Malik Lawal

Arizona State’s young crop of linebackers will be down two veterans in 2019 as rising seniors Malik Lawal and Jay Jay Wilson are set to transfer from the program before next season.

According to sources, both of the fifth-year seniors will pursue graduate transfers to other schools, which would make them eligible to play immediately.

Wilson’s move had been expected, after the 6-foot-3, 243-pound linebacker used the NCAA’s new redshirted rule in 2018, playing in only four games to maintain one more season of eligibility. Lawal is expected to earn his undergraduate degree at the end of the spring or summer semester and transfer thereafter.

Entering last season, both Wilson and Lawal appeared to be in line for prominent roles in coach Herm Edwards’ first season and were the starting outside linebackers at the beginning of preseason camp.

But Wilson, a former four-star prospect from Valencia, California, was suspended for ASU’s season opener against Texas-San Antonio for a violation of team rules, then suffered a foot injury in the team’s loss at Washington that kept him sidelined for most of the middle portion of the season.

He came back and played the first half against Oregon, when freshman starter Merlin Robertson was suspended for a previous game’s targeting call, but didn’t dress for the team’s regular-season finale against Arizona or in the Sun Devils’ bowl game loss to Fresno State.

“This new redshirt rule has left options,” defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said in November, hinting that Wilson was being purposely held out of games late in the season to preserve his redshirt. "He has options, we have options."

In his four games in 2018, Wilson recorded just 11 tackles and 0.5 for loss.

Lawal, a former three-star recruit from Temecula, Calif., started the season’s first two games and three of its first five before eventually getting passed on the depth chart by Robertson and redshirt freshman Tyler Johnson. The 6-foot-1, 228-pound tackler finished the season with 21 stops, 3.5 sacks and one forced fumble, though appeared unlikely to regain a starting role in 2019 over ASU’s other promising youngsters at the position. The Sun Devils return all three starters (Robertson, Johnson and rising sophomore middle linebacker Darien Butler) next season.

With the departure of the pair of seniors, ASU will enter spring practice next month with seven scholarship linebackers on roster (including redshirt freshmen Stanley Lambert, who tore ligaments in his knee during bowl practices and will miss spring ball). Of that group, senior linebacker Khaylan Kearse-Thomas will be the only upperclassman.

The Sun Devils did not sign a linebacker during last month’s early signing period, though could still add players at the position in their 2019 recruiting class when the traditional signing period opens earlier next month.