LB Zyrus Fiaseu out for season, becomes 3rd ASU defender with season-ending injury

TEMPE — Arizona State linebacker Zyrus Fiaseu was ruled out for the 2026 season due to a lower-body injury, head coach Kenny Dillingham said Tuesday.

“Unfortunate for him. He’s on the (Tillman) Leadership Council, still one of the leaders of the team,” Dillingham said. “I think he knows that. I think he knows he’s still going to be a valuable member of this team.”

The sixth-year linebacker was entering his third season at ASU after he had played three seasons at San Diego State.

He played just four games last season while being limited by injuries, but he was a key piece of the 2024 Big 12 title-winning squad. He notably had a pick-six on ASU’s second defensive play from scrimmage that season.

Fiaseu becomes the third ASU defender ruled out for 2026 with injuries.

Defensive lineman MyKeil Gardner suffered a ruptured Achilles for the second time in as many years, and cornerback Nigel Pringle was ruled out for the year Saturday with an undisclosed injury he had at Camp T.

All three players likely would have been a part of the defensive rotation.

How does Zyrus Fiaseu’s injury impact ASU’s linebacker room?

Fiaseu was slotted in as the Sun Devils’ third linebacker (first off the bench) behind expected starters senior Owen Long, who had an FBS-leading 151 tackles last season at Colorado State, and junior Martell Hughes.

Sophomores Tristan Bacon (Liberty High School product) and Isaiah Iosefa factored into the picture behind Fiaseu, along with juniors Prayer Young-Blackgoat (Coconino High School product) and NAU transfer Ramere Davis.

“(Bacon and Davis) have come along really well. I thought they’ve had really good camps,” Dillingham said. “And then getting Prayer back today was a positive. I think all those guys have had really good camps and gotten better, and they’re gonna have to step up.”

Young-Blackgoat played the most last season among the three returning Sun Devils, with 13 snaps on defense and 170 on special teams, per PFF. He had seven tackles, including one for a loss.

Davis had 62 tackles, 4.5 sacks and four passes defensed at NAU last season, including one sack in the season opener against ASU.

Assistant head coach and defensive pass game coordinator Bryan Carrington confirmed the injury may also lead the Sun Devils to play more packages with six defensive backs as opposed to the base five, as the secondary has looked like one of the better position groups on the team.

That could mean more playing time for Jessiah McGrew, a 6-foot-2 safety who had four interceptions as a freshman at FIU last year.

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