March in Tucson always means basketball. But while most in the Old Pueblo are dialed in on hoops, preparations for the Arizona 2022 football season are in full swing.
The Wildcats will open spring drills on Wednesday afternoon with a rebuilt roster that includes members of a highly-rated group of newcomers and transfers.
Arizona has only won one of its last 24 games, but the Wildcats are expecting to take steps forward in Season 2 of the Jedd Fisch era. The UA has added 41 newcomers — 22 of whom will participate in spring ball.
“We need to get better as a football team,” Fisch said on Tuesday. “We need to find a way — in every facet — to improve. We have to find a way to make our special teams better, our offense better and our defense better. We spent all of last spring figuring out what type of team we want to be. I think we understand what we want to be now. … I think by bringing in all of our new players, they all fit our system and they give us an opportunity that I believe will help us get good fast.”
Here are five burning questions as the Wildcats open spring drills:
1. Who will emerge as Arizona’s starting quarterback?
Last year was a three-quarterback race between returner Will Plummer and transfer portal additions Jordan McCloud (South Florida) and Gunner Cruz (Washington State).
Now? Plummer, who quarterbacked the Wildcats to a win over Cal to snap Arizona’s 20-game losing streak, is back with the Wildcats, along with Cruz and McCloud. Two newcomers — Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Jayden de Laura, a transfer portal addition from Washington State; and Noah Fifita, a three-star member of the Wildcats’ star-studded 2022 recruiting class from Servite High School in Anaheim, California — will join the chase starting this spring.
Fisch hopes to identify the Wildcats’ starting quarterback as soon as possible.
“You don’t want to put yourself in that position again, where the majority of the reps don’t go to the starter,” he said. “So, we’re going to have to find the guy and find him early, and build the offensive play-calling around his strengths. If that can be done early in camp, great; early in spring ball, great.”
2. Will the Wildcats’ offensive line improve?
The Wildcats need people to block for the new QB — whoever he is.
The Wildcats were the most sacked team in the Pac-12 in 2021. The have lost four-year starters in Josh McCauley and Donovan Laie, but return left tackle Jordan Morgan, right guard Josh Donovan and right tackle Paiton Fears.
Underclassmen Josh Baker and JT Hand, both of whom swapped time at center and guard in 2021, are options to fill the void left by McCauley and Laie.
“Our interior three is up for grabs,” Fisch said.
The Wildcats could also turn to three-star freshman guard Jonah Savaiinaea, who was briefly teammates with de Laura at Saint Louis High School in Hawaii.
The 6-foot-3-inch, 330-pound Savaiinaea “is going to be really, really good really, really soon,” Fisch said in January. “He carries 330 pounds better than anybody I know. I would be surprised if he’s not contributing as a true freshman.”
Arizona also added junior-college tackle Joe Borjon, Chandler Hamilton guard Grayson Stovall and Salt Lake City offensive lineman Jacob Reece for 2002. Former New Mexico tackle Jack Buford is joining the UA roster as a walk-on.
Returning offensive linemen include tackle Woody Jean, Canadian guard Leif Magnuson and Baylor transfer Davis DiVall, who sat out last season.
3. Who can contribute from the front seven?
Former Arizona defensive coordinator Don Brown often teased edge rusher Jalen Harris for not recording a sack during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Harris and the rest of Arizona’s defense improved in the sack category in 2021, going from 11th in the conference to sixth, and Harris finished with 3.5 sacks. However, the Wildcats’ rushing defense still ranked 10th in the Pac-12, allowing 180.9 yards per game.
Harris returns to a defensive line that lost end Mo Diallo and tackle Trevon Mason, but returns second-team All-Pac-12 defensive tackle Kyon Barrs. Barrs, who led the Wildcats in sacks in 2021, will not be available for spring ball after having foot surgery.
Arizona’s recruiting efforts for 2022 were dialed in on edge rushers and outside linebackers. In total, the Wildcats signed five defensive ends and two outside linebackers — including four-star Southern California star Sterling “Deuce” Lane II. The Wildcats got interior defensive lineman Tiaoalii Savea to transfer from UCLA.
USC transfer and 6-5, 245-pounder Hunter Echols, the second player to transfer to Arizona after UCLA safety DJ Warnell, could likely play on the opposite side of Harris in 2022. Fisch also praised Harris’ younger brother, Jason Harris, for adding weight to his 6-7 frame.
“You’ll see him as a pretty substantial pass-rusher,” Fisch said.
Inside linebacker Jerry Roberts, who suffered a season-ending leg injury on the first play of Arizona’s loss to Washington State, is expected to be among the leaders of the UA defense in 2022. Fisch said Roberts “will be more involved in practice in the second part of spring.”
“Will” linebacker and Wisconsin transfer Malik Reed mostly played special teams in 2021 before starting in the Territorial Cup game against Arizona State; he’s expected to compete for a starting role.
Fisch said Michigan transfer Anthony Solomon and Reed will be the first set of starters at inside linebacker in the spring in Johnny Nansen’s 4-2-5 defense.
Other options at linebacker spots include Utah transfer and walk-on Jeremy Mercier, Washington transfer and walk-on Anthony Ward, Louisiana natives Kolbe Cage and Jabar Triplett, walk-on RJ Edwards, four-star Massachusetts standout Tyler Martin and three-star Anaheim Servite star Jacob Manu, among others.
4. How much will red-zone offense be addressed?
Arizona finished 130th nationally in red-zone touchdowns last season — that’s dead-last.
The Wildcats only scored touchdowns 30.77% of the time they were inside the red zone in 2021. On defense, Arizona allowed its opponents to score touchdowns 76.3% of time they were inside the 20-yard line — a figure that ranked 128th nationally.
“Scoring in it and stopping people from scoring in it. We were terrible in both,” Fisch said.
Fisch said the Wildcats will begin spring practice on Wednesday by working on one-on-one drills between wide receivers and defensive backs in the end zone.
“After that, we’ll have two days on the field and we’ll have at least one period — if not two periods — every day of practice, between Practice 3 and Practice 14, where we’ll be down in the red zone for hopefully 20 or 25 plays.”
The goal for Arizona is to become “situational masters” whenever the Wildcats get inside the 20-yard line.
“Sometimes situational awareness is huge. You get to the 18-yard line or 17-yard line and you take a sack on a third-and-8 rather than throw the ball away and kick a field goal, you knock yourself out of the red area,” Fisch said. “Or if it’s first-and-10 and you get a holding penalty that knocks yourself out. … It’s going to be a combination of practicing more of it and then also educating our guys on the importance of being inside that 15- to 20-yard line.”
5. Who will be Arizona’s starting tight end in 2022?
One element will be new to de Laura: tight ends.
“I don’t recall the last time (Washington State) had a tight end on the roster,” de Laura said in January.
Arizona’s tight end group includes four-star freshman Keyan Burnett, walk-on and UNLV transfer Alex Lines, Southern Utah transfer and walk-on Tanner McLachlan and second-year player Colby Powers and German Roberto Miranda.
Lines started 11 games for the Wildcats in 2021, catching 10 passes for 128 yards. Burnett, the son of former Wildcat and “Desert Swarm” member Chester Burnett, is the highest-rated tight end to join the Wildcats since Rob Gronkowski.
