As Arizona gets ready for its 11th practice later tonight I wanted to highlight some of the biggest topics discussed by coaches and players to begin the week. Over the last couple days the media has had the opportunity to speak with WRs coach Taylor Mazzone, OLB coach Andy Buh as well as DL Mykee Irving & receiver Jamarye Joiner.
All four of those people brought some interesting insight into the team and they were among the most candid when it comes to where things stand with the Wildcats at this stage of fall practice. Buh, in particular, wasn’t afraid to address the negatives along with the positives of what he has on his plate right now as the works to get the outside linebacker unit ready for the seven-game regular season starting next month.
Here is a rundown of some of the notable topics addressed over the last couple days.
▶ Arizona’s outside linebacker group is a work in progress
▶ Paul Rhoads has brought an attacking mentality to UA’s defense
▶ Joiner potentially played on broken foot last season, could be used all over the field in ’20
▶ Mazzone says Boobie Curry is the wideout who made the biggest jump this offseason
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All four of those people brought some interesting insight into the team and they were among the most candid when it comes to where things stand with the Wildcats at this stage of fall practice. Buh, in particular, wasn’t afraid to address the negatives along with the positives of what he has on his plate right now as the works to get the outside linebacker unit ready for the seven-game regular season starting next month.
Here is a rundown of some of the notable topics addressed over the last couple days.
▶ Arizona’s outside linebacker group is a work in progress
As I mentioned, Buh was probably the most candid when it comes to the coaches we have had an opportunity to speak with so far this fall. He didn’t sugarcoat very much about where his group is at this point in the process and it doesn’t take a seasoned eye to understand that there are going to be some challenges for the outside linebacker unit because of the depth issues and amount of inexperience among the players there. Buh said that it would be “crazy” to assume that the players have a good handle on the playbook just 10 practices in when you also consider that the group only had four practices to work together in the spring plus the coronavirus to contend with over the summer months.
He said not being able to have real-time teaching with players, such as being able to tell them something and have them put it into use right away, was a difficult aspect of the earlier portion for him as a coach new to the program. He’s hopeful the group can continue to make strides, but he understands that there is still a lot of work to be done right now.
“We like the way they’re working and they’re learning a new defense, so we’re pretty fired up about where they’re going and how they’re getting there,” he said Tuesday. “Obviously, I’ve got Jalen Harris and he’s having a tremendous camp right now. He’s probably the one guy that looks the most natural in the position, and that’s saying a lot since he had his hand in the dirt for most of his career here. So, it’s been a nice surprise to see him transition to on his feet. ... When you have a guy like that it’s a good thing for the Wildcats.
“We’re trying to create some depth and we’re trying to figure out who that guy is gonna be, so that’s what’s happening right now.”
It’s clear that Buh is most excited about having Harris as part of his group and he added that all the redshirt junior needs to do now is get more playing time and in-game reps. Last season Harris’ playing time fluctuated quite a bit and there was never a great explanation for why that was. Buh sounds like he will be pushing to get Harris on the field as much as possible this season especially with a shaky group of OLBs behind him right now.
Buh said walk-on Rourke Freeburg is the walk-on player the staff feels most comfortable with right now but every member of the group will get an opportunity to show what he can do as fall practices continue to play out.
The one big X-factor for the unit is Kwabena Watson who Buh was blunt about with his assessment. Kevin Sumlin recently said that the redshirt freshman gets into some trouble when he has to play in space since he was mostly used as a pass rusher in high school. It’s clear the staff isn’t fully comfortable with him just yet.
“He’s got a ways to go,” Buh said of Watson. “He’s young. He’s got a lot of natural gifts. He does have some twitch off the edge. Those are some of the things that we like about him, but he’s never played in space. So, there’s a lot that goes along with that. He’s going through a process and we’re breaking it down for him. We’re putting him in positions he’s never been in and he’s getting better everyday, but we’ve just gotta keep going with the plan with him.”
▶ Paul Rhoads has brought an attacking mentality to UA’s defense
There hasn’t been a lot of talk from the team so far during the transition to the new defense under coordinator Paul Rhoads and how it will differ from what fans have seen previously from the group in recent years. Irving shed some light on the changes Tuesday night during his time to speak with the media and expressed some excitement about the changes being put in place that will make the group less reactionary and instead more aggressive in the new scheme.
“The thing that I like about this defense is that in our scheme we move around a lot, and every play we’re hitting somebody,” he said. “We’re aggressive now. Last year we were more reading things now we’re more like, ‘go.’ Go hit ‘em, get in the backfield. We’re just moving around a lot more confusing offenses.”
As a defensive line, Irving said the group is getting adjusted to a new coaching style as Stan Eggen’s energized approach is also bringing a different type of mentality. Irving said there is less of an emphasis on what is going well and a bigger onus is being placed on what needs to improve. He likes the “hard” style of coaching more he said. The depth up front is also bringing about some more competitiveness. The Wildcats have three defensive line spots this season and more players for those spots than any year in recent memory. Naturally, it has meant that players are battling for the available playing time.
“We have so many spots at nose, tackle and end so whoever gets it, gets it,” he said. “We’re all going to keep working hard and doing our thing.”
▶ Joiner potentially played on broken foot last season, could be used all over the field in ’20
Redshirt sophomore receiver Jamarye Joiner finished his first season at his new position on a high note with a big performance against Arizona State. That ended up helping him finish atop the leaderboard in many of the team’s receiving categories. He is now looking to build off that impressive finish that now looks even more impressive considering he could have been playing on a broken foot for a considerable amount of the time on the field last year. Joiner had surgery to repair a Jones fracture that he thought was originally just soreness brought on by breaking in new cleats. When the pain persisted he eventually brought it up to the training staff this spring when it was determined that he indeed did have a fracture.
He said if the season would have started on time he would not have been ready and would have held himself out of games because he believes he was only at about 60% health back in late August. Now he feels much better and doesn’t anticipate missing time because of the injury. That will be important because the Wildcats have some big plans for him this season.
Joiner is not going to make the move back to his old position, but he said he has continued to nag offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone to use him at quarterback in some packages and from the sounds of it that will be the plan this year to still have some aspect of a running element to the offense. It’s unclear how often or in what situations it will be used, but right now I would expect to see him line up in some “Wildcat” situations to take the snaps giving the offense some options because of his ability to pass the ball in those scenarios.
That won’t be the only way he will be used differently this season as he could also end up playing some wide receiver as well. The staff wants to take advantage of his skill set however it can so he continues to learn each of the receiver positions this fall.
“I think you could see how relaxed he was out there,” Mazzone said about Joiner’s performance against the Sun Devils last year. “... Now we know what he can do on the field at that slot position and just his playmaking ability, so obviously just game-planning wise he’s put it on tape for us so now we know where we can put him on the field, different looks by different coverages week in and week out.”
▶ Mazzone says Boobie Curry is the wideout who made the biggest jump this offseason
Arizona has a lot of options at WR this season and the staff is still waiting to see which players emerge as the top group. Someone who continues to come up in the conversation is sophomore wideout Boobie Curry who was injured early last season but eventually started to make an impact late in the year. Now he is healthy and has some experience under his belt and Mazzone said the former prized recruit has had the most growth from last season to this fall.
“I think Boobie has made tremendous strides in his top of the routes and fundamentals,” Mazzone said. “He kind of came to Arizona a little banged up and had to find a way to get on the field. So, he battled some injuries early, but coming in healthy ... you can just tell the confidence and how smooth he is running routes and you can see the separation.”
You can see the full interviews with each of the coaches and players mentioned above in the videos posted below.
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