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Royce O’Neale has been ruled out with left knee soreness for the Phoenix Suns’ matchup against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.
Additionally, Grayson Allen (left knee soreness) and Haywood Highsmith (right knee injury management) are questionable.
Mark Williams (left foot third metatarsal stress reaction) and Dillon Brooks (left hand fracture) remain out.
O’Neale, who is missing his first game of the season on Thursday, is 9.9 points on 41.6% shooting and 40.3% from 3-point range, while registering 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. O’Neale scored nine points while registering two rebounds, two assists and three steals in Tuesday’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Allen, who missed Tuesday’s game due to left knee soreness, has missed 24 games this season due to various ailments, including a right quad contusion, illness and knee soreness. In 44 games, Allen is averaging 17.2 points on 40.7% shooting and 35.3% from 3-point range, while registering with 4.1 assists and three rebounds per game.
Suns-Spurs tips off from Frost Bank Center in San Antonio at 5 p.m. MST. Listen to the game on 98.7, ArizonaSports.com or the Arizona Sports app.
Following the legal tampering period and start to the new league year, we’re onto the next phase of the NFL offseason.
Roster construction continues but at a slower pace after the free agency frenzy last week and with the 2026 NFL Draft on the horizon.
The Arizona Cardinals brought in some key additions and rounded out a few position groups, headlined by running back and wide receiver. But they could still use upgrades at multiple positions ahead of the season.
A look at the biggest areas left to address — using both with an immediate and future scope — this offseason:
The Cardinals made sure to beef up the interior offensive line with the addition of Isaac Seumalo on a three-year deal.
They also brought back Elijah Wilkinson, who played guard for the franchise in 2023 but started every game at right tackle for Atlanta last year, on a one-year deal.
He’s bound to be in the mix for the starting role this year given the room’s makeup but is far from a long-term answer at the position.
That person has yet to walk through the doors at the team’s training facility. And that fact is a big reason why Arizona has been linked to Miami offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa and to a lesser extent Utah’s Spencer Fano this offseason.
The 6-foot-5, 329-pound Mauigoa was a consistent presence along the Miami offensive line the past three seasons and allowed just one sack in his final year with the program.
For a team looking for a bookend opposite Paris Johnson Jr., Mauigoa fits the bill.
Landing the big man is going to cost the Cardinals a pretty penny in the form of the No. 3 overall pick, but the reward could be well worth its high price.
Josh Sweat was in his bag last year, posting a career-high 12 sacks and four forced fumbles to go along with 13 tackles for loss and 17 QB hits.
The rest of the outside linebackers accounted for just 5.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss and 19 QB hits. Baron Browning was second in the room with two sacks, followed by Zaven Collins (1.5), Jordan Burch (one) and BJ Ojulari (one).
The drop-off from Sweat to the other pass rushers on the team was substantial, with new blood needed in 2026.
Landing a premium free-agent pass rusher seems out of the question just a year removed from the Sweat signing. Getting his next running mate in the draft is very much a possibility, though.
Texas Tech’s David Bailey and Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. present two realistic options for Arizona to consider with the No. 3 overall pick. Ohio State’s Arvell Reese is in the mix, too, but presents more of a hybrid option at the position.
The pair of All-Americans, who both met with the Cardinals at the NFL Draft Combine, showed out in their final respective seasons in college, with Bailey posting high marks of 14.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss. He added to his draft resume with a strong combine showing.
The Cardinals could very well get their pick of the two when they’re on the clock at No. 3.
Adding either should give Arizona a much-needed boost off the edge.
There was no way I was going to leave this exercise without at least mentioning Arizona’s quarterback situation.
Sure, Arizona’s quarterbacks room looks about filled up with Jacoby Brissett expected to start this year, followed by recent signing Gardner Minshew and 2025 holdover Kedon Slovis.
In terms of 2026, the need is low for the position given the addition of Minshew. They could theoretically get through the year with that trio, though based on the fan reaction, that won’t sit well for many.
