You have to be a playmaker to play in ASU football head coach Todd Graham's hyper-aggressive defensive scheme.
It's right in their mantra — "Elite. Dominant. Playmakers."
The place on defense where playmaking has made itself most apparent is in the secondary. No game showed that more than last season's matchup with Notre Dame, which saw the Sun Devil secondary return two interceptions for touchdowns.
ASU returns three of its four starters from that secondary and have other experienced players adding depth to the unit.
Lloyd Carrington
The redshirt senior enters 2015 as the senior member in this scheme — he actually transferred over along with Graham from Pitt when Graham first took the job before the 2012 season.
Now, after he compiled 58 total tackles (six for loss) with three sacks, a pick-six and a forced fumble last season, he's confident about what to expect in 2015.
"Our confidence as a whole is sky high," Carrington said last week. "(It's) off-the-charts. Our main thing now is to continue to stay focused, stay humble and just be ready to work hard each and every day and prepare properly for each opponent each week."
Kweishi Brown
Carrington's quiet demeanor plays as a foil to his counterpart at field corner, Kweishi Brown, whose aggressiveness is shown in more than just his play.
Brown, who sealed the Sun Bowl victory with a forced fumble and an interception in the back of the end zone, is looking for more turnovers in 2015 and more big-time playmaking.
"I want to get more strips," Brown said last week. "That's my main thing coming into this season. Get some more of those, because as a secondary standpoint we don't have too many strips (last season) so if we can get that going on, that's going to help our turnover ratio."
The former Grossmont College (El Cajon, California) transfer finished last season with 46 total tackles (two for loss) and three interceptions and a forced fumble.
Jordan Simone
You know the story. The now-redshirt senior walked on at Washington State, then transferred and walked on at ASU before earning a scholarship and starting spot last season en route to being the team's second-leading tackler.
But what happens next?
"I think we can get better at everything," Simone said. "As far as our cover, we can get better. To be the best secondary in the country you've got to be great, and right now I think we're on that track."
Simone finished behind NFL first-round pick Damarious Randall with 100 total tackles (4.5 for loss) and a sack, two interceptions and a forced fumble.
Armand Perry
The man lining up alongside Simone at field safety in Randall's place is Armand Perry, who as a sophomore is moving from cornerback (where he at times started last season) to the safety spot.
Simone holds Perry, who has just started playing the position this past spring, in high regard.
"We have all of Damarious' film and what he was able to do and (Perry's) been able to mimic almost all of that," Simone said. "The areas where Damarious left as far as his man coverage skills, (Perry) is just as good a coverage guy as him."
Perry said his previous starting experience at cornerback should make the transition to starting safety a smooth one.
"I got some experience last year in starting a few games so I'm just comfortable and the game's really slowed down for me," he said.
"The Other Guys"
James Johnson enters as the Swiss-Army knife for this defense, having lined up at bandit safety, field safety and "Spur" linebacker this fall camp. The redshirt sophomore won't technically start, but will see significant time in each game.
Solomon Means put together a strong spring camp and start to the fall, and will likely see some action at the nickel corner spot in certain packages.
Kareem Orr is a true freshman, but has earned plenty of rave reviews from Graham during the fall. He's listed at the two-deep and will likely see the field in certain situations.
Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
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