In assessing the Arizona Wildcats’ offensive-line depth, it’s essential to look at it through two lenses: the present and the future.
The present looks just fine.
“Better than I’ve felt since I’ve been here,” said OL coach Jim Michalczik, who’s entering his fifth season at the UA. “We only lost one senior (Freddie Tagaloa). We’ve got some guys back with experience. We’ve got some guys that are going to step up and hopefully grow and challenge for spots.”
I share Michalczik’s optimism about the line in 2017. Left tackle Layth Friekh and right guard Jacob Alsadek are as seasoned and solid as they come. Center Nathan Eldridge should be better. Right tackle Gerhard de Beer, if healthy, should be better. Promising redshirt freshman Michael Eletise should provide an upgrade at left guard. Oh, and the last time we saw the line in a real game, it made ASU look like NAU.
Beyond 2017? Well, that’s a different story.
Arizona did not add a scholarship lineman in its ’17 signing class. (Edgar Burrola of Las Vegas Desert Pines is expected to join the team in training camp as a blueshirt but was not part of the initial, official class.) The Wildcats were expecting tackle prospect Cody Shear to sign, but the native of Eugene, Oregon, flipped to his hometown school in the wee hours of National Signing Day.
This week, Arizona lost another talented tackle when Keenan Walker announced his intention to transfer. Walker’s brief UA career was marred by injuries and off-the-field issues. He leaves Tucson with more arrests (one) than games played (zero) in a Wildcats uniform.
Who knows whether Walker ever would have gotten his act together here. The greater point is that it’s another loss at a position lacking sufficient depth down the road.
Arizona has 11 scholarship offensive linemen on its roster for next season. You’d like to be in the 13-15 range.
With three players set to depart after this season – Alsadek, Friekh and de Beer – the Wildcats would need to add five linemen to get to that minimum threshold in 2018.
They’re off to a good start with the recent verbal commitment of local product and legacy kid David Watson. The UA has tons of offers out to offensive linemen. It needs to hit on several of them.
Michalczik praised walk-ons Jon Jacobs and Josh McCauley, and Arizona is adding others in what I’ll call its supplemental signing class, which mainly consists of preferred walk-ons. But as I’ve mentioned previously in this space, that’s not the ideal way to go about building a program.
Here’s how the offensive line breaks down in terms of projected final seasons at the UA. The list includes only players currently on scholarship and those projected to be (e.g., Watson):
- 2017 (3): Alsadek, de Beer, Friekh
- 2018 (2): Christian Boettcher, Levi Walton
- 2019 (3): Cody Creason, Eldridge, Alex Kosinski
- 2020 (3): Bryson Cain, Eletise, Harper Sherman
- 2021 (1): Burrola
- 2022 (1): Watson
The 2022 total obviously will grow, and others could change if Arizona adds transfers and/or awards scholarships to walk-ons, as it did with Boettcher.
The cupboard isn’t bare. Its shelves just aren’t stocked as fully as they need to be.