But from a long-term lens, quarterback still looms large.
The one known fact about the position? It’s not going to include former franchise quarterback Kyler Murray, who recently signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings as the second act of his career begins.
After that, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will take over as Arizona’s next franchise arm.
One way to potentially clear that up sooner rather than later is looking to this year’s draft for a possible solution.
Alabama’s Ty Simpson represents the top quarterback prospect not named Fernando Mendoza. He’s also not going to cost a No. 1 overall pick to get.
The quarterback is trending toward going late in the first round of the draft if not early in the second. If it’s the latter scenario, the Cardinals have the draft capital to nab the signal caller with the No. 34 overall pick (the second selection of the second round).
But even if Arizona has to maneuver its way back into the first round, the trade package likely won’t hurt the wallet. Pair the No. 34 pick with another piece of later-round draft capital and keep it moving. That is unless Simpson is being eyed more in the middle of the first round as ESPN’s Mel Kiper predicted in his most recent mock draft.
If the Cardinals are going to take a flier on a rookie quarterback this year without completely selling the farm, Simpson is atop the list.
Arizona could also take a look later in the draft at the Carson Becks, Drew Allars and Garrett Nussmeiers of the world and likely wouldn’t have to give up extra assets in landing either of them. Simpson, however, has more upside.
“I would love to be a Cardinal. I think that they’re a great organization,” Simpson told reporters during the NFL Draft Combine. “They got a young team and I would be super blessed to play for them.”
Arizona’s defensive line was anchored by Calais Campbell and his 6.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss and 16 QB hits last year.
The only problem? He’s currently a free agent with retirement very much an option.
2025 first-round pick Walter Nolen III flashed why he was taken on Day 1 of the draft but failed to stay healthy for a full season, headlined by a season-ending knee injury he’s still recovering from.
Nolen is squarely on the roster, but will he be good to go by Week 1? It’s unclear at this point.
Take those two out of the equation — even with the moves made this free agency — and more depth is needed.
Darius Robinson must take a step forward in Year 3. Dante Stills and L.J. Collier provided good rotation pieces, Roy Lopez could slide right back into his starting role along the inside and Jonah Williams brings some new flavor to the room.
But after those players, there isn’t much to work with for a defensive coordinator who loves to rotate defensive linemen regularly.
Mack Wilson Sr. and Cody Simon make up the top two options at inside linebacker this year. It’s also Wilson’s final year on his current contract. And while Simon got a lot of reps last season, he’s still got plenty to learn about the position at the NFL level.
Owen Pappoe is one of the more athletic players the Cardinals have on the roster but has struggled to carve out a bigger defensive role since coming aboard in 2023.
Jack Gibbens is coming off eight starts in 17 games played last year.
The need for another young addition is clearly there.
Ohio State’s Sonny Styles is getting a lot of love (and rightfully so) as the top inside linebacker prospect this NFL Draft. He, however, will not be there the next time Arizona is on the clock in the second round.
He’s an option to go No. 3 overall, though Francis Mauigoa and David Bailey are higher on the priorities list.
The Arizona Cardinals signed tight end Teagan Quitoriano to a one-year contract on Wednesday.
Quitoriano appeared in 17 games (one start) for the Atlanta Falcons last year. He did not record a catch but did have two tackles on special teams, where he spent most of his time playing.
The tight end entered the league as a 2022 fifth-round pick with the Houston Texans. He spent three seasons in Houston (2022-24) before heading to Atlanta.
His best season statistically as a pro came in 2022 behind seven catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns, as he has been used more as a blocking tight end offensively across his four-year career.
Quitoriano now helps fill out a tight ends room that is headlined by Trey McBride. Elijah Higgins marks another top option in the room, with Tip Reiman Arizona’s unquestioned blocking tight end.
More depth at the position doesn’t hurt, especially after seeing Reiman go down early on in 2025 and greatly impacting the team’s offensive approach after the fact.
