TEMPE – Sun Devil Football had three players – RB Kalen Ballage (Miami Dolphins), LB Christian Sam (New England Patriots) and OL Sam Jones (Denver Broncos) – selected during Saturday's third and final day of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Ballage was selected in the fourth round (131st overall selection) while Sam (178th overall selection) and Jones (183rd overall selection) both had their names called in the sixth round.
Saturday's selections bring ASU's all-time total of draft selections to 249 with 90 of those drafted since 1990. Ballage and Sam become the first running back and linebacker, respectively, to be selected in the draft since Marion Grice and Carl Bradford went in the 2014 Draft. Jones is the third Sun Devil offensive lineman to be selected in four years joining recent standouts Christian Westerman (2016) and Jamil Douglas (2015).
Ballage, who accounted for 3,721 all-purpose yards in 47 career games, had 14 rushing touchdowns as a junior in 2016, making him just the fourth Sun Devil since 2000 to reach double digits and moved him into a tie for the seventh most single-season rushing touchdowns in ASU history. He finished 26th in the nation in rushing touchdowns (14) that season and 34th among all position players with 94 total points scored. Ballage tied the FBS single-game record in 2016 with eight total touchdowns (7 rushing, 1 receiving) against Texas Tech. He also tied the FBS record for touchdowns in a quarter with four in the second quarter of that contest.
Ballage had six rushing touchdowns as a senior and finished with 27 in his career, finishing just outside ASU's all-time Top-5 in the category (the threshold being 28 rushing TDs). He became the 26th Sun Devil to eclipse 3,000 career all-purpose yards and his 29 career touchdowns overall were 10th in Sun Devil history. He finished with 1,984 career rushing yards. Ballage helped the Sun Devils rush for 1,188 yards in the final four games of the 2017 season (297 yards per game), accounting for 55.0 percent of the team's total yards on the year.
Sam earned All-Pac-12 second-team honors from the AP and All-Pac-12 honorable mention recognition from the coaches after finishing the 2017 season ranked second in the nation and first in the Pac-12 in solo tackles per game (7.3) and seventh in the nation and first in the Pac-12 in combined tackles per game (10.6). Sam reached double-digit in tackles in seven consecutive games prior to the UCLA contest in 2017, more than any other Sun Devil had accomplished since at least 2000 - let alone in consecutive games. He would end up reaching double figures in tackles nine times in 2017. Sam's 127 total tackles in 2017 were third among Power Five linebackers while his 87 solo tackles were second in the country. The 87 solo tackles were tied for fourth in ASU history and the most since Adam Archuleta had 93 in 2000.
Over the last three years Sam was responsible for 13 of the 34 instances in which a Sun Devil reached double-digit tackles in a game. Eleven different Sun Devils accounted for the other 21 occurrences.
A starter in 23 of 32 career games, Jones earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention recognition in 2017. Jones, who will return to his native state of Colorado (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) started every game for the Sun Devils last season and helped pace the offensive line to an impressive turnaround in the running game. ASU had the 34th-best run-blocking game in 2017 as graded by Pro Football Focus after finishing with the 39th worst run-blocking score in the country in 2016. Jones led the charge and finished as the only guard in the Pac-12 to not give up a sack of a quarterback on the season. He was 24th nationally among guards with a 98.5 pass blocking efficiency rating according to Pro Football Focus – third among Pac-12 guards.
Jones' contributions on the offensive line played a major role in helping ASU conclude the 2017 campaign with a 3,000-yard passer (Manny Wilkins) and a 1,000-yard rusher (Demario Richard). Jones' blocking helped the Sun Devils account for 1,188 rushing yards (297.0 per game) over the last four contests of 2017.
Ballage was selected in the fourth round (131st overall selection) while Sam (178th overall selection) and Jones (183rd overall selection) both had their names called in the sixth round.
Saturday's selections bring ASU's all-time total of draft selections to 249 with 90 of those drafted since 1990. Ballage and Sam become the first running back and linebacker, respectively, to be selected in the draft since Marion Grice and Carl Bradford went in the 2014 Draft. Jones is the third Sun Devil offensive lineman to be selected in four years joining recent standouts Christian Westerman (2016) and Jamil Douglas (2015).
Ballage, who accounted for 3,721 all-purpose yards in 47 career games, had 14 rushing touchdowns as a junior in 2016, making him just the fourth Sun Devil since 2000 to reach double digits and moved him into a tie for the seventh most single-season rushing touchdowns in ASU history. He finished 26th in the nation in rushing touchdowns (14) that season and 34th among all position players with 94 total points scored. Ballage tied the FBS single-game record in 2016 with eight total touchdowns (7 rushing, 1 receiving) against Texas Tech. He also tied the FBS record for touchdowns in a quarter with four in the second quarter of that contest.
Welcome to Miami, Kalen Ballage!!#NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/ku8FYqAgc5
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) April 28, 2018
Ballage had six rushing touchdowns as a senior and finished with 27 in his career, finishing just outside ASU's all-time Top-5 in the category (the threshold being 28 rushing TDs). He became the 26th Sun Devil to eclipse 3,000 career all-purpose yards and his 29 career touchdowns overall were 10th in Sun Devil history. He finished with 1,984 career rushing yards. Ballage helped the Sun Devils rush for 1,188 yards in the final four games of the 2017 season (297 yards per game), accounting for 55.0 percent of the team's total yards on the year.
Sam earned All-Pac-12 second-team honors from the AP and All-Pac-12 honorable mention recognition from the coaches after finishing the 2017 season ranked second in the nation and first in the Pac-12 in solo tackles per game (7.3) and seventh in the nation and first in the Pac-12 in combined tackles per game (10.6). Sam reached double-digit in tackles in seven consecutive games prior to the UCLA contest in 2017, more than any other Sun Devil had accomplished since at least 2000 - let alone in consecutive games. He would end up reaching double figures in tackles nine times in 2017. Sam's 127 total tackles in 2017 were third among Power Five linebackers while his 87 solo tackles were second in the country. The 87 solo tackles were tied for fourth in ASU history and the most since Adam Archuleta had 93 in 2000.
Sam's the man at pick no. 178.
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 28, 2018
Hello, @ShowinStatsSam! #PatsDraft pic.twitter.com/5INNf1tHGu
Over the last three years Sam was responsible for 13 of the 34 instances in which a Sun Devil reached double-digit tackles in a game. Eleven different Sun Devils accounted for the other 21 occurrences.
A starter in 23 of 32 career games, Jones earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention recognition in 2017. Jones, who will return to his native state of Colorado (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) started every game for the Sun Devils last season and helped pace the offensive line to an impressive turnaround in the running game. ASU had the 34th-best run-blocking game in 2017 as graded by Pro Football Focus after finishing with the 39th worst run-blocking score in the country in 2016. Jones led the charge and finished as the only guard in the Pac-12 to not give up a sack of a quarterback on the season. He was 24th nationally among guards with a 98.5 pass blocking efficiency rating according to Pro Football Focus – third among Pac-12 guards.
The hometown kid's coming ??!
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) April 28, 2018
Welcome to #BroncosCountry, Sam Jones! pic.twitter.com/3ByVxdB8UW
Jones' contributions on the offensive line played a major role in helping ASU conclude the 2017 campaign with a 3,000-yard passer (Manny Wilkins) and a 1,000-yard rusher (Demario Richard). Jones' blocking helped the Sun Devils account for 1,188 rushing yards (297.0 per game) over the last four contests of 2017.