On the number side of things, the Arizona State Sun Devils football program didn't suffer nearly as many losses to the NCAA Transfer Portal as its offensive counterpart did. Unfortunately, the defense did lose quite a few significant talents that were going to be incredibly important factors for the 2022 unit, and at each level of the defense nonetheless. The Arizona State Sun Devils must cope with the losses of defensive lineman Jermayne Lole, linebacker Eric Gentry, and cornerback Tommi Hill, along with linebacker Jordan Banks and defensive back Cam Phillips. The aforementioned Lole, Gentry, and Hill will be tough to replace. Lole was slated to be the starting defensive tackle for the team and was arguably the Sun Devils' best player heading into this season. Arizona State does have some good, young players to help mitigate his loss in Omarr Norman-Lott and B.J. Green, but Lole's presence will be sorely missed. Replacing Gentry will be difficult with a lack of proven depth at linebacker, but long-established starters Merlin Robertson and Kyle Soelle should be able to shoulder most of the load. In the secondary, Hill was projected to be one of the starting outside cornerbacks this year, which was especially crucial this season following the losses of Chase Lucas and Jack Jones to the NFL. Timarcus Davis will step into Hill's role, while a rotation of Ro Torrence, Keon Markham, and others will help to cover up this loss (no pun intended). Host Richie Bradshaw gives his detailed analysis of these losses on this edition of the Locked On Sun Devils podcast.

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