Arizona football training camp preview: offensive line

Arizona officially begins preparation for its second season under head coach Brent Brennan when the Wildcats kick off fall training camp on Wednesday, July 30.

Leading up to training camp, the Star is providing a position-by-position preview. Up next: offensive line.

Position coach: Josh Oglesby

Returners: LT Rhino Tapa’atoutai (R-So.), RG Alexander Doost (R-So.), OL Chubba Ma’ae (R-Sr.), OT Michael Wooten (R-Jr.), OT Matthew Lado (R-Fr.), OL Ise Matautia (R-Sr.), C Grayson Stovall (R-Jr.), OL Zarius Wells (R-So.)

Departures: Jonah Savaiinaea, Josh Baker, Wendell Moe, Leif Magnuson, Ryan Stewart, Joey Capra, Tylen Gonzalez, Elijha Payne, Jonah Rodriguez

Newcomers from transfer portal (former school): Ty Buchanan (Texas Tech), Tristan Bounds (Michigan), Ka’ena Decambra (Hawaii), Jordan Brown (Georgia Tech), Keona Peat (Arizona State), Chance Roberts (Albany), Isaac Perez (Portland State)

Newcomers from high school, JuCo levels (height, weight): Sione Tohi (6-3, 356 pounds), Siale Uluave (6-5, 330 pounds), Louis Akpa (6-6, 259 pounds), Javian Goo (6-4, 280 pounds), Jaxon Griffin (6-6, 250 pounds)

The rundown: Arizona’s offensive line could determine if the Wildcats are bowl-bound or end the season with another losing record.

Perhaps the most mysterious position group for the Wildcats entering training camp, Arizona’s offensive line is coming off a shaky season. Arizona had seven different starting offensive lines last season and started 11 different players on the offensive line.

“Last year, that was a place that got bit by the injury bug pretty significantly and it impacted our ability to protect (quarterback Noah Fifita) and our ability to run the football,” Brennan said.

Added Oglesby: “It wasn’t that our first line that had issues, it was the overall depth component. Hopefully we don’t have to deal with the injury situation that we had.”

Arizona tied with UCF for the third-most sacks allowed (28) in the Big 12; however, the Knights led the conference in rushing yards, while the Wildcats had the second-worst rushing offense in the Big 12 last season. Arizona also surrendered 114 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.

To make matters worse, now the Wildcats will have to replace Savaiinaea, Baker and Moe, three multi-year starters who combined for 7,371 snaps at the UA. Savaiinaea was a second-round pick by the Miami Dolphins, Baker graduated and is volunteering with the UA football program, and Moe transferred to Tennessee.

Among the plethora of total newcomers — 54 to be exact — currently on Arizona’s roster, 12 of them are offensive linemen; seven are from the transfer portal.

More notably, seven of them weigh over 300 pounds. Bodies and body mass were a priority for the Wildcats this past recruiting cycle. During National Signing Day, Brennan said the Wildcats “weren’t quite as big as some of (the other Big 12 teams).”

“It was something we had to address,” Brennan said. “I firmly believe the games are won upfront on both sides of the ball, and I think that’s a place we had a lot of room to grow last year.”

Tapa’atoutai noted Arizona’s offensive line as “the position group with the most new faces in the room.”

The Wildcats signed 14 scholarship offensive linemen in their 2025 recruiting class; however, San Francisco tackle Losipini Tupou is opting to do a Latter-day Saints mission and will no longer join the program. Guard Peter Langi, Tupou’s teammate at Archbishop Riordan, is working through a summer academic obligation before he’s cleared to join the Wildcats; Langi is currently not on the roster.

Five linemen from the transfer portal participated in spring practices: Buchanan (a 6-6, 314-pound vegetarian), Bounds, Decambra, Perez and Brown, who suffered an upper-body injury and will miss a majority of the 2025 season. Most of Arizona’s newcomers on the offensive line will begin their Arizona careers next week.

“Some of those guys haven’t practiced with us yet, and they will start (next week), so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out,” Brennan said. “With that being said, you can never have enough O-Linemen, and you can’t ever have enough D-Linemen.

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“Sometimes you have enough and you play the same five all year and it’s a fortunate way it goes. ... It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”

In the spring, Oglesby said Arizona’s short-handed offensive line “is really coming together well as a unit.”

