After a strong week at Camp Tontozona, it appeared that some of the Sun Devils' effort remained in Rim Country during Monday's practice.
ASU head coach Todd Graham said he was not pleased with his team's effort following a day off Sunday in the team's return to Tempe.
"Sometimes you get a little monotonous," Graham said. "I want more energy, more enthusiasm, more passion."
While there were a few exceptions, notably sophomore linebacker Christian Sam, the effort level was not satisfactory.
"More than anything, guys just sustaining the passion and intensity," Graham said. "Obviously it's the (Camp Tontozona) scrimmage, but you can't just, everybody in the country does that. 'When it's game day, then you're going to crank it up.' You can't do that."
Graham said he is encouraging passion and excitement on the football field, not trying to contain it.
"It's okay to get excited," Graham said. "We've asked Christian (Sam) to do that. When he starts doing that, he starts playing better. Just more energy, more passion."
Longino at "Devilbacker"
It's a fair statement to say that former ASU linebacker Carl Bradford was the best player to ever play in head coach Todd Graham's "Devilbacker" slot. His selection by the Green Bay Packers in the 2014 NFL Draft warrants that.
There's one problem though — ASU has yet to find a true "Devilbacker" since.
ASU has tried several players at the position during fall camp, ranging from true freshmen in JoJo Wicker to defensive linemen like Edmond Boateng or even a running back in Kalen Ballage.
The latest entry to the list is one of the few with actual experience at the position — redshirt senior linebacker Antonio Longino.
"They can put me anywhere, I'm just trying to help out," Longino said.
Longino began the 2014 season at the position before moving to the "Will" linebacker spot and thriving. However, the lack of production at the position in fall camp and the emergence of sophomore DJ Calhoun at the "Will" spot opened the door for the swap.
"It's definitely a little more natural (at "Devilbacker") given that I've played there before," Longino said. "I'm not starting at square one."
Longino was the team's third-leading tackler with 94 total tackles last season and had 5.5 tackles for a loss and had two sacks.
Depth Chart (as seen during media availability):
First-team offense snaps
QB: Mike Bercovici
RB: Demario Richard/De'Chavon "Gump" Hayes
WR: D.J. Foster/Devin Lucien/Gary Chambers/
TE: None
LT: Evan Goodman
LG: Christian Westerman
C: Nick Kelly
RG: Vi Teofilo/Stephon McCray
RT: Billy McGehee
First-team defense snaps
DL: JoJo Wicker/Ami Latu/Demetrius Cherry/
"Devilbacker": Antonio Longino
"Will" linebacker: DJ Calhoun
"Sam" linebacker: Salamo Fiso
"Spur" linebacker: Laiu Moeakiola
Boundary corner: Lloyd Carrington
Field corner: Kweishi Brown
Bandit safety: Jordan Simone
Field safety: Armand Perry
Second-team offense snaps
QB: Brady White
RB: Kalen Ballage
WR: Ellis Jefferson/Eric Lauderdale
TE: Kody Kohl/Raymond Epps
OL: Sam Jones/Quinn Bailey/Cade Cote/Devin Goodman/Zach Robertson
Second-team defensive snaps (only eight of the 11 players recorded)
Tashon Smallwood, Solomon Means, James Johnson, Chad Adams, Marcus Ball, Carlos Mendoza, Khaylan Thomas and Ronald Lewis
Additional Notes:
- "PT42" jerseys: redshirt senior safety Jordan Simone, redshirt senior cornerback Lloyd Carrington and redshirt sophomore safety James Johnson.
- "Flame" helmets: Simone, Carrington, Johnson, junior kicker Zane Gonzalez, redshirt junior tight end Kody Kohl, redshirt senior guard Christian Westerman, redshirt senior linebacker Antonio Longino, redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici, senior wide receiver D.J. Foster, senior center Nick Kelly, sophomore defensive back DeAndre Scott, sophomore running back Demario Richard, sophomore linebacker DJ Calhoun, redshirt sophomore linebacker Marcus Ball, sophomore safety Armand Perry, senior cornerback Kweishi Brown, sophomore defensive lineman Tashon Smallwood, sophomore running back/linebacker Kalen Ballage and redshirt junior linebacker Laiu Moeakiola.
- Green non-contact jerseys: junior wide receiver Cam Smith, redshirt junior tight end Dan Vear, redshirt junior wide receiver Fred Gammage, redshirt sophomore tight end Grant Martinez, redshirt freshman safety Coltin Gerhart and freshman offensive lineman Dillon Faamatau.
- Media availability only extended to the first 11-on-11 session.
- Former ASU running back Cameron Marshall attended Monday's practice.
- Todd Graham said that redshirt freshman wide receiver Jalen Harvey is out for "about" 8-10 weeks due to a collarbone injury suffered during Saturday's Camp Tontozona scrimmage.
Todd Graham said WR Jalen Harvey will be out about 8 weeks.
— Fabian Ardaya (@fardaya15) August 17, 2015
Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
