ASU football had a disappointing season especially on the defensive side of the ball.
The Sun Devils, coming off a leaky defense in 2015, were seeking to improve with a large majority of the defensive starters returning. That didn’t come to fruition as the problems that plagued them in 2015 did so as well last season. The defense continued to allow explosive plays and missed tackles marred the unit.
At Pac-12 Media Days, head coach Todd Graham said he regretted blitzing as often as he did in 2015 because of injuries and inexperienced players. So in 2016, while still blitzing a lot from a national perspective, for a Graham-led defense he tended to be a bit more conservative.