“It’s been awesome to see, especially when you’re taking guys from all over the country and seeing them merge with the guys who are already here,” said Arizona’s offensive line coach. “Their impact, I think, has been immediate, just because of the depth added to the room and our ability to mix and match and find what grouping works best.”

Arizona’s leading returners on the offensive line are Tapa’atoutai, a left tackle who represented Arizona at Big 12 Media Days, and Doost, a 6-7, 331-pounder who started nine games at right guard in 2024 and was named a Freshman All-American by Pro Football Focus.

Tapa’atoutai suffered a season-ending knee injury halfway through last season, as “he was coming into his own,” Oglesby said. Tapa’atoutai spent the offseason and the spring rehabbing his injury, but the left tackle was immersed in the team periods and studied first-year offensive coordinator Seth Doege’s offense.

“Even though he’s still in the rehab process, he’s in our warmups and is in our huddles,” Fifita said of Tapa’atoutai. “He’s been a loud voice for us and a great vocal leader. It’s been amazing to see how far he’s come since he’s shown up.”

It’s conceivable Tapa’atoutai could return to his starting spot at left tackle, with Buchanan or Bounds at right tackle, with Wooten and Lado — who played their first collegiate snaps last season — as reserve options.

Ma’ae, who played nose tackle for the Wildcats last season, moved to offensive line in the spring, which is “a natural spot for him,” Brennan said. Ma’ae and Wells were Arizona’s top two left guards at the spring showcase in April. The Wildcats could also turn to other interior additions, like Uluave — a transfer from College of San Mateo (California) — or Tohi, a highly-touted freshman from national powerhouse Mater Dei High School.

Tohi signed with Arizona over Alabama, LSU, ASU and Auburn, among others, and is an “absolute people-mover,” Oglesby said.

“I think he’s going to provide a lot of size and strength and nastiness in the middle,” Oglesby said. “I’m super-excited about him. He’s a very highly-touted recruited and picked us over a lot of good schools. I can’t speak enough about how much of a people-mover he is.”

Decambra, Stovall and Matautia were among the players swapping reps at center in the spring, as the Wildcats look to replace a three-year starter in Baker, who played 3,178 snaps at Arizona. The aforementioned trio will once again be in the mix at center. Ma’ae, who played center at Long Beach Poly (California), could conceivably play the position.

At right guard, Doost “is another guy that has taken on a leadership role” for Arizona’s offensive line, said Oglesby.

“When it comes to snaps played for the Wildcats, he’s considered a veteran,” Oglesby said of Doost. “He’s working every day to work on the things he needs to improve on. He’s another one that people look at him and you’d think he’s 30 years old, but last year was the first time he stepped on a college football field to play in a game. Everything that happened to him last year was new. Having that under his belt and him continuing to grow has been awesome for him.”

There are several burning questions for Arizona’s offensive line entering this season. It’s arguably the most fluid position group for the Wildcats. For now — and potentially the start of the season.

“The offensive line is always a work in progress,” Brennan said. “That is something that goes into training camp and really doesn’t get solidified until you start playing games. You run the first group out there, but you’re always trying to find the best five to get the job done.”

Conditioning will also play a major factor in selecting Arizona’s linemen in rotation this year, as the Wildcats prepare for their first season under Doege, who’s implementing a fast-paced, no-huddle offense.

“It’s different — different as in good,” Tapa’atoutai said. “It’s probably the best offense I’ve ever been around and learned. The mentality, we’re coming in with is a different mentality this year. Our offensive philosophy is to play with violence, expect to score and trust in one another; that’s it.”

Between a progressive play-caller in Doege and the speed added in the UA wide receivers and running backs rooms this season, Arizona’s scoring offense could drastically improve this season, if the big bodies in the trenches hold up their end of the bargain.

“You can see their work ethic and their discipline,” Fifita said of Arizona’s offensive line. “They take last year personal. Even though a lot of them weren’t here last year, they take it personal every time someone talks about the hits that I’ve taken.

“I take it personal, as well, because as much as they protect me, I have to protect them by getting the ball out quick and getting them right. ... To see them working and have that chip on their shoulder, it’s been great.”