Arizona State football: Herm Edwards experiment has arrived

Defense

Arizona State’s defense, while it did improve late, was pretty awful last year. It’s hard to see that changing this year. It’s a very bad year to be breaking in a new 3-3-5 defense. Five of the front six starters are fresh faces for Danny Gonzalez.

Up front, Koron Crump is the only returning lineman. He’s a great speed rusher, and will anchor the group. Jay Jay Wilson and Rennell Wren won’t be awful alongside him, but it’s an extremely shallow group. Shannon Forman and Darius Slade have almost no experience, and will be called upon quite a bit. That’s not good news.

The linebackers aren’t in any better shape. Tyler Whiley will take over the hybrid position, beside Khaylan Thomas and Malik Lawal. Like up front, there’s almost depth here.

The defensive backfield will need to be awesome. Chase Lucas is a fantastic CB1, and Kobe Williams, Jalen Harvey, Demonte King, and Dominique Harrison should all be solid around him. Losing both starting safeties is tough in a 3-3-5, but this group is talented enough to limit every team they play in the passing game.

Getting aggressive

A ton of this unit’s success in 2018 will hinge on their ability to force turnovers. They’re not deep enough or talented enough to try to beat offenses straight up, so they will need to be scrappy and aggressive.

That starts in the backfield. The corners will need to force interceptions, and everyone will have to attack the ball whenever they can. It’ll take a big step forward, but this secondary can do it.

Up front, the only realistic expectation is good pressure in the backfield. Crump should be great with that, and if they can consistently give quarterbacks issues, it’ll go a long way.