ARIZONA STATE FOOTBALL

Bye week report cards: ASU football grades by position through 7 games

Oct 27, 2024, 6:40 AM

ASU football position grades...

Arizona State's Caleb McCullough celebrates with teammates after making an interception in the first quarter vs. Utah on Oct. 11, 2024 in Tempe. (Photo by Bruce Yeung/Getty Images)

(Photo by Bruce Yeung/Getty Images)

TEMPE — ASU football coach Kenny Dillingham said Wednesday there’s not a disadvantage he can see to the Sun Devils having two bye weeks this season.

“I don’t know about a disadvantage, maybe if you were in a rhythm. Now luckily for us, we’ve lost both games before the bye, so we do not have a rhythm,” Dillingham joked. “We haven’t really had a normal week this year. There’s been no rhythm … so I don’t really know if there’s a negative.”

He said on Monday he liked the changes the team made coming out of the last bye, leading to home wins against Kansas and Utah before a road loss to Cincinnati.

“We have to reassess and kind of tweak things around Jeff (Sims) here until Sam (Leavitt) gets back,” Dillingham said, noting earlier Leavitt had a roughly 40-50% chance to play at Oklahoma State on Nov. 2.

Dillingham added there have been a few areas where multiple teams have exploited ASU, so the staff was going to focus on those to prevent other teams from copying the same strategy over the final five-game stretch of the regular season.

But this bye week gives a good chance to take a closer look at the Sun Devils on a position-by-position basis and assign grades for their performance through a little more than the first half of the season.

What grades have each position earned on ASU football this season?

Quarterbacks: B

It took Leavitt a bit of time to work out some kinks in the passing game, but his legs were a strength right from the start of the season.

The rushing game opened things up for Leavitt, as he’s shown a real knack for extending plays, always keeping defenses honest with his ability to pass or run when outside the pocket. They also proved to be part of his downfall, as the quarterback’s rib injury came on a red zone rush attempt where he fought for extra yards.

If he never goes down, this grade is likely a B+ given how Leavitt has performed relative to other redshirt freshmen, but an underwhelming performance from Sims in the loss to Cincinnati factors into the grade as well.

Sims maintained ball security, his biggest knock going in, but he appeared to be on a tight leash with only six passing attempts in the first half.

Running backs: A-

Cam Skattebo has been one of the most productive running backs in the country this season, but he hasn’t been immune to blemishes.

He fumbled for the first time this season in the loss to Cincinnati, and he had a stretch averaging 2.9 yards per carry over the two road games in Texas. He still managed to score two touchdowns in each of the three games, and he’s 10th in FBS with 10 rushing touchdowns this season.

The minus in the grade can be attributed to the lack of contributions from other running backs, as Leavitt has more than double the rushing total (279 yards) of the next-most productive running back, DeCarlos Brooks (116). Raleek Brown’s injury issues also factor in.

Dillingham named Kyson Brown (80 yards on 14 rush attempts) as one of the players he expects to step up in this final stretch.

Wide receivers/tight ends: C+

This position has also received a fair smattering of injuries and unavailability, as starter Xavier Guillory has missed time with a hamstring injury and expected contributor Malik McClain is on track to redshirt. Freshman Zechariah Sample also had to miss time for a foot injury.

Jordyn Tyson has been the position’s biggest producer with 477 yards and four touchdowns, but he’s had a few crucial drops, including one that was tipped up and intercepted. Skattebo has the second-most receiving yards with 283.

Tight end Chamon Metayer has shown growing chemistry with Leavitt. He’s caught two receiving touchdowns, more than anyone not named Tyson.

Offensive line: B-

Center Leif Fautanu and guard Ben Coleman have shown why they were highly regarded coming into the year. They have been the anchors of a group that has had to shift things around and modify the approach.

Dillingham talked during the last bye week about simplifying the offensive line’s game-plan to get them back to an aggressive, more instinctive approach. He was pleased with the result.

ASU has surrendered only five sacks on 27 hurries across seven games, according to PFF.

Defensive line: A-

Conversely, the defensive front has sacked opposing quarterbacks 15 times this season. It’s shy of defensive coordinator Brian Ward’s yearly goal of 40 sacks, but the front has been consistent with 36 tackles for loss to supplement the sacks.

Edge rusher Clayton Smith has been the biggest catalyst with four sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss, as well as a fumble forced that led to a C.J. Fite touchdown. Speaking of big-man touchdowns, Justin Wodtly added one of his own the week prior.

Overall, the group has arguably been the most impressive of any because of their ability to rotate through the entire two-deep and not skip a beat when they do.

Linebackers: B+

Like the defensive line, turnovers were a big part of the linebackers’ start to the season, as Zyrus Fiaseu and Keyshaun Elliott came up with interceptions on the Sun Devils’ first two defensive possessions of the season.

When Elliott was sidelined with a targeting call, it was Caleb McCullough stepping up with two interceptions and 12 tackles in his place to seal the win over Utah.

Dillingham has also praised the position throughout the season as one that he never has to get mad at for being late, or similar off-the-field issues.

Defensive backs: A-

The defensive backs are similar to the defensive line in the group’s ability to be solid across the board, but different in terms of the depth, because most of the starters have shouldered heavy workloads.

Veteran leaders such as Shamari Simmons and Xavion Alford have set the tone, while transfer cornerback Javan Robinson has been lockdown on his assignment. Dillingham said Robinson, who left the Cincinnati loss with a shoulder injury, is doing better than what he initially expected.

Secondary depth has taken hits with Macen Williams retiring before the season started and Cole Martin undergoing season-ending surgery, but the starters have held down the fort well enough.

Kickers: F

Dillingham was 100% right in calling the Sun Devils’ kicking game “atrocious” when he did. It maybe wasn’t the best choice to put those feelings out into the world, so he was right to apologize after, but the kicking game has been atrocious nonetheless.

The inability to hit field goals from outside the 30-yard line (3 of 9 as a team on such attempts) has greatly hamstrung Dillingham’s ability to manage games, similar to last year’s inability to get quality punts off.

It is yet to be seen whether tryouts for ASU students will result in a new kicker, but one candidate who went viral on social media has already said he was turned down.

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