LB Straker finds way with team
JONESBORO — A little more than a week before the start of fall camp, Melique Straker made his first visit to Arkansas State. He hadn’t played a football game in nearly two years — Straker was on Carleton (Canada) College’s roster for the 2019-20 season, but the Ravens didn’t play last fall because of covid-19.
By the end of a private workout with Coach Butch Jones and linebackers coach Jon Shalala, the Red Wolves were all but ready to add Straker to the roster, and after they watched film, ASU offered the Brampton, Ontario, native.
Straker broke down crying.
The sophomore probably wasn’t in tears Saturday after logging his first six NCAA tackles at Washington, only Straker’s second game since becoming a Red Wolf. Bright spots for ASU’s defense have been rare, particularly over the course of consecutive games in which it’s surrendered 50plus points.
“He’s a little undersized for his position, but he makes up for it with a lot of a lot of heart,” defensive end Kivon Bennett said of Straker, who’s worked in at the hybrid linebackersafety spot behind starter Anthony Switzer. “He just came in and was ready to do his job, so the coaches are comfortable with him out there, they’ve deemed that he knows what he needs to do. … He’s just a super hard worker.”
Straker moved across the border, playing high school football at Saint Francis in Hamburg, New York, only a two-hour drive from Brampton, a Toronto suburb. But he stayed close with another football player from his hometown, John Metchie, who is Alabama’s top wide receiver.
Jones and Metchie developed a close relationship during the ASU coach’s time as an analyst with the Crimson Tide, so when Straker was looking for another chance to play college football in the U.S. — per 247Sports, he didn’t have any NCAA offers out of high school in 2019 — Metchie urged his former coach to take a look.
The day before the start of fall camp, Straker posted on his Twitter page that he’d committed to the Red Wolves.
“We’re excited about his future,” Jones said of Straker. “He’s learning the nuances of the game. … But he’s very driven, very explosive, very aggressive and cerebral as well. He’s going to continue to get nothing but better and better for us.”
Straker still isn’t listed on the Red Wolves’ depth chart —true freshman Cam Jeffery is currently penciled in the second-string spot.
Yet in just one game, he managed the same number of tackles as linebacker Dane Motley, who’s started all three games this season. That instant impact could mean an increased role over the coming weeks, and Straker isn’t the only ASU defender who impressed against the Huskies.
Junior college transfer cornerback Leon Jones hauled in an interception Saturday afternoon to go with three tackles and a pass breakup. After taking the bulk of the snaps at left cornerback, opposite Jarius Reimonenq, the Red Wolves have Jones set to make his first collegiate start Saturday against Tulsa.
“We were going to cover 3 [defense] and [Leon] is supposed to midpoint two vertical routes,” Jones said. “He does that and he comes up with an interception. Every play has a job description and you’re starting to see them execute that.”