Arizona football lingering question No. 2: Who starts at middle linebacker in 2024?

The Star is asking — and answering — five lingering questions surrounding the Arizona football program following the Wildcats’ historic 2023 season. Up next: Who will start at middle linebacker in 2024?

Arizona addressed its defensive line and linebackers in the 2023 recruiting class, which paid off for a defense that ascended from one of the worst units in college football to a Top 50 group nationally.

The size added up front occupied blockers, consumed space and allowed players such as UA sophomore linebacker Jacob Manu to have breakout seasons. Manu led the Pac-12 in tackles (116), the first Wildcat to accomplish that feat since All-American and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Scooby Wright in 2014.

Manu wreaked havoc at “Will” linebacker and was the ringleader of an Arizona defense that used multiple lineup combinations depending on the matchup.

As for Manu’s linebacking counterpart? Let’s just call it one of the least consistent positions in Arizona’s defense, which prompted defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen to say, leading up to the Wildcats’ win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl: “There’s going to be some competition in the spring.”

The Wildcats brought in two transfers, who both were highly touted prospects out of high school, from Pac-12 powers last spring: Justin Flowe (Oregon) and Daniel Heimuli (Washington). Arizona also signed three freshmen linebackers in four-star recruit and Mater Dei High School (California) star Leviticus Su’a, Hawaii native Kamuela Ka’aihue and Chandler Hamilton product Taye Brown.

Flowe, a 6-2, 225-pound Chino, California, native, was the most decorated of the bunch as a high school player and signed with Oregon as a five-star prospect and the top-rated inside linebacker, before injuries hindered him from his career blossoming in Eugene. Flowe transferred to Arizona following three seasons at Oregon.

When Flowe transferred to the UA, Wildcats coach Jedd Fisch said Flowe “brings an energy to the game, to the defense” and is “probably the most explosive player that we’ve had here.”

“He’s in an elite category in regards to his ability to run and hit, his ability to make plays on the ball, his ability to see a ball carrier, close the distance and explode through a guy,” Fisch said.

Nansen said the former high school All-American has “a motor, man.”

“He gives all that he’s got and he makes plays,” Nansen said after Flowe’s 12-tackle performance at Mississippi State. “It’s all about who can produce, and the guy has been producing, so we need to keep him on the field.”

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Flowe surpassed Heimuli as the starter following two games and started four games this season against UTEP, Stanford, Washington State and Oregon State. Flowe was effective in stopping the run and running through blocking tight ends but sometimes struggled in pass coverage, leading to the Wildcats to move graduate transfer defensive back Martell Irby to linebacker against USC, UCLA and Colorado. He suffered a knee injury that sidelined him for the final two regular-season games.

Flowe ended the season as Arizona’s 33rd-best defender on Pro Football Focus with a 54 overall grade. The fourth-year linebacker logged just 14 defensive snaps in the final five games of the season.

“What Justin is learning is the system, and he’s learning how to play within the system,” Fisch said. “He’s had three different defensive systems in three years, and he’s continuing to now get another system thrown at him. As a linebacker, you’re responsible for being the play-caller, so to speak. You’re the one who has to make formation adjustments and decisions on the sets and what goes on around you. He’s working through that, but as a player, there’s no question about his explosiveness and the energy that he brings.”

In his final game at Arizona, Irby had seven tackles, a forced fumble and a fourth-quarter interception against Oklahoma. Irby told the Star in San Antonio he “was just willing” to play any position that got him on the field.

“I started my college career as a running back and then I played (nickel back). Every opportunity I have to give on the field, I’m going to take it,” he said. “I trust and believe in my coaches and everything. ... I’m just trying to impact my teammates. This is my last college year. I want to be able to allow the young people around me to understand that this is a blessing and ... take advantage of this opportunity. That’s how I’m trying to move. I’ve played every position at this point.”

The biggest difference between defensive back and linebacker is “you got to hit a little bit more and run through some bid bodies, but that isn’t anything new to me,” Irby said.

The do-everything Irby had the Wildcats’ best defensive grade (81.1) and pass coverage grade (81.9) by PFF for the 2023 season. Unfortunately for Arizona, the spirit of its defense in Irby is out of eligibility. Additonally, Heimuli recently entered the transfer portal for a second time in his college career.

Currently, Flowe and Ka’aihue, who started at linebacker for the Territorial Cup game and played 128 defensive snaps as a true freshman, are names expected to compete for the starting middle linebacker position in spring and preseason training camp. Brown and Su’a, who was Arizona’s highest-rated signee for 2023 (per 247Sports.com), and incoming freshman Stacy Bey, a Rancho Cucamonga, California, native, also could be in that mix.

Perhaps a season learning the intricacies of Nansen’s defense will allow Flowe to live up to the lofty expectations he’s carried since he was a high school superstar. After one season under Nansen, safety Gunner Maldonado turned into the Wildcats’ third-leading tackler and the Alamo Bowl Defensive MVP. Maybe the same impact could happen at linebacker with Flowe. If not, the Wildcats will likely turn to youth or a late transfer-portal addition.

“Obviously he’s getting more comfortable with the system,” Nansen said of Flowe this season. “You can see he’s more productive when he’s doing things right.

“We just gotta keep bringing him along, and then I think he’s going to have a bigger role.”