing teams are doubling teaming the redshirt senior and sliding their protection wherever Sutton lines up. Plus, I’m sure it is tough to constantly hit men just as big or bigger than you, and still be expected to come up with big plays. But that is why he is Will Sutton. And those excuses won’t fly with him, and they won’t with me either.

Will Sutton wants to be great, and that is the standard I will hold him to. He came back for his senior year to help this team do something special. His return was also an investment for his NFL future. He needed to prove to scouts that he could put on added weight necessary for playing nose tackle at the next level, and not have the weight affect his play negatively. Before his dominating performance against Washington, people were questioning if Sutton could play with the added weight.

You knew it would be tough duplicating last season’s success: 23.5 tackles for loss and 13 sacks that earned him Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. The concern for me so far hasn’t been the lack of numbers, but lack of activity. There have been numerous times when he doesn’t explode off the line as the ball is snapped, almost like he is just waiting for the double team, expecting to get stopped. Which explains his drop in production and activity: 5.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks on the season.

There was a noticeably different Will Sutton last week against Washington. The Sutton from 2012, even if for only a game, was back. He was active. Disruptive. Unstoppable. He recorded 3 tackles for loss and a sack; he was in the backfield all game long disrupting the Huskies’ offense. More than anything else, Sutton dictated Washington’s play-calling. To put that game into perspective, in losses to Stanford and Notre Dame Sutton managed 5 total tackles while not recording a single tackle for loss or sack.

Perhaps that Washington game will get the big guy going.

Treat: Chris Young

He is Arizona State’s most versatile defensive player, with the capability to line up at the “Spur” or “Will” linebacker position. The reason ASU feels comfortable moving Young around is directly linked with his sound tackling technique, great speed (4.5 40-yard dash), and his coverage skills.

Young leads the team in tackles with 44 tackles (19 solo). He has shown great ability to set the edge against the run and not allow running backs to bounce outside. His superb tackling shouldn’t come as a surprise, as just last season he was third on the team with 82 tackles.

Chris Young reminds me of M&M’s. Solid, consistent, and often gets the job done. The differentiating colors represent Young’s versatility on the field, he’s got something to please everyone.

Trick: Anthony Jones

There was so much potential for Anthony Jones to have a breakout senior season. After spending much of last season bouncing around at different linebacker positions, and playing mostly on special teams. The senior finally settled in at the “Spur” linebacker position. Jones is regarded as a hard-worker and an exceptional talent. The only concern for Jones entering the season was questions about whether he mentally made the leap.

The local product from Chandler, AZ struggled to pick up the game. This was evident as Jones would repeatedly take bad angles on ball carriers, miss assignments in the passing game, and struggle with his tackling technique. When playing for Todd Graham, a man who preaches discipline and technique on a daily basis, those mistakes will have you sitting next to him. That is exactly where Jones ended up. Jones still plays but has now been relegated to back-up duties. In order for Jones to recapture the faith of Todd Graham, Jones will first need to prove that he has eliminated mental mistakes from his game.

To complete our Halloween stroll through the ASU defense, we now look at cornerbacks.

Treat: Osahon Irabor

Flat out, Irabor is playing at an All-Pac-12 level right now. The corner has meant so much to the team in pass defense and in stopping the opposing run game. Irabor is not particularly big, five-foot-11 and 186-pounds, but he plays much bigger than that. He is a very physical cornerback with great man-coverage skills. Irabor patrols the field corner position; his spectacular play defensively has gotten to the point where quarterbacks don’t even look to the throw the ball his way. Irabor has been the starting corner for ASU for over three seasons now, and has played in 39 consecutive games.

After the first two games of the season Irabor led the team in sacks, tackles for loss, and tackles. Irabor currently has 28 tackles (20 solo), 4.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and two interceptions. Despite being undersized, Irabor embellishes the opportunity to prove size doesn’t matter. This also explains why the coaching staff chooses to let Irabor sport the Pat Tillman jersey during practices. Just like Tillman, Irabor is considered undersized, and plays with passion in the same fashion of Tillman.

Trick: Robert Nelson, Lloyd Carrington

Two people? You couldn’t spare one? I know, I feel like that house that gives out toothbrushes or dental floss; no one likes them. But someone has to do it, right?

Someone has to play opposite Irabor, and whether it has been Carrington or Nelson it hasn’t been pretty. Rewind the film against Notre Dame when of all quarterbacks, Tommy Rees was throwing dimes on the Arizona State defense. Rees repeatedly torched the boundary side of the ASU secondary.

Carrington and Nelson are being burned because of poor execution. Of the two, Carrington has displayed better coverage skills, but far too often both have been victims of big pass plays. In that Notre Dame game the pass defense allowed eight plays of 15 yards or more, most of which were directed at the boundary side.

I just have one last yearning: was what we saw against Washington a trick or a treat? Has this defense really made the turn for the better or was that just a fluke? If it is indeed a trick, it’ll be worse than coming home to opened candy wrappers.

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