Meet ASU’s Most Underrated Defender
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Brian Ward's defense is shaping up to be pretty great after a very succesful transfer portal by Kenny Dillingham. However, there are a couple of players on the ASU roster, including linebacker Martell Hughes that could be a key player for the Sun Devils next season.
Hughes' Best Games
Hughes had a couple of great games under his belt for Brian Ward's Sun Devil Defense. Hughe's best game was agianst the TCU Horned Frogs where he had a total of 5 tackles, 3 of them being solo. However Hughes's best play of the day and what could be the his best play of his entire Sun Devil career was the game sealing interception he had. This was a close Big 12 battle between TCU and ASU, with TCU getting out to an early lead and ASU mounting a late comeback. ASU had the lead in this game in the final seconds, 27-24, however TCU had the ball with a chance to score.
On the play, TCU Quarterback Josh Hoover was trying to find wide receiver Dozie Ezukanma on the right side of the field. Hughes read the field out perfectly and undercut the ball giving ASU the win. The Sun Devils win over the Horned Frogs was one of the best victories this program had last season, and Hughes helped that happen.
The following week agains the Texas Tech Red Raiders he only would one total tackle, but he did have another interception. Another great Hughes game was in the Sun Bowl where against the Duke Blue Devils he had a total of 9 tackles and a QB Hit in the game.
Hughes' Best Skills
The one word that comes to mind when thinking about Hughes's game is speed. Hughes flies around the field. Not only is he pretty fast, especially for a linebacker but he can hit his top speed very quickly. Not only though is Hughes just physically fast, but he is also mentally fast as well. As shown in the TCU game, Hughes can react to a play very quickly.
How Hughes fits into ASU's Defense
ASU brought in linebacker Owen Long from Colorado State, who very likely could be the starter for Ward's defense. Long and Hughes could be a great one two punch as both have great accelaration. ASU also did get Ramere Davis, linebacker from NAU in the portal. There could be a case where Ward wants Long and Davis to start, so Hughes would more so get limited reps.
Even if Hughes were to be used in a smaller role, he could still make a pretty good impact for Ward's defense. With Hughes's speed and accerlation, he can be placed anywhere around the defense, thus making it harder for offenses to prepare for him and how to gameplan to stop him. Hughes also has experince with this linebacking unit, a unit that should see a lot of new faces. No matter how Hughes gets used, he should have an impactful season.
Overall, Hughes could have a huge role for Brian Ward's defense and last like year, could make some key plays in key moments to help ASU get some big victories.
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Tanner Cappellini holds a mass communications degree from Arizona State University and is pursuing his dream of being the person at the games, practices, and events who takes others inside the team they love.