ASU Football: Herm Edwards releases first depth chart

With only three days before ASU football kicks off the 2018 season against UTSA, Herm Edwards released his first game day depth chart as head coach.

The Herm Edwards train is getting ready to leave the station.

On Saturday night, ASU Football will (literally) kick-off the 2018 season at home against FBS foe UTSA from Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.

With only 12 returning starters for Herm Edwards’ first season in charge, the Sun Devils are now faced with a plethora of choices as to who should start at the other 10 positions on the field.

The 64-year-old rookie college head coach released his first pre-game depth chart on Monday evening which featured some interesting decisions.

Here’s how head coach Herm Edwards has lined up his squad for Week 1 against UTSA.

Quarterbacks:

No surprises here as senior quarterback Manny Wilkins appears to be healthy and ready to go for game No. 1. Dillon Sterling-Cole maintains his backup duties as redshirt sophomore and former walk-on Kurt Walding threatened to jump Sterling-Cole on the depth chart this fall.

Running backs:

Eno Benjamin, as expected, gets the top spot at running back after both Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage graduated. Behind Benjamin are Isaiah Floyd and Brock Sturges who will both likely see action on the field with the Sun Devils becoming more run-oriented squad under Edwards for 2018.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends:

N’Keal Harry and Kyle Williams highlight a strong wide receiver core for the Sun Devils. Outside of those two, the third receiver spot is a question mark as currently Frank Darby, Brandon Aiyuk and Terrell Chatman are all listed as starters for the last starting wide out position.

At tight end, Tommy Hudson currently the starter. The blocking specialist from San Jose, California will start Week 1 ahead of Ceejhay French-Love in large part due to his fit in Edwards’ new under-center run heavy scheme.

Offensive Line:

No major surprises here for the Sun Devils. Stanford graduate transfer Casey Tucker comes in as Manny Wilkins new blind side protector as Alex Losoya is the only other new starter for ASU on the offensive line. Steve Miller, Quinn Bailey and Cohl Cabral all return as starters on what should be a solid offensive line surrounding Wilkins.

Defensive Line:

The Sun Devils will trot out Renell Wren in the middle while Doug Subtyl and Jalen Bates will be next to Wren on the ends. Subtyl in particular has impressed this spring as the former top JUCO recruit beat out sophomore Shannon Foreman at the starting defensive end spot.

Linebackers: 

Looked at by many as ASU’s weakest spot on the defensive side of the ball, Antonio Pierce’s new-look linebacking core sure has a ton to prove in 2018. For now, Khaylan Kearse-Thomas will get the start in the middle as Jay Jay Wilson continues to serve his indefinite suspension.

Kyle Soelle and Malik Lawal will flank Thomas on the outsides, but don’t be surprised if freshmen linebackers Merlin Roberson and Darien Butler get some playing time this week. Both young guns have impressed Edwards and his staff this fall.

Secondary:

Chase Lucas and Kobe Williams highlight an ASU secondary that may be the strength of the Sun Devils defense in 2018. Lucas, a freshman All-American, and Williams, a returning starter, will be joined by safeties Langston Frederick and Demonte King in the secondary. Also, expect to see freshman Aashari Crosswell potentially get some reps this weekend at one of the two safety spots.

At the famous Pat Tillman rover position, Edwards has yet to fully commit to any one player at the spot as Evan Fields, Dasmond Taulatasi and former wideout Jalen Harvey are all potential starters for Herm Edwards here.

Special Teams:

Just like last season, the ambidextrous Michael Sleep-Dalton will resume his punting duties while Brandon Ruiz will look to build off of a strong freshman campaign as the Sun Devils highly touted young kicker.

Herm Edward’s first starting depth chart as ASU head coach is most certainly an interesting one.

With Michigan State on the schedule next week, the Sun Devils first year head coach will need to learn which players he can trust quickly after Game No.1 before his team runs into a Big Ten powerhouse in the Spartans.