Weber State will provide a glorified scrimmage for the Sun Devils on Thursday night, and they’ll gladly take it. The coaches will be gathering intel on their guys in preparation for the long season ahead. And while each player has bought into the team concept or “strong brotherhood” of this years squad, make no doubt about it: each knows how critical their performance is in securing game time moving forward.

While ASU’s young line must fill the void from one of the nation’s top defenses, it’s the Sun Devil secondary that has a chance to establish themselves an an anchor for this team. They could prove to be the difference in many anticipated Pac-12 shoot-outs along with a November match-up against Notre Dame.

Come 7:40 p.m. Thursday night in Sun Devil Stadium, watch these 3 things.

1. Which 3 players in the secondary can separate themselves from the pack?

Field side cornerback Robert Nelson’s 6-interceptions from 2013 will be tough to duplicate, even in the air-assault nature of the Pac-12. There seems to be a tight battle between Junior Solomon Means and incoming JC transfer Kweishi Brown and freshman Chad Adams. Means concluded spring camp with a strong showing in the scrimmage giving him an early nod at the starting spot.

Sorting out the safeties is still a work in progress. Damarious Randall is the best player on defense and has a lock on the field side safety spot. Walk-on Jordan Simone had an outstanding spring camp at Bandit safety, and thus earned a scholarship last week. RS Freshman James Johnson has impressive size, speed, and football IQ and had an impressive spring scrimmage landing him squarely in contention for first team reps at Bandit. 

All of this would really be a moot conversation if RS Freshman Marcus Ball was medically cleared earlier than just a few days before the opener.  Ball is clearly the best option at the position with his size and athleticism, but has been sidelined since Camp Tontozona last year with a collar bone injury.  He has most recently been battling an undisclosed medical issue that had him on the shelf in a green no-contact jersey for the majority of fall camp. Look for Ball to be immediately in the mix now that he is cleared for contact. Lloyd Carrington is the only other player that has a firm grip on his position at the boundary side corner.

2. Will the hybrid (Safety/LB) Spur position increase production in 2014? 

The Spur is expected to blitz and rack up sack and tackle-for-loss numbers. However, it was a glaring source of weakness on the 2013 defense. Also, opposing teams torched last year€™s Spur with formations that isolated their TE in man coverage on the Sun Devil Spur.

RS Sophomore Viliami Moeakiola has put his stamp on the position since spring camp, and further solidified himself after a phenomenal summer in the weight and conditioning program.  His ability to disrupt opposing offenses will be something to watch. It is imperative that he create havoc on the offensive backfield to help offset the loss of Bradford and Sutton. Also, without a clear-cut back-up for Moeakiola, the pressure is on him to excel early and often.

3. And finally, who will emerge as a viable replacement for Carl Bradford at the Devil Backer position?

The Devil is a key piece in the Sun Devil attacking style of defense. Since the start of fall camp, Coach Graham has shuffled several players in attempting to find the combination of explosiveness, size, and ability to disrupt plays in the offensive backfield. Without a clear-cut incumbent, De€™Marieya Nelson was shifted from offense early in camp and given a crack at winning the rush position. 

However, his importance as a TE would not allow for a permanent move to defense. Look for him to still get reps at the Devil against Weber State, but count on the coaching staff emphasizing finding a different option. Antonio Longino looked to be a promising candidate, but has since been moved to second team behind newcomer Edmond Boateng.  Also, senior €œJack of all trades€ Marcus Washington has the athletic ability to play the position, but lacks experience on defense, as he has primarily been an offensive player over his time in Tempe.