ASU Athletics: Top Storylines for 2017

ASU Football: What Changes Will We See from New Defensive Coordinator?

As I wrote earlier this week, Arizona State have a new defensive coordinator in Phil Bennett.

Bennett comes from Baylor after spending the last six seasons as the Bears’ defensive coordinator.

With the majority of impactful defensive players coming back, the player continuity should help the transition.

With that said, this would be a work in progress.

Arizona State finished with the second worst defense in FBS last season. Only Texas Tech finished worse in total defense.

Expect ASU to go back to blitzing regularly. Two seasons ago, Graham said he regretted blitzing so much considering the youth of the defense.

Last season, while still blitzing a lot, seemed to take a notch down and be more conservative, which doesn’t fit Graham’s style.

Some of ASU’s best performances last season when they put heavy pressure on the opposition.

The game that really sticks out to me is the 23-20 win over UCLA.

The defense forced three fumbles, recovering one of them, five sacks, nine tackles for losses and three interceptions.

That’s the time of performance ASU needs to replicate week in and week out.

Too often they were inconsistent. Bennett will look to instill new belief with this experience-laden group.

A lot of production is returning on the defensive, especially in the front seven.

The pass rush trio of Koron Crump, Tashon Smallwood and JoJo Wicker return for another season after combining for 14 sacks last season.

Arizona State’s top four tacklers from last season also return in linebackers DJ Calhoun and Marcus Ball and defensive backs Armand Perry and Kareem Orr.

The only way for Sun Devils defense to go is up. They can’t get much worse than the last couple of seasons.

Bennett should provide the defense with some much-needed new blood.