ASU Football: Sun Devils on Draft Day

Dec 30, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils defensive tackle Will Sutton (90) tackles Texas Tech Red Raiders running back Kenny Williams (34) during the 2013 Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. Texas Tech defeated Arizona State 37-23. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

As the NFL Draft approaches zero hour, there are some ASU players that are going to hear their name called…and some who will not.

Defensive tackle Will Sutton is almost a lock to go in the first two rounds.  The two-time, back to back defensive player of the year in the PAC-12 will be coveted by several teams that want his skill set in their defensive system.  His combination of size and quickness will be impossible for many NFL executives to ignore.  Even with all the talk about Sutton’s weight, expect him to go no later than the second round.

Carl Bradford is in a little bit different boat.  Although, he was stellar in college, he’s got two problems with transitioning to the NFL.  First, he is considered by some to be a “tweener”, meaning not big enough to be a defensive end, but not athletic enough to be a linebacker.  Devils in Detail is not plugged in with the NFL enough to know if that’s absolutely true or not.  But that is his perception.  His other issue is that quite frankly, players like him are not rare.  There are lots of outside linebacker/defensive end types that grade really well.  Having a plethora of players at your position doesn’t bode well for a high draft pick.  Expect Bradford to get picked in later rounds.

The same can be said of Marion Grice.  Even though Grice was arguably ASU’s most valuable weapon on offense for most of the season, there are lots of good running backs out there.  And with the injury rate and the “life-span” of NFL running backs being what they are, no team is drafting a running back very high nowadays.  Expect Grice to also go late in the draft.

As for a few other Sun Devils, such as Alden Darby, Chris Young and Kody Koebensky, some NFL teams have shown interest in them.  However, they are unlikely to get drafted.  They will get invited to some camps as undrafted free agents.  (as will Davon Coleman and Even Finkenberg)  They might even make the final roster of some teams, but it is unlikely that they will get drafted.

Sun Devil fans wish the best for all of them.  They’ve worked hard and have proven themselves worthy of a shot at playing at the next level.