Kevin Sumlin and his staff have been working to transform the Arizona Wildcats’ roster. Whether they’ll be around to see the fruits of their labor remains to be seen.
Unofficially, Arizona has 74 scholarship players who conceivably could play at some point this season. Sumlin’s staff brought in 46 of them. He was hired in January 2018.
The Wildcats have 27 scholarship offensive and defensive linemen. Only seven are holdovers from the Rich Rodriguez regime.
Sumlin identified deficits within the roster and has moved to address them. Unfortunately, that process takes time. The on-field results have been underwhelming.
Sumlin takes a 9-15 record into this delayed, truncated Year 3. The Wildcats failed to qualify for a bowl game in Sumlin’s first two seasons after going to five in six years under Rodriguez, and are riding a seven-game losing streak.
If there’s cause for optimism, it lies in the promising young players who have arrived on campus in recent recruiting classes.
Besides the aforementioned linemen, Arizona has potential breakout candidates at quarterback, running back, receiver and elsewhere. The Wildcats also have a new staff and scheme on defense.
With the season finally about to begin, here’s a closer look at the 2020 UA roster:
Offense
After vacillating between two quarterbacks last season, offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone is building this year’s unit around sophomore Grant Gunnell. A 6-foot-6-inch, pocket-style passer, Gunnell posted an impressive stat line as a freshman: nine touchdowns, one interception and a 65.2% completion rate in eight games, including three starts. He improved his footwork and arm strength during the extended offseason and will benefit from greater offensive cohesion.
However, he won’t catch opponents by surprise in Year 2.
Even with the departure of graduate transfer Brenden Schooler, Gunnell should have plenty of premium targets. Redshirt sophomore Jamarye Joiner has breakout potential after leading the team with 552 receiving yards last year, his first as a wideout following his preseason switch from quarterback. Last season’s leading receiver, redshirt junior Brian Casteel (45-397-3), also returns. So does Gunnell’s former high school teammate, Boobie Curry, who is expected to have a significant role after being slowed by injury as a freshman.
Arizona will continue to rotate at receiver, and Gunnell repeatedly has said he sees no drop-off from one group to the next.
The battle for playing time is even more intense at running back, where Arizona goes five-deep.
Two leaders emerged in fall camp: senior Gary Brightwell and sophomore Michael Wiley. Brightwell bided his time behind J.J. Taylor the past two years, rushing for 915 yards and averaging nearly 6 yards per attempt. Sumlin recently called Brightwell a “complete player.” Sumlin noted Wiley’s bulked-up physique. The 5-foot-11-inch Houston product has added 16 pounds to his frame, going from 186 to 202. He’s running with more authority after averaging 5.5 yards per touch as a freshman.
Gary Brightwell, running the gauntlet while working on his ball security during practice, is expected to be one of Arizona’s top running backs in 2020.
The offensive line looks respectable on paper and should benefit from Gunnell’s pocket awareness and quick delivery. Two full-time starters return: Donovan Laie, who’s moving from left tackle to left guard, and center Josh McCauley. Laie will team with sophomore Jordan Morgan to give Arizona two long, athletic blockers on the left side of the line.
McCauley suffered a knee injury early in fall camp, putting his status for the opener in doubt. Fifth-year senior Steven Bailey likely would take his place.
The projected starters on the right side, Robert Congel and Paiton Fears, combined for 15 starts last season.
Defense
Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads brings decades of experience and a new base look to a unit that was among the league’s worst in 2019.
Paul Rhoads takes over a defense that hasn’t been good in a long time. The Wildcats haven’t finished higher than ninth in the Pac-12 in points allowed or yards allowed in any of the past five seasons. Rhoads thought he’d have seniors Colin Schooler, Tony Fields II and Scottie Young Jr. to help facilitate the transition to his 3-4 scheme, but all three transferred, leaving holes and question marks at linebacker and safety.
Arizona did beef up its defensive line and will need that unit to perform well to take pressure off a thin, inexperienced linebacking corps. The Wildcats added graduate transfers Aaron Blackwell (New Mexico) and Roy Lopez (New Mexico State), and the two big, strong veterans are expected to play a sizable role. They join a group that returns two 300-plus-pound junior-college transfers in Trevon Mason and Myles Tapusua, who combined for eight tackles for losses last season; and two more 300-pounders in sophomore Kyon Barrs and redshirt sophomore Mykee Irving.
Defensive lineman Myles Tapusoa is expected to contribute to a position group with big-time size.
Because of transfers and injuries, Arizona has only six scholarship players to man the four linebacker spots in the base defense. The anchors are senior Anthony Pandy, who’s moving to the middle after notching a career-high 66 tackles last season; and redshirt junior Jalen Harris, who has bulked up to 260 pounds after recording seven sacks over the past two seasons. Contributions will be needed inside from sophomore Derrion Clark, a special-teams ace in 2019, and impressively built freshman Derick Mourning (6-3, 229); and outside from redshirt freshman Kwabena Watson and redshirt sophomore Issaiah Johnson, who are both learning new positions. Walk-ons will factor in at linebacker as well; the Wildcats couldn’t form a two-deep without them.
Senior cornerback Lorenzo Burns is the undisputed leader of the secondary. The fifth-year vet has nine career interceptions among 34 passes defensed. His sidekick is rising sophomore Christian Roland-Wallace, who had an inconsistent freshman year but has all the tools to be a star. Roland-Wallace had 37 tackles, six passes defensed and one interception last season.
Junior Christian Young appears to be a perfect fit for the strong safety position in Rhoads’ defense. Young is big (6-2, 206) and physical but needs to prove he can play as well in space as he does in the box. Young’s likely companion at free safety is redshirt junior Rhedi Short, who has yet to play a game at Arizona but appears to have emerged under the new defensive staff. Backups Jaxen Turner and Jarrius Wallace are capable as well.
Turner, a sophomore, showed promise as a freshman before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. Wallace, a senior, has appeared in 36 games, accumulating 99 tackles, seven passes defensed, two interceptions and one forced fumble.
Special teams
The Wildcats are seeking consistency and improvement from their specialists.
Senior kicker Lucas Havrisik has a powerful leg and regularly boots the ball into the end zone on kickoffs.
But a player of his ability shouldn’t have a career success rate of less than 60% on field goals.
Lucas Havrisik has a career success rate of less than 60% on field goals. The senior will need to improve to hold off Jacob Meeker-Hackett.
Punter Kyle Ostendorp managed a 39.7-yard average as a freshman, but you never knew what you’d get from one attempt to the next.
He faced competition in camp from transfer Jacob Meeker-Hackett, a product of Cienega High School.
Long and short snaps will be handled by sophomore Seth MacKellar, whom the team recently awarded a scholarship.
Joiner has the look of a natural punt returner and could be in the kickoff-return mix as well.
Others who could return punts and/or kicks include Casteel, Wiley, Roland-Wallace and speedy senior receiver Tayvian Cunningham, who returned six kickoffs for touchdowns in junior college.
