It was the final set of two-a-days scheduled for Arizona this fall Monday and now it will be back to afternoon and evening practices from here on out with a scrimmage scheduled for this Saturday as well. Now into the third week of practice (two actual weeks) Arizona has started to get more settled with the guys who will be getting the most time on the field.
There is still some figuring out to do as to who will start at some of the positions, but for the most part UA's staff has figured out who will be able to contribute this year.
Here is today's practice report as Arizona heads into another practice later on tonight.
* Injury wise things are looking a lot better for Arizona as most of the players who were dinged up are now back and a full go during practice. Monday morning was a full pads practice and only Darrell Cloy was limited of the group. There are of course players being held out still, but I have already discussed those ones previously. Rich Rodriguez has really tried to limit the amount of hitting the team has done this fall and so far the group has been able to stay relatively healthy when it comes to new injuries.
Position breakdown
Quarterbacks: At this point things are settled with the quarterback situation with Anu Solomon and Jerrard Randall as the top two and that's a good thing for Arizona as the season gets close. Solomon has become comfortable with his receiving group and you can see that when you watch practice. There are certain routes and passes that he's making now that he might not have previously because of that familiarity. Rodriguez continues to put a little more pressure each day on Solomon on the quarterbacks with the season approaching and so far so good for the group led by the redshirt sophomore.
Running backs: I have already discussed the top two quite a bit this fall and those two co-starters of Nick Wilson and Jared Baker will lead the way. Both have looked better than previously and the duo will receive a bulk of the carries. Still, Arizona wants to have four guys ready to go by the start of the season and it remains Zach Green and Orlando Bradford battling for those three and four spots. Bradford has continued to make strides in the right direction and it will be interesting to see if he can close the gap on Green over the next couple weeks.
Green has trimmed up quite a bit this fall and he looks more capable of handling a bigger work load. Either way Arizona looks to have a solid group of four going into the year.
Receivers/tight ends: With much of the group already settled the big news lately has been about Johnny Jackson and his return to offense. I told you last week when he made the move even on the first day that he looked like he had not missed a beat being on defense. He has continued to be impressive in practice and he has the right skill set to be effective in this offense as he has shown before. Right now the staff feels confident putting Jackson out there when the season begins and you can expect him to get on the field quite a bit during the early portion of the season.
Trevor Wood is back as a full go with the tight ends again after battling through a little injury, and that means Arizona's top two options at tight end will be able to continue working with the first two groups as fall camp continues. Both Wood and Josh Kern figure to be increased parts of Arizona's offense this year.
Offensive line: The more camp goes on the more it feels like things are settling in with the offensive line. Jim Michalczik still wants to see how some players respond, but for now TD Gross has his hold on that starting guard spot that Cayman Bundage left open. With that open spot now filled, the staff can start working on the group that will travel including that top eight it likes to have ready to play. Zach Hemmila will be Arizona's top replacement should anything happen to that starting unit and he has put together a solid camp.
Layth Friekh also continues to have a solid fall with his size really changing from the spring until now. He has really added some good weight and he will be part of that group of eight as well.
Defensive line: Right now the big news on the defensive side of the ball in the trenches is that Sani Fuimaono has made his move now and it will be interesting to see if he can hold onto it. The junior has been running with the first unit over the last few practices at nose with Parker Zellers with the second group. All six members of the first two units will get their chance to be on the field, but Fuimaono is looking like he could be the one to get the start as of now. Luca Bruno has held onto his spot with the first group, but Jeff Worthy is coming. The coaching staff still feels that is a battle, but it really does look like Bruno will be the one starting things off.
Still, Worthy and Anthony Fotu will get their opportunity to get on the field this year quite a bit themselves too.
Linebackers: Even if it does ultimately end up being a body short, Arizona's linebacker group did what it need to do this summer and in fall camp to be ready to go for the season. Scooby Wright is the key cog to the defense, but the pieces around him have improved as well. That unit has really started to reflect Jeff Casteel in that it just works and does its job and doesn't make too much noise until it matters most. I think it has a chance to surprise some people especially with the strides players like Jake Matthews and DeAndre' Miller have made coming into fall camp.
Safeties: The starting unit is set with Will Parks at spur, Tellas Jones at bandit and Jamar Allah at free safety. The second unit free safety looks set with Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles now too. Anthony Lopez continues to have his hand wrapped pretty heavily and Monday he was working with one of the groups further down, but he has plenty of experience and if he's ready to go he'll be in the mix as well. Paul Magloire continues to be the interesting one from the group as he has been moved around a little bit at times and in between groups as well. He set plenty of records in the weight room during the summer and he has shown he has the ability so it will be interesting to see where exactly he ends up as he has spent time at both spur and bandit during camp.
Cornerbacks: With the absence of Jarvis McCall, DaVonte' Neal has taken full advantage of his opportunity to work with the first unit. He has been the talk of camp for his ability to continue working over the course of practice without getting worn out and he has become more comfortable playing the cornerback position. Right now he looks very capable of running with that first unit during the season and he is the favorite to land there now. The Wildcat have continued to run with Sammy Morrison with that first unit and Cam Denson with the second group. Both will play this season and now it will be about figuring out who is best to take the starting job. Denson has experience on his side, but UA's staff really likes what Morrison brings to the table.
I still think in the end Arizona will side with experience and Denson will have that job, but it has been interesting to see Morrison run with the first group as much as he has this month.
Depth Chart
Offense
QB: Anu Solomon; Jerrard Randall
RB: Nick Wilson or Jared Baker; Zach Green
WR: Cayleb Jones; Abraham Mendivil
WR: David Richards; