ASU Football Recruiting: Local linebacker Ismael Murphy-Richardson commits to the Sun Devils

Desert Edge High School outside linebacker Ismael Murphy-Richardson from Goodyear, Ariz. gave his commitment to play for the Sun Devils Sunday night, according to Jason Jewell of 247 Sports.

Confirmed 100% that Goodyear Az. Desert Edge OLB Ismael Murphy-Richardson has committed to Arizona State. @GregBiggins @BrandonHuffman

— Jason Jewell (@jason247scout) January 20, 2014

Murphy-Richardson stands a towering 6-foot-5 and weighs in at 210 pounds making him a potential candidate to compete for the "Devil" backer position which will be up for grabs come spring and fall camp. His main competition will most likely include Chans Cox and Viliami Latu.

Rivals.com, ESPN, and Scout.com all rank Murphy-Richardon as a three-star recruit. Scout has Murphy-Richardson as the 45th best linebacker in the 2014 class, Rivals has him higher at No. 22, while ESPN ranks him the lowest at No. 58. His 40-yard dash time falls somewhere in the 4.6 range according to Rivals.

Murphy-Richardson is highly sought after and fielded offers from many other major Division I schools such as Texas A&M, Oklahoma, USC, Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, UCLA, Washington and Arizona. ASUDevils.com reportedly spoke with Murphy-Richardson's coach at Desert Edge who talked about his recruitment.

Desert Edge coach Rich Wellbrock said that TAMU coach Kevin Sumlin was at his school Friday and pushing hard for Murphy-Richardson

— ASUDevils.com (@ASUDevilscom) January 20, 2014

An ESPN scouting report of Richardson noted that he had good initial quickness and solid tackling ability but needed to develop more physically to fill out his frame. Murphy-Richardson is the 26th overall commitment in the Sun Devils 2014 recruiting class. He is the third linebacker commitment in the class joining Christian Sam and D.J. Calhoun.

National Signing Day, when Murphy-Richardson and the rest of the Sun Devil recruiting class can sign their national letters of intent to play for ASU is approaching quickly and will take place on Feb. 5.

Murphy Richardson's highlight tape can be seen below.