90 Days until Football, and Will Sutton's impact still echoes from the Buttes

Yesterday, our spotlight series honored a true Sun Devil for life in Michael Matus. As the countdown clock ticks to 90 days until kickoff, we take a look at the career of Will Sutton, a defensive lineman who became one of the recent greats in Arizona State history.

Coming out of Corona CA, Will Sutton was one of the highest rated defensive tackles in the country. Rated #68 in the country at DT and considered the top DT in the state of California by ESPN Scouts, Will had his choice of offers from Boise State, Nebraska and Arizona, just to name a few. After making an official visit in November of 2008, Will verbally committed to Arizona State a month later, and officially signed on February 4th, 2009.

As a freshman, Will saw a moderate role in 2009, starting two games and appearing in all 12 as the Devils struggled to a 4-8 record under 3rd year head coach Dennis Erickson. With 17 tackles (six solo) and three for a loss, the most eye-catching stat of Sutton's season was his nine game streak with at least one tackle, and 10 of 12 games with at least one tackle.

Then in 2010, Sutton hit a speed bump. Student-athletes are required to complete 24 units of study - 18 excluding summer school - to be academically eligible for their second season. Unfortunately Will did not reach that mark, and redshirted his sophomore season as a result. Undeterred, Will poured his heart and soul into his conditioning, earning the Hard Hat Award for his work in ASU's offseason training program.

As a redshirt sophomore in 2011, Sutton showed no ill effects from the year off the field. In 13 games (12 starts), Will doubled his stats from his true freshman season, recording 33 tackles (19 solo), six tackles for loss, and added 2.5 sacks to his line. At home against Oregon State on October 1st, Sutton had arguably his best game of the season, recording four solo tackles, one sack, and one tackle for a loss of 12 yards in a winning effort for the Devils.

Sutton's junior season in 2012 proved to be his best in a Sun Devil uniform. The numbers just pop out left and right. 63 total tackles (7th on the team) including 41 solo, a Pac-12 leading 24 tackles for loss (4th all-time in ASU history), and 13 sacks (also team leading and 4th in program history), Will was a shoo-in for Pac-12 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year honors, as well as the Morris Trophy for best defensive lineman in the conference.

For his performance against Cal on September 29th, Will was named both Pac-12 Defensive player of the week AND the MAACO Las Vegas Pac-12 Player of the week after recording eight tackles (six solo), four TFL and three sacks. As if those accolades weren't enough, Will was named the 18th Consensus All-American in ASU history.

Instead of declaring early for the NFL Draft, Sutton chose to return for his senior season. Conversations with his family and head coach Todd Graham influenced his decision, as he was hungry to play for a championship here in Tempe. Upon his announcement to return, he was named to preseason watchlists for the Maxwell and Walter Camp Awards.

While his numbers weren't as gaudy as in 2012 (48 tackles, 29 solo, 14 TFL, 4.0 sacks), Will became the second player in Pac-10/12 history to be named a two-time winner of the Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year Award, was awarded his second Morris Trophy, and most importantly had the honor of wearing the Pat Tillman Practice Jersey, which is given to a player who embodies the positive characteristics of the football program and university.

Sutton's desire to play for a championship came to realization as the Sun Devils won the Pac-12 South Division and hosted the Pac-12 Championship game, but fell short of that conference title in a 38-14 loss to Stanford. After a loss in the Holiday Bowl to Texas Tech, Will was awarded one last honor of appearing in the 2014 Reese's Senior Bowl.

Despite scouts considering him to be too small to play on the defensive line in the NFL, the Chicago Bears took a chance on Will by taking him in the 3rd round (82nd overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft. In three seasons in the NFL, Will appeared in 36 games, making 18 starts, recorded 60 tackles (39 solo), with four TFL.

An early hiccup could have derailed his career, but Will Sutton embodied the definition of hard work and perseverance, and in 2024 was named to the latest class of the Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame.