Playing in NFL 'a lifestyle dream' for Arizona OL Jonah Savaiinaea

The last three years prepared Jonah Savaiinaea for the next chapter of his life.

The former Arizona Wildcats offensive lineman played three different positions in as many seasons and excelled at all of them.

Savaiinaea’s versatility, coupled with his 6-4, 339-pound frame and raw power, is why he’s viewed as a potential first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Savaiinaea is playing in the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on NFL Network. He’s the fourth Wildcat to play in the Senior Bowl after 2012. The former Wildcat told Athlon Sports’ Griffin Conant, “I’m just excited to be out here.”

“The competition out here, I’m grateful for that,” Savaiinaea said. “It’s how you get better.”

In three seasons at Arizona, Savaiinaea played 2,418 snaps — with almost all of them at either right tackle (1,057), right guard (985) or left tackle (345), according to Pro Football Focus. The Tafuna, American Samoa, native, who prepped at Saint Louis High School in Honolulu, allowed eight sacks and five quarterback hits in three seasons, according to PFF.

As a sophomore, Savaiinaea was the tackle counterpart to former UA left tackle Jordan Morgan, who played in the Senior Bowl last season and became the highest-drafted Wildcat since Chris McAlister in 1999. Working together with Morgan, who just concluded his rookie season with the Green Bay Packers, required “a lot of extra work, physically and mentally.”

“We only have a certain amount of hours to practice,” Savaiinaea said. “After practice, we’d get some extra work and that’s what separates us.”

Midway through his final season at Arizona, Savaiinaea took over at left tackle, a position he played in high school, in 2024 after redshirt freshman Rhino Tapa’atoutai suffered a season-ending leg injury. Savaiinaea missed the season finale against Arizona State due to a leg injury he suffered against TCU; it was the only game he missed at the UA.

“His versatility, his swagger, his confidence — he’s never afraid to do what he needs to do for the team,” Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita said of Savaiinaea in 2024. “Him being an offensive lineman, he doesn’t get as much attention as he should, but at the end of the day, he’s a first-round draft pick. That’s been that way since he arrived campus.”

Savaiinaea is “an awesome football player and an even better person,” Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said after Savaiinaea declared for the NFL Draft.

“Anyone who knows big Jonah knows he has a huge heart, definitely a hard worker, crazy competitor and it’s so important to him,” said Brennan, who attended Senior Bowl practices this week with UA general manager Gaizka Crowley and director of scouting Fletcher Kelly. “I’m excited for the next chapter for him.”

The first step to Savaiinaea’s post-Arizona career is the Senior Bowl, where he took reps at both guard and tackle during practice this week, matching up against interior defensive linemen with size and athletic edge rushers — all different shapes and sizes.

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“It’s always a great opportunity to play inside and outside and getting an experience of seeing the whole edge of the field and being on an island and not expecting help (at tackle),” Savaiinaea said. “At guard, it’s nice moving inside and making contact right away and going up against big rushers that are 320-330 pounds. It’s good going up against light and heavy rushers to expand my knowledge.”

Even though Savaiinaea flew under the radar as a recruit, he attracted NFL attention the moment he arrived on the UA campus as an early enrollee in 2022. Longtime NFL offensive line coach Chris Foerster, who has over 30 years of NFL coaching experience, was impressed with Savaiinaea’s stature and mobility.

“He said, ‘That’s an NFL player,’” former Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch said in 2023. “I said, ‘That’s a high school senior.’”

Three years after Foerster’s remarks, Savaiinaea is in position to have a 10-plus-year career either at guard or tackle. Savaiinaea was projected throughout the 2024 season as a first-round pick, but wasn’t in ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr.’s first mock draft, which had former UA wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan landing at the Las Vegas Raiders with the sixth overall pick.

Savaiinaea is a “Top 40 pick,” according to ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid, after “showing the power and anchor that he’s known for” during Senior Bowl practices. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein said Savaiinaea’s “size works to his advantage, and he could become a serviceable starting guard in time.” However, his 34⅝” arm length is tied for the fifth-longest among tackles at the Senior Bowl — longest for interior offensive linemen.

Former NFL offensive lineman and Senior Bowl coach LeCharles Bentley, who’s now an NFL senior advisor of player performance and development, worked with Savaiinaea this week in Mobile and said, “Once he fully understands how to use his power, he’ll be a hell of a pro.”

“Smart young man that wants to be great,” Bentley said on social media.

Savaiinaea’s point of emphasis since preparing for the Senior Bowl is “finishing my blocks and pushing the guy in front of me — not worried about where everyone is at, but the guy in front of me.”

After the Senior Bowl, Savaiinaea’s plans between the all-star showcase for draft-bound players and the NFL Draft are “just train and eat good and healthy and prepare my body for the (NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.)” Savaiinaea, McMillan and other UA players will take part in the Big 12 Pro Day in Arlington, Texas, in March.

Whether he’s a first-round pick or second-rounder, guard or tackle, receiving the phone call to be drafted and having a chance to play in the NFL “means the world to me,” Savaiinaea said.

“That’s a lifestyle dream of mine,” Savaiinaea said. “The work just started. When I get that phone call, it’s only going to make me push myself and work more.”