These five Arizona Wildcat newcomers could make a difference in 2020

Arizona signed 24 players to its 2020 football recruiting, the most since ’17, when the Wildcats inked 28 newcomers.

To no surprise, the makeup of Arizona’s ’20 recruiting class focused on beefing up the defensive and offensive line, as UA signed 13 linemen. Following a 4-8 season where depth was an issue up front, the Wildcats plugged the gaps they had on paper.

Now Arizona enters a condensed, Pac-12-only season and isn’t expected to turn the heads of college football critics. The Wildcats will have an all-hands-on-deck approach and rely on their newcomers to produce this season.

Out of the 24 scholarship newcomers signed, these five could be the most impactful:

Frank Brown, RB

Brown’s production sample size is expected to be limited due to Arizona’s five-man rotation at running back, but expect to see him on the field periodically, whether it’s at running back, slot wide receiver or on special teams.

Throughout camp, Brown and fellow freshman running back Jalen John have been praised by coaches and teammates for what they’ve flashed in preseason training camp over the last month. UA senior running back Gary Brightwell has been “amazed” by Brown and John in practice.

“I feel as though both of those guys are gonna do big things. … If I was to go down, I feel like anybody in this room could step up and make plays,” Brightwell said.

Since Arizona’s deepest position group is running back, the 6-foot, 200-pound Brown could be most effective in the Wildcats’ passing game especially with pro-style quarterback Grant Gunnell commanding the offense. At Houston’s Sterling High School, Brown caught 42 passes for 1,104 yards and 15 touchdowns, while rushing for 848 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Stacey Marshall, TE

Stop us if you’ve heard this before but Arizona plans to use — wait for it —tight ends this season. Tight end usage has been infrequent since what seems like the last time Rob Gronkowski caught a pass in Tucson, but maybe that’ll change this season. Starting tight end Bryce Wolma has caught 10 passes in two seasons, 18 less than his 28 from the 2017 season. If any passes are directed for a tight end this season, Wolma most likely will be on the receiving end of it.

But the Wildcats could utilize two tight ends this year with the addition of Stacey Marshall, who transferred from Hutchinson Community College (Kansas). The 6-5, 238-pound Marshall’s production most likely won’t show up in the stat sheet, but the junior from Montgomery, Alabama should be one of the Wildcats’ best blockers either at the line of scrimmage or open field. Marshall’s length has also been used in field goal blocking during training camp. Who knows, maybe Gunnell will give him some sugar and throw a ball his away every now and then.

Aaron Blackwell, DL

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Arizona has a one-year rental in Blackwell, the 6-3, 293-pound graduate transfer from New Mexico, who’ll play defensive tackle in Paul Rhoads’ 3-4 defensive scheme.

When he was at UNM, the Peoria native went viral on ESPN and Fox after the team’s Twitter page tweeted out a video of him squatting 605 pounds with his teammates barbarically celebrating him.

Blackwell’s career as a Lobo didn’t end the way had hoped. In New Mexico’s 2019 season opener, Blackwell suffered a season-ending knee injury and then transferred to Arizona in the spring and reunited with defensive line coach Stan Eggen.

Blackwell is different from most of Arizona’s newcomers that are linemen, because he’s experienced and has a three-year Division I resume. With the Sumlin regime entering Year Three, the Wildcats are in win-now mode, and adding veterans like Blackwell on the defensive line eases the depth issues.

Ray Lopez, DL

Lopez is another graduate transfer interior defensive lineman that spent the last few seasons in Arizona’s eastern neighbor, but his prior college experience was in Las Cruces instead of Albuquerque, and contributed to New Mexico State’s first bowl victory in 57 years in the 2017 Arizona Bowl in Tucson.

The 6-2, 318-pound Lopez recorded 137 tackles and eight sacks in 40 games at NMSU, and is expected to be either a starter or rotational piece on Arizona’s defensive line.

It’s unclear how Eggen plans to rotate his defensive linemen in the 3-4 scheme, but interior linemen alone consist of Lopez, Blackwell, sophomore Kyon Barrs, redshirt sophomore Mykee Irving, senior Myles Tapusoa and redshirt sophomore Nahe Sulunga. There are options, but Lopez is expected to be one of the top contributors on the list.

D.J. Mourning, LB

Mourning’s first college football season will be a baptism by fire, because he will be thrust into a playmaker role immediately, when it could’ve been a year to study veterans Colin Schooler and Tony Fields, but the uncertainty of the Pac-12 season steered Arizona’s defensive leaders to the Big 12.

Schooler and Fields were the bulk of Arizona’s tackles over the last three years, combining for 600 in 37 games. Arizona already lacked depth at linebacker before the departure of Fields and Schooler, but now? It’s gotten to the point where walk-ons are going to appear on the Wildcats’ weekly depth chart.

Here’s one note that bodes well for the 6-3, 229-pound Mourning: Schooler and Fields were leaders of an Arizona defense as freshmen in 2017 and started every game since their college debuts.

In a perfect world for Arizona, Schooler and Fields would’ve mentored young inside linebackers like Mourning and Derrion Clark, but 2020 has relentlessly proven that circumstances can quickly change. Playing alongside team captain Anthony Pandy, Mourning will have no other choice but to become a tackling machine this season, if the Wildcats have plans to progress as a defense despite their personnel losses.

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