Good morning. Like Byron said, he'll be handling offense for this week and I'll be on the defensive side of the ball.
The talk about the Arizona State defense at the first day of spring practice at the Kajikawa Practice Fields revolved mostly around the absence of new Devilbacker Davon Durant. On what was supposed to be the debut of the highly-touted junior college transfer, Durant wasn't even listed on the team roster due to an arrest that we will have more details about later.
For now, the focus instead was directed toward redshirt freshman Ismael Murphy-Richardson who was the starting Devilbacker in Durant's place. He was backed up by Alani (A.J.) Latu and Chans Cox. With limited contact and shirts and shorts on, it's tough to judge pass rushers and defensive lineman too closely, but Murphy-Richardson was definitely the most fluid athlete of the three and did a solid job rushing around the edge, but really excelled in coverage drills.
Cox was one of a few players on the defensive side wearing the green jersey designated for injured players, although he didn't appear to be very limited. Mo Latu, Armand Perry, Laiu Moeakiola and Jamal Scott also wore green, while Jordan Simone wore a gold jersey indicating limited contact.
There were a few 11-on-11 sessions and the lineup stayed rather consistent throughout:
1st Team
DL: Edmond Boateng (DE), Demetrius Cherry (NOSE), Tashon Smallwood (TIGER), Ismael Murphy-Richardson (DEVIL)
LB: Antonio Longino (WILL), Salamo Fiso (SAM), Marcus Ball (SPUR)
DB: Lloyd Carrington (Field CB), Kweishi Brown (Boundary CB), Jordan Simone (Bandit S), James Johnson (Free S)
2nd Team
DL: Renell Wren (DE), Emanuel Dayries (NOSE), Ami Latu (TIGER), A.J. Latu (DEVIL)
LB: D.J. Calhoun (WILL), Christian Sam (SAM), Luke Williams (SPUR)
DB: Solomon Means (Field CB), Ronald Lewis (Boundary CB), DeAndre Scott (Bandit S), Chad Adams (Free S)
These were the lineups for most of 11-on-11 drills, but one notable change came near the end of practice when Dayries and Cherry switched places. For the final 11-on-11 work, which was the longest session of the day, Dayries stepped in as the first-team nose tackle and Cherry worked with the second unit.
The player on the defensive line that stood out to me most though, was true freshman George Lea. The mid-year transfer had his first practice with the Sun Devils, but definitely didn't look overwhelmed or under-developed. He showed good burst and quickness off the ball, and had a decent amount of reps at three-technique (Tiger) with the third-team defense. The only thing that really made him look anything like the new guy was his eagerness to attack each and every rep at 100 percent and ask Coach Jackie Shipp plenty of questions.
Another player that had a good day on Monday morning was Marcus Ball. After sitting out spring practice in 2014 due to injury, the redshirt sophomore took all of the first-team reps at SPUR linebacker while Moeakiola worked with the other injured players on the side. Ball looked very comfortable in the role and made a couple big plays in 11-on-11 work. He drew some cheers with an athletic, diving pass break up and again with lockdown coverage that allowed for Edmond Boateng to record a sack.
If there was one player on the defensive side that didn't have the brightest day, it was cornerback Ronald Lewis. The former wide receiver is still new to the defensive side of the ball and his athleticism is easy to see, but no defensive back was beat more often on Monday. He spent most of the day lined up against Ellis Jefferson and Eric Lauderdale, and both players had a field day against him. With Carrington, Brown, Means and Perry all at cornerback and players like Scrappy Norman and Kareem Orr on the way, Lewis is going to need better days to stick at cornerback.
Carlos Mendoza didn't get much work during 11-on-11, but did rotate in linebacker drills with Calhoun and Longino at WILL. The redshirt junior was one of the stars on camp in 2014 and had a solid showing on Monday, but has an uphill climb to take snaps away from the pair ahead of him.
Luke Williams is another player that made the most of his opportunity to see the field. With Moeakiola on the side and Ball getting first-team reps, Williams got time with the second team and even recorded the first takeaway of the day when he pulled down an interception.
A couple final notes:
- Former ASU defensive end Marcus Hardison and safety Damarious Randall showed up to observe practice for a little bit.
- The No. 92 formerly worn by Jaxon Hood was given to Tramel Topps, a defensive tackle who walked on to the program in 2014.
- New associate head coach Shawn Slocum worked closely with the Devil-backers and occasionally the SPURs, while Keith Patterson spent more time with the SAM and WILL linebackers.
- Todd Graham worked closely with the cornerbacks.
As far as special teams goes, there wasn't too much to see except, as Byron said, it was D.J. Foster, Jacom Brimhall, Fredrick Gammage and De'Chavon Hayes back for punt returns. Matt Haack drilled a couple bombs, while newcomer Edgar Gastelum wasn't as impressive.
