Itβs officially game week, which means a first look at the Arizona Wildcatsβ depth chart.
Arizona released its Week 1 depth chart on Monday ahead of the No. 21-ranked Wildcatsβ season opener against the New Mexico Lobos at Arizona Stadium on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Hereβs a position-by-position breakdown of the released UA football depth chart:
Quarterbacks
To no surprise, junior Noah Fifita will be QB1 entering the season. But the backup role to Fifita was among the most competitive position battles in fall training camp. Despite the additions of transfers Anthony Garcia (San Jose State) and Adam Damante (Northern Arizona) and the return of former four-star quarterback Brayden Dorman, walk-on Cole Tannenbaum is listed as the second-string quarterback behind Fifita.
Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said Tannenbaum, a 6-4, 201-pound redshirt sophomore from Los Angeles, βhas done a really nice jobβ since βthe spring and has continued to now.β
UA quarterbacks coach Lyle Moevao said Tannenbaum knows βwhere heβs going with the ball and understanding the defense, a lot of that stuff is starting to speed up pre-snap. Post-snap, heβs reacting and making decisions.β
Fifita noticed βa certain swagger and moxie you wouldnβt expect him to haveβ throughout training camp.
Considering the Wildcats are 30-point favorites to beat New Mexico and will host Northern Arizona on Sept. 7, Tannenbaum and the other quarterbacks should receive plenty of in-game reps over the next two weeks.
Wide receivers
Arizonaβs starting receivers will be 2-4-5 again.
Arizonaβs starting receiving trio, per the depth chart, will be preseason All-American Tetairoa McMillan, second-year starter Montana Lemonious-Craig and junior-college transfer slot receiver Jeremiah Patterson, who has taken over the No. 2 jersey left behind by San Francisco 49ers rookie Jacob Cowing.
Arizona receivers coach Bobby Wade said Patterson, who will also return punts this season, is βbringing exactly what I wanted him to bring to this offense.β
βI also feel like thereβs gonna be more that I can give him sooner than later, which is great,β said Wade. βI think his learning curve is outstanding. Heβs doing a great job of attaching himself to Noah and is trying to ask the right questions and get the knowledge and information that he needs to fit within the offense. Iβm excited to see him play.β
Other receivers listed in Arizonaβs rotation include redshirt freshman Devin Hyatt, Old Dominion transfer Reymello Murphy and sophomore Malachi Riley. The Wildcats are expected to open up the receiver rotation to six or seven players this season. Under former head coach Jedd Fisch, Arizona primarily played three receivers unless someone was injured.
Tight ends
As expected, the tight end pecking order is junior Keyan Burnett, who played behind Tanner McLachlan his first two seasons at the UA, along with fifth-year Germany native Roberto Miranda and San Jose State transfer Sam Olson.
Expect the Wildcats to deploy two-tight end sets with any of the aforementioned tight ends. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Powell and redshirt freshman Dorian Thomas ascended in training camp, too.
Running backs
The depth chart for running backs is βorβ galore.
Arizona has four starters at running back with New Mexico transfer Jacory Croskey-Merritt, San Jose State transfer Quali Conley, Ole Miss transfer Kedrick Reescano and junior Rayshon βSpeedyβ Luke (in that order).
After losing its top three rushers from last season, the Wildcats are loaded at running back once again. Croskey-Merritt and Conley are projected to be the most productive running backs at Arizona this season, but Reescano, a powerful and explosive runner, and the uber-fast Luke will have their moments.
Offensive line
Arizona still hasnβt decided on its right guard, which will be either San Jose State transfer Ryan Stewart or redshirt junior Leif Magnuson, who was injured most of training camp.
βWhen you go into the first game, the starting lineup is who they are, but itβs still up for negotiation,β Brennan said last week. βYou either play well or you donβt. If you donβt play well, weβre going to play somebody else. But (Stewart has) done a really good job so far.β
The Wildcatsβ other offensive line spots were chalk, with left tackle Rhino Tapaβatoutai, left guard Wendell Moe, center Josh Baker and star right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea.
The backups: Oregon transfer left tackle Michael Wooten, Northwestern transfer left guard Alexander Doost, center Grayson Stovall, redshirt sophomore Grayson Stovall and freshman right tackle Matthew Lado. Chandler native and walk-on left tackle Zarius Wells and New Mexico transfer guard Shancco Matautia are other offensive linemen to play this season.
Defensive line
The only βorβ on Arizonaβs defensive depth chart is at defensive end and defensive tackle.
Junior Taβitaβi Uiagalelei and redshirt sophomore Sterling Lane II are listed as co-starters at defensive end, with Utah transfer Chase Kennedy and freshman Eduwa Okundaye as backups.
USC transfer Stanley Taβufoβou, Syracuse transfer Kevon Darton and Memphis transfer Jarra Anderson are co-starters at defensive tackle, alongside other interior starter Isaiah Johnson. UC Davis transfer Chubba Maβae is listed as Johnsonβs backup but will likely start on Saturday. Redshirt junior Keanu Mailoto and redshirt freshman Julian Savaiinaea (Jonahβs younger brother) are reserve interior defensive linemen on the depth chart.
San Jose State transfer Tre Smith, who led the Spartans in sacks last year, is a projected starter for Saturday, with redshirt freshman Dominic Lolesio and junior college transfer Cyrus Durham as backups. Stanford transfer defensive end Lance Keneley wasnβt included on the depth chart, but earned reps with Arizonaβs first- and second-team defense.
Brennan and defensive coordinator Duane Akina said the defensive line was βone of the nice surprisesβ in camp.
βI think thereβs a lot of talent there,β Brennan said on Monday. βWeβve got a good mix of speed and edge presence with some physicality (on the) interior. Itβs going to be fun to see what that looks like when we start playing.β
Linebackers
Preseason All-Big 12 linebacker Jacob Manu is now the βMikeβ linebacker, after spending the last two seasons at βWillβ linebacker. Sophomore Kamuela Kaβaihue and redshirt junior Justin Flowe are co-backups.
Sophomore Taye Brown, who was anointed starter at the start of training camp, will be the βWillβ linebacker. Tulane transfer and eighth-year linebacker Jared Small is listed as Brownβs backup.
Defensive backs
Four starters are back in Arizonaβs secondary with cornerback Tacario Davis, nickel back Treydan Stukes, strong safety Dalton Johnson and free safety Gunner Maldonado. Louisville transfer Marquis Groves-Killebrew will start at cornerback, with Miami transfer Demetrius Freeney and redshirt sophomore Jai-Ayviauynn Celestine as co-backups.
Sophomore nickel back Genesis Smith and Colgate safety transfer Owen Goss are listed as backups but will have an integral role in the Wildcatsβ seven-defensive back βdollarβ package.
Redshirt freshman cornerback Emmanuel Karnley, Tennessee safety transfer Jack Luttrell and redshirt freshman safety Gavin Hunter are also on Arizonaβs depth chart.
Special teams
Arizona kicker Tyler Loop will enter his third season as the starting kicker. For the first time in Loopβs tenure as the starter, heβll have a new long snapper and holder. Ohio transfer snapper Justin Holloway and freshman punter and holder Michael Salgado-Medina will replace Seth MacKellar and Kyle Ostendorp.
Salgado-Medina edged walk-on Jordan Forbes and Australian Lachlan Bruce for the starting punter job β and the successor to Ostendorp, a former All-Pac-12 selection.
Patterson and Luke, arguably the two fastest players on the team, are projected kick returners. Patterson and Luttrell are co-starters at punt return, but Patterson will most likely start on Saturday.
Hereβs another look at the Arizona football depth chart: