Will Clayton Be the Key to Sun Devil's Defense?

The Arizona State Sun Devil Football defense is coming off of an admirable season. The team ranked 37th nationally in points allowed per game and boasted the 20th-ranked run defense.

However, the defense ended on a bitter note, as the Sun Devil squad allowed 39 points in their loss to the Texas Longhorns in the College Football Quarterfinal game.

One player who could improve the defense is Senior Clayton Smith. Smith is coming off of a nice season with 4.5 sacks, 16 solo tackles, and one force fumble. One of his best performances came against the Kansas Jayhawks, where he had 1.5 sacks and 3 tackles. The Sun Devils won the game 35-31, thanks to key plays such as Smith's sack.

Smith enters the season as an edge in Defensive Coordinator Brian Ward's 4-3 defense. In this defense, there is a significant emphasis on the edge rusher to beat the opposing team's tackle. Smith is currently the starter at right edge, meaning he will go against team's right tackles. Smith fits this build well, being a disruptor with his physical size and technique.

Smith is 6'4" and weighs 240 pounds, which allows him to have a unique combo of size, speed, and weight. He can push off tackles his size and then bulldoze the running back or quarterback with his hard-hitting power.

Smith has 9 total sacks over two years of playing, but what could lead to Smith's breakout is his QB hit stats. A QB hit occurs when a defender hits the QB, either during a pass or after the play, but does not result in a sack. Smith had a couple of games last year where he got QB hits but no sacks.

Against the Utah Utes, Smith had 2 QB hits with zero sacks, and against the BYU Cougars, he had the same stat line. In total, he had 5 games with 1 or more QB Hits and 0 sacks. If you were to convert Smith's QB hits to sacks, plus add the sacks he did have, he would have accumulated 13 sacks, which would have landed him tied for fourth across all of college football. Even if he only converted half of those sacks, that would still be 7 sacks, which is an impressive number.

Smith bolds well for the run defense and should help a strength of ASU's defense last year continue to improve. However, Smith could also help boost the pass rush. With Smith's ability to pressure the passer, this could lead to the opposing QB making decisions under pressure. This could lead to many opportunities for the Sun Devils' secondary, such as Keith Abney, to get crucial turnovers.

In conclusion, Smith has the athletic abilities to believe there is a high chance that he could be a breakout star for the Sun Devils next season and can help their defense reach a new level.

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