There’s also the fact that Mike LaFleur, Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams offense ran 13 personnel (one running back and three tight ends) more than anyone else in the league last year at a rate of 30.4%, according to Sumer Sports.
Some of that is bound to transfer over to the LaFleur-led offense in Arizona.
Arizona State women’s basketball is preparing for its first NCAA Tournament game since 2019, but head coach Molly Miller is not yet with the team ahead of its First Four game.
According to Sun Devil athletics, Miller “didn’t travel with the team due to illness, but we are hopeful she will be in Iowa soon.”
ASU went 24-10 in its first season under Miller, taking one of the last remaining at-large spots for the tournament. The Sun Devils need to beat Virginia on Thursday at 6 p.m. on ESPN2 to reach the First Round.
Associate head coach Stephanie Norman, filling in for Miller, called it a “precarious situation.”
“Obviously, our leader is not here. And we’re hoping for the best, so she can recover and be with our team,” Norman told reporters Wednesday. “That’s kind of the status, it’s hour to hour. I’m hoping she’s taking care of all of the things that she can in her power.
“We miss her dearly, but at the same time we have a job to do, so we’re focused on that.”
Norman, who played at ASU (1984-88), spent the previous 18 seasons on the Louisville staff, reaching the Sweet 16 or better 12 times.
TEMPE — When Arizona State football begins its session of spring practices on Thursday, there will be a markedly different feel from the previous one.
This will be coach Kenny Dillingham’s fourth season at ASU, and the pendulum is swinging dramatically from when he entered his third spring with a roster packed with veterans — many of whom did not participate for much of the spring because the coach already knew what they brought to the table. There was no need to risk injury.
This year will be a bit of a return to syllabus day for the coaches as well as the players.
“A lot of guys don’t know how we operate. Us as a staff, we’re going to try to become more efficient,” Dillingham said Tuesday. “Our goal is to be 20% more efficient this spring by cutting down some periods, changing a little bit how we structure some things … a little bit different to get the same amount of work done in 20% less of the time.
“I’m excited to see these guys work. I’m excited to see our staff work with a new group.”
As far as who won’t be participating, several players are dealing with injuries: defensive linemen Zac Swanson and My’Keil Gardner, defensive back Boogie Wilson, wide receivers Derek Eusebio and Harry Hassmann, running back Marquis Gillis (out for only the first few days) and defensive end Ramar Williams.
Defensive tackle C.J. Fite, who Dillingham highlighted as one of the group’s most valuable leaders in the early stages, will miss at least the first half of the spring and “maybe even more … especially for team periods.” It was not immediately clear if his situation was injury-related or due to his veteran status.
Dillingham did not indicate an impact on the fall season beyond being “hopeful” that Swanson and Gardner can get right in time to be in shape for the fall. The two may have challenged for regular defensive tackle snaps in 2025, but injuries limited Swanson to 28 snaps and Gardner to none.
The priors on how Boley ended up at ASU were intriguing enough: the signal caller stayed in his home state at Kentucky, committing in 2023 to offensive coordinator Liam Coen — who would then go 13-4 as an NFL head coach about 18 months later — and was recruited by Dillingham while the now-ASU coach was at Oregon.
Boley has 11 more games under his belt with eight SEC starts than Sam Leavitt’s limited Big Ten action at the time of his own transfer. Boley has nearly 20 times as many passing yards as Leavitt did coming in (2,498 to 139) with about the same touchdown-to-interception ratio (17-16 to 2-2).
And according to Dillingham, everything he saw when evaluating the film that led him to believe in a very high ceiling has shown up in cognitive testing that ASU uses, known as the S2 Cognition test. It’s one of the tools NFL teams use when evaluating draft prospects.
“I’m not going to release his score, but his score was really, really, really, really good,” Dillingham said. “You, like, have to touch buttons and it has a whole bunch of things that are way above my knowledge, but it correlates basically processing on the field, your ability to learn, how you learn.
“So that just kind of affirmed what I saw on tape.”
He’ll have a seasoned veteran — and Valley local — in Mikey Keene competing with and supporting him, boasting nearly 800 completions over his college career and having led the Mountain West in completion percentage twice (67.1% and 70.5%).
A lot was made about Dillingham’s more active role in playcalling during the 39-point effort in the Sun Bowl where ASU came three points shy of a season high.
The coach said that it will continue into this season, and that it’s something he gets a lot of joy out of.
“I’ve always been involved in both sides of the ball … but my teeth were cut on offense and I like it,” Dillingham said. “I like to coach, like believe it or not, like it’s fun. I enjoy it and I want to do it again, actually coach, so I am going to get back involved.”
It will be his third season working with offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo, whose role won’t change, Dillingham said.
“Marcus and I already have worked together at a high rate. It just means I’m going to be obviously running around a little more. … It’s a positive when the guy in the meetings next to you and that you’re talking to about scheme was the runner-up for the Broyles (Award) 15 months ago,” he added.
One of the players who flashed real potential in that Sun Bowl performance was then-redshirt freshman Jason Brown Jr. He had 134 yards on 13 carries, nearly double the seven career carries he had before the postseason matchup.
He would be most fans’ answers for who should start in 2026, but there’s another player back who appeared to be the starter entering 2025: Kyson Brown. Cam Skattebo’s backup in 2024, he missed the back half of 2025 with a nagging ankle injury, but Dillingham said he’s healthy now.
Because of the talent between those two, along with two productive FCS backs who joined the fold in Gillis (Delaware State) and David Avit (Villanova), Dillingham said the talent may warrant more multiple-back sets.
“I think that room’s probably one of the most up-in-air rooms we have,” Dillingham said. “We’re going to be a little more 20, 21 personnel [two running backs and zero or one tight end] this year. That room’s got to have a more versatile role because we have so many backs.”
Smith, who has accumulated 13 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss across all three Dillingham-led ASU seasons to this point, will get a shot at being an offensive weapon this spring, mainly in tight end-types of roles.
His extra year of eligibility stemmed from a year at Oklahoma where injuries limited him to four games played as a redshirt freshman.
The 6-foot-4, 255-pound athlete had a one-off rep where he caught a touchdown over wide receiver Jalen Moss last spring, but that was just a fun moment to break up monotony and didn’t have real intent behind it.
“He already knows our defensive system, he already knows what we want to get accomplished, the techniques,” Dillingham said. “He was a really good wideout in high school. He’s shown that a few times in practice when we’ve had fun with it.
“But I really think this is an opportunity for us to see can he actually become a weapon on that side of the ball and can he be a guy who … does both?”
Dillingham said the rest of the defensive end room gives him the comfort to try the switch, with new transfers such as Jalen Thompson (Michigan State) and Emar’rion Winston (Baylor) added to the fold. Kirtland Vakalahi could have an immediate impact as a JUCO transfer as well.
Albert Smith III is another year older after getting his first career sack, tackle for loss and pass defensed as a redshirt freshman in 2025.
Jack Nudo is the full-time special teams coordinator now after taking on the role midseason when Charlie Ragle took a medical leave of absence. Nudo has his own assistant, with former NFL punter Mike Scifres joining the fold as a specialists coach.
Nudo will handle more of the schematic details of special teams while Scifres can work with the kickers and punters on technical, fundamental tweaks. Dillingham said recent rule changes allowed for the expanded role that Scifres is taking on.
“(Nudo has) done a great job at places he’s been in the past, got a great energy, great passion. The guys really liked him,” Dillingham said. “I thought he did a really good job at the end of the eyar and I’m excited about that.”
While some of the personnel will be the same — with Kanyon Floyd back at punter flanked by Ohio State transfer Nick McLarty — there are other areas with big shoes that need filling, like at kicker.
Jesus Gomez turned the kicking game around for ASU in 2025, and Carson Smith was picked as this year’s newcomer. Smith worked with Nudo at previous stops at Austin Peay and East Carolina.
