Safety Xavier Bell has entered the NCAA transfer portal, further depleting a thin position for the Arizona Wildcats.
Bell, a redshirt junior in 2020, appeared in 22 games the past two seasons. He accumulated 21 tackles, one pass defensed, one fumble recovery and one blocked kick. He started one game during the โ18 season. He is striving to become a graduate transfer.
247Sports.com first reported the news.
Bellโs departure leaves Arizona with six scholarship safeties. That relatively low number shouldnโt be as big an issue with the Wildcats shifting to a new defensive scheme under Paul Rhoads after deploying three starting safeties under former coordinator Marcel Yates. But only one of those players, sophomore Jaxen Turner, is an underclassmen, and none of Arizonaโs current signees for 2020 is a safety.
Itโs possible incoming or veteran players could change positions to help fill the void and create more competition at safety, where the Wildcats didnโt get consistent production last season. Arizona has an abundance of wide receivers (14 on scholarship), including some who have safety experience. The Wildcats also conceivably would have enough depth at cornerback to support a move within the secondary if recruit Alphonse Oywak signs with the UA next week.
National Signing Day is next Wednesday. If Arizona doesnโt fill its โ20 class, it will continue to pursue additions from the junior-college ranks and the transfer portal.
Bell came to Arizona as a three-star recruit from Mater Dei High School in Orange County, California. His primary recruiters were Yates, whoโs now with Cal, and Dontรฉ Williams, whoโs now with Oregon.
Arizona hasnโt lost as many players to the transfer portal since the start of the 2019 season as some of its Pac-12 rivals. But four players played safety at one point or another: Bell, Day Day Coleman, Maurice Gaines and Chacho Ulloa.
