Why Ronald Derrick Holds a Special Place With Arizona State
In this story:
The Arizona State Sun Devils have already gained multiple commitments in the 2026 recruiting class, including a commit on the defensive line. This commit being Ronald Derrick, who is the lone commit on the defensive line.
Derrick is one of the better players in the class as a whole, and brings a very great ceiling. National Recruiting Reporter Caleb Sisk did a film review on Derrick recently.
"The talented prospect has plenty of potential to be able to flex out towards the Edge, as he has shown many times in his high school tape that he can play off the edge, especially in a three-down lineman situation."
He added more.
"A major part of being a defensive lineman is finding ways to fill the gap on the interior of the defensive line. This is something that the talented prospect finds ways to do very frequently, even from the outside position in the three-down lineman set. He does well on the inside and has shown some domination in his high school career when attacking the inside."
He has a lot on his shoulders, as he is the lone commit at the position, which isn't great at all. They are looking to land many different players at the position. They are looking to land 3-4 guys total on the defensive side of the football when it comes to the line. They are far off from that number, but they have multiple scholarships to work with, as they sit at 18 commits in the class.
Sitting at 18 commits in the class is solid, but there is so much more work that needs to be done. They will need to continue growing certain positions, and prioritizing others.
The defensive line is a group that they will prioritize, but other than that they will need to prioritize the wide receiver position. They have only one commit at the wide receiver position with that player being Cooper Reid. They had another commit, who backed off his commitment and flipped to the Nebraska Cornhuskers. That player being McEachern High School wide receiver Nalin Scott.
They have plenty of targets still for grabs, but for the most part, they will need to open up their recruiting books and will need to re-evaluate other guys. It will eventually get to a point where they may end up having to have softer evaluations, because like the old saying goes, beggars can't be choosers.
Please follow us on X when you click right here!
Caleb Sisk is a talented sports journalist from the state of Georgia. Originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sisk's passion for sports grew. Bringing years of recruiting coverage experience, he has been named a National Recruiting Reporter and covers various college sites on the On SI network. He takes pride in covering recruiting and has been featured by numerous companies for his excellent coverage and knowledge. He has also spent time at other companies, including Rivals, where he covered the Tennessee Volunteers.