ASU Football: A Big Summer Looms

While the city of Phoenix’s attention is currently on the 2017 Final Four, in Tempe the focus is on ASU football.

With only a few weeks remaining in the spring practice schedule, ASU football is starting to figure out how their team will look next season. Coordinators may begin to have a rough idea of who and what they want to see come late August, but there is a huge summer ahead.

Everything begins and ends with the quarterback competition. Will it be Blake Barnett or Manny Wilkins? Does a dark horse candidate, such as Brady White, give the presumed front-runners a harder battle than anticipated? These are two big questions that are yet to be answered, and the summer will be the time to get it figured out.

The summer will also be the time for the defense to figure out what they are going to focus on in the 2017 season. Will they continue to be a blitz heavy team, or will they try to play more contain? Will they learn how to tackle in the open field, or will they continue to get burned for 40 yard rushes? While the quarterback competition is the be-all, end-all, because of the position, the questions surrounding the defense may end up holding the most weight.

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Another area that will need to get figured out over the summer is how the team will incorporate their incoming recruits. Players like Eno Benjamin, if used correctly, can play big factors in to the success of this year’s team.

Head coach Todd Graham, while being under contract through the 2020 season, is on a short leash. After two lack-luster years, fans and boosters alike are expecting improvements in 2017. If Graham can guide this team back to a Pac-12 championship game, or better, than he would be able to stay comfortable through the remainder of his contract. If the team has its third consecutive season of under-par results, than it may be the end of the Todd Graham era at ASU.

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