Devils beef up their questionable O-Line
Coach Kenny Dillingham has landed some offensive firepower to help the Devils compete with the rest of the Pac-12, which may be underestimated heading into the 2023 season, but it all comes down to the trenches.
Arizona State’s latest commit will help with that. Texas Tech offensive lineman Cade Briggs committed to ASU via the transfer portal earlier this week, adding depth and veteran leadership to the locker room. Briggs, who stands at 6-foot-3-inches and 300 pounds, played three season at New Mexico before transferring to Texas for the 2022 season.
His freshman year at New Mexico, Briggs saw action in nine games, starting in five of them. He had one start at left guard and four at right guard, allowing just two QB hurries, zero QB hits and most importantly, no sacks on 268 snaps. He also boasted a pass-blocking rate of 99.1 percent.
During his sophomore year, Briggs played in and started all seven games at left tackle, leading the entire line with 529 snaps. There, his pass-blocking efficiency increased top 95.2 percent.
Then during his junior year in 2021, Briggs saw his workload increase. He played all 12 games — 772 snaps — for the Lobo’s at left tackle. Pro Football Focus graded Briggs 73.7 after allowing just five sacks with more than 309 opportunities.
His senior year at Texas Tech, he was given the redshirt and was the primary backup for center but still saw action in two games.
Briggs will come to Tempe with much needed experience around the line, which is the currently the biggest concern for the Sun Devils. He will most likely step in at left guard for fellow Cal offensive line transfer Ben Coleman who is expected to miss significant time with an injury.
The Devils will face Caleb Williams and company at USC, the high octane offense of Oregon and Colorado looking to make some noise with Deion Sanders at the helm, so allowing whichever quarterback ASU decides to roll with come August upright will be crucial to its success.