The talk about the Arizona State defense at the first day of spring practice at the Kajikawa Practice Fields revolved mostly around the absence of new Devilbacker Davon Durant. On what was supposed to be the debut of the highly-touted junior college transfer, Durant wasn't even listed on the team roster due to an arrest that we will have more details about later.
For now, the focus instead was directed toward redshirt freshman Ismael Murphy-Richardson who was the starting Devilbacker in Durant's place. He was backed up by Alani (A.J.) Latu and Chans Cox. With limited contact and shirts and shorts on, it's tough to judge pass rushers and defensive lineman too closely, but Murphy-Richardson was definitely the most fluid athlete of the three and did a solid job rushing around the edge, but really excelled in coverage drills.
Cox was one of a few players on the defensive side wearing the green jersey designated for injured players, although he didn't appear to be very limited. Mo Latu, Armand Perry, Laiu Moeakiola and Jamal Scott also wore green, while Jordan Simone wore a gold jersey indicating limited contact.
There were a few 11-on-11 sessions and the lineup stayed rather consistent throughout:
1st Team
DL: Edmond Boateng (DE), Demetrius Cherry (NOSE), Tashon Smallwood (TIGER), Ismael Murphy-Richardson (DEVIL)
LB: Antonio Longino (WILL), Salamo Fiso (SAM), Marcus Ball (SPUR)
DB: Lloyd Carrington (Field CB), Kweishi Brown (Boundary CB), Jordan Simone (Bandit S), James Johnson (Free S)
2nd Team
DL: Renell Wren (DE), Emanuel Dayries (NOSE), Ami Latu (TIGER), A.J. Latu (DEVIL)
LB: D.J. Calhoun (WILL), Christian Sam (SAM), Luke Williams (SPUR)
DB: Solomon Means (Field CB), Ronald Lewis (Boundary CB), DeAndre Scott (Bandit S), Chad Adams (Free S)
These were the lineups for most of 11-on-11 drills, but one notable change came near the end of practice when Dayries and Cherry switched places. For the final 11-on-11 work, which was the longest session of the day, Dayries stepped in as the first-team nose tackle and Cherry worked with the second unit.
The player on the defensive line that stood out to me most though, was true freshman George Lea. The mid-year transfer had his first practice with the Sun Devils, but definitely didn't look overwhelmed or under-developed. He showed good burst and quickness off the ball, and had a decent amount of reps at three-technique (Tiger) with the third-team defense. The only thing that really made him look anything like the new guy was his eagerness to attack each and every rep at 100 percent and ask Coach Jackie Shipp plenty of questions.
Another player that had a good day on Monday morning was Marcus Ball. After sitting out spring practice in 2014 due to injury, the redshirt sophomore took all of the first-team reps at SPUR linebacker while Moeakiola worked with the other injured players on the side. Ball looked very comfortable in the role and made a couple big plays in 11-on-11 work. He drew some cheers with an athletic, diving pass break up and again with lockdown coverage that allowed for Edmond Boateng to record a sack.
If there was one player on the defensive side that didn't have the brightest day, it was cornerback Ronald Lewis. The former wide receiver is still new to the defensive side of the ball and his athleticism is easy to see, but no defensive back was beat more often on Monday. He spent most of the day lined up against Ellis Jefferson and Eric Lauderdale, and both players had a field day against him. With Carrington, Brown, Means and Perry all at cornerback and players like Scrappy Norman and Kareem Orr on the way, Lewis is going to need better days to stick at cornerback.
Carlos Mendoza didn't get much work during 11-on-11, but did rotate in linebacker drills with Calhoun and Longino at WILL. The redshirt junior was one of the stars on camp in 2014 and had a solid showing on Monday, but has an uphill climb to take snaps away from the pair ahead of him.
Luke Williams is another player that made the most of his opportunity to see the field. With Moeakiola on the side and Ball getting first-team reps, Williams got time with the second team and even recorded the first takeaway of the day when he pulled down an interception.
A couple final notes:
- Former ASU defensive end Marcus Hardison and safety Damarious Randall showed up to observe practice for a little bit.
- The No. 92 formerly worn by Jaxon Hood was given to Tramel Topps, a defensive tackle who walked on to the program in 2014.
- New associate head coach Shawn Slocum worked closely with the Devil-backers and occasionally the SPURs, while Keith Patterson spent more time with the SAM and WILL linebackers.
- Todd Graham worked closely with the cornerbacks.
As far as special teams goes, there wasn't too much to see except, as Byron said, it was D.J. Foster, Jacom Brimhall, Fredrick Gammage and De'Chavon Hayes back for punt returns. Matt Haack drilled a couple bombs, while newcomer Edgar Gastelum wasn't as impressive.
