Right tackle 'a total different world' for Jonah Savaiinaea, Arizona's 'gifted offensive lineman'

New hair, new position on the offensive line for Jonah Savaiinaea. Maybe.

Savaiinaea, Arizona’s Freshman All-American at right guard last season, dyed his hair blonde last week. But donning a new hairstyle isn’t the only change in Savaiinaea’s life.

Recently in Arizona’s spring practices, Savaiinaea has received starting reps at right tackle, one of the current vacancies on the offensive lines.

When Savaiinaea was recruited by the Wildcats out of Hawaii powerhouse St. Louis High School in Honolulu, he thought guard would always be his position.

“I came here as a guard, but whatever (offensive line coach Brennan Carroll) wants me to play, I’m here,” Savaiinaea said.

Carroll said “the genesis of said idea is something we’ve always had a thought of,” but it didn’t come to fruition until after the Territorial Cup win to end last season.

“Last year it was easier to start him at guard, his natural position, and we had the opportunity this spring, so we talked about it after the season probably,” Carroll said.

Then, “BC hit me up and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to put you outside this offseason,’ and here we are,” Savaiinaea said.

During the Wildcats’ first scrimmage of spring ball on Saturday, Savaiinaea started alongside right guard Sam Langi, center Josh Baker, left guard Wendell Moe and left tackle Joe Borjon.

Arizona coach Jedd Fisch said Savaiinaea potentially starting at right tackle is “a legitimate look for us to see how he does there.”

“We’re trying to figure out the offensive line,” Fisch said. “Not having (left tackle) Jordan (Morgan) all spring, we kind of know where Jordan is going to play, so we want to see what it looks like at replacing Paiton (Fears) at right tackle.”

In the infancy stages of his tackle career, so far, so good for Savaiinaea.

“I had to hold his hand a little bit, but he made it through it,” Carroll said. “There’s a lot of carryover in the run, carryover in the quick-passing game, but these guys have been working on it and he’s been working on it all spring, in case we needed to try it out.

“He’s a good athlete, so he’s made the transition pretty well. We just wanted to try a bunch of guys at different spots, kind of like we’ve always done, to have more versatility if we need to make that move.”

At guard, wedged between the center and tackle, Savaiinaea sometimes relied on combo-blocking with his O-line cohorts and monitored everything directly in front of him and on the left side of the field. At right tackle, there are more individual matchups with quicker and sometimes longer defensive linemen — and every so often the tackle has to be cautious of blitzing cornerbacks and outside linebackers.

“It’s a total different world coming from an interior position. I get ... help on the inside,” Savaiinaea said. “On the outside, I’m on an island; I’m like one on one almost 90% of the time.”

Thankfully for Savaiinaea, Fears and Morgan, arguably Arizona’s top offensive lineman who continues to rehab a knee injury, have served as guides during the transition.

“Even though he’s not here, I DM’d him and I’m watching a lot of his film from last year,” Savaiinaea said of Fears.

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If the move becomes permanent, Savaiinaea’s goal before preseason training camp is to shed roughly 10 pounds to move into the 320-pound range; currently, Savaiinaea said his weight ranges from 325-330 pounds. When Savaiinaea first arrived on the UA campus last year, he weighed in at 347 pounds.

“My main focus when I came here was to drop my weight, especially because it’s a whole new level of football and I’m going to be going up against quicker guys,” Savaiinaea said.

Besides Savaiinaea and Borjon, redshirt freshman Jacob Reece and true freshman Rhino Tapa’atoutai have been the Wildcats’ other main tackles during team periods at practice.

“It’s such a great opportunity. We’ve got two lines, and these guys are getting a ton of reps,” Carroll said. “Rhino and Reece are getting a lion’s share of reps out there, and it’s been great for them.

“These guys understand when these new guys come in, they’re going to get their shot to play early. They’re going to get their shot with the (starters) early on in camp, and let’s see how they do. This is their time to tear it up and show what they got. They know they’ve got new guys coming in.”

Arizona will add former Alabama commit and four-star lineman Raymond Pulido, a 6-6, 345-pounder, and 6-7, 285-pounder Elijha Payne to its offensive line this summer. Until those two arrive, the Wildcats are experimenting with Savaiinaea at right tackle.

“We’ve got some young guys coming in, but they’re not here yet other than Rhino,” Fisch said. “Right now with the numbers, we got to see what Jonah can do, and Jonah is playing really well at tackle.

“He’s a gifted offensive lineman.”

Extra points

Carroll on Baker, who sat out last spring with a pectoral injury: “He’s gained confidence having done the job before, so I think it’s easier the second time around in spring. ... Now he’s finally gotten a spring under him as a guy going into the starting spot.”

Savaiinaea on facing his younger brother, freshman defensive lineman Julian Savaiinaea, who was a part of the the UA’s 2023 recruiting class, in practice: “It goes back to high school when I was a guard and he was a D-tackle, we’d just go at it and try to compete.”

Carroll on redshirt sophomore JT Hand moving from center to guard: “He’s really quick. ... He’s a guy that’s done fantastic in the weight room. He’s strong, he’s quick and he can be a little bit more aggressive at guard than he can at center. It’s a good spot for him.”

After sitting out for over a week with a hamstring injury, tight end Tanner McLachlan returned to practice and the starting lineup on Tuesday.

Linebacker Jacob Manu remained sidelined with a right hand injury. He also missed the scrimmage on Saturday. Oregon transfer Justin Flowe and Washington transfer Daniel Heimuli started at linebacker. Flowe sacked quarterback Jayden de Laura.

Kicker Tyler Loop made a 50-yard field goal attempt on Tuesday. In the last two seasons, Loop didn’t attempt a field goal of 50 yards or longer. During that span, Loop is 7 for 9 on field goals of 40-49 yards. His career long is 48 yards.

Arizona hosted a handful of recruits on Tuesday. Among them: 2025 running backs Julian McMahan, a 6-2, 195-pound prospect from Danville, California, and 5-9, 175-pound Carter Jackson from Granite Bay, California. Jensen Somerville, a 6-7, 280-pound 2024 offensive tackle from Lehi, Utah, also watched practice.