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Tatums C.J.
Fite ready to lead Arizona State into 2026 football season Published 10:50 am Monday, July 13, 2026 FRISCO C.J.
Fite has accomplished plenty during his time at Arizona State.
The former Tatum High School standout has played in 38 games and racked up 78 tackles.
He is coming off of a season where he had 29 tackles and a career-high 6.5 tackles for loss.
As a sophomore in 2024, the defensive tackle had 30 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery in helping the Sun Devils win the Big 12 and reach the College Football playoff.
His eight tackles for loss or no gain tied for fifth among Big 12 interior linemen.
His 16 defensive stops on run were ninth among Big 12 interior players.
As a freshman in 2023, Fite played the fourth-most snaps of any true freshman defender in the Pac-12 and most among defensive linemen.
He was in the top 50 among true freshmen defenders in the FBS in snaps played, and his 350 snaps were third among true freshmen interior defensive linemen in the FBS.
Among FBS freshmen, his 71.3 grade from Pro Football Focus on run defense was fifth in the country.
And it was 13th among all Pac-12 interior defenders.
Now, entering his senior season Fite would be eligible to play in 2027 also under the NCAAs new 5 for 5 rule that will give student-athletes five years to complete five seasons of competition Fite is looking to lead the Sun Devils to more success after the Sun Devils went 8-5 overall and 6-3 in the Big 12, tying for fourth place in the conference.
Its always the goal to achieve these trophies and titles and things like that, Fite said at Big 12 Media Days July 7 at the Ford Center in Frisco.
But once you have that as your main priority and the forefront of your mind, then its like you forget about all the things that go along with the process.
So, thats what weve been worried about is the process.We literally have a calendar and we check off each day.
Like, did I win or lose this day? Why did I lose? Why did I win? Just making sure you focus on the details and the little things that we talk about in life, and just be able to talk about those and really have those in our daily lives and turn into who we are.
Fite is on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team for the second straight season.
Im just trying to help the team as much as I can, Fite said.
Im trying to step into the leadership role as much as I can, as much as the team needs me.
Thats been my biggest goal this year.
Obviously, I have goals for myself and how much I want to improve in my abilities and my pass rush, and my run game, things like that.
But I just want to continue to help the team as much as possible.
So this year, Ive been worried about my leadership role, being able to be in front of the guys and lead the guys from the front, and just be able to just be the guy that the guys look to.
Fite is joined on the Arizona State roster by three other East Texans: defensive back Montana Warren (Marshall/Henderson/Elysian Fields/Jefferson), defensive back Lyrik Rawls (Marshall/Jefferson) and athlete Clayton Smith (Texas High).
Fite, Warren and Smith have been at Arizona State together, and Rawls joins the trio this year after transferring from Big 12 foe Kansas.
Its always cool to have someone you can relate to, Fite said.
So now to add Lyrik in there, to have somebody thats from like 15 minutes down the road, along with me and Montana, its just so cool.
Lyrik played on my brothers little league basketball team.
So, having guys that know each other, know certain things about each other and only certain things that people can relate to.
Like, somebody from East Texas isnt going to relate to somebody from Dallas at certain points.
But even though you both are from Texas, its different places, different cultures.
So to be able to have more people, just to relate to, have those conversations with, its fun.
The Sun Devils open the 2026 season against Morgan State Sept.
5 in Tempe, Arizona.
Arizona State comes to Texas twice this season.
The Sun Devils play at Texas A&M on Sept.
12 and at Texas Tech on Oct.
17.
If the Sun Devils reach the Big 12 Championship, they would make a third trip to Texas to play Dec.
4 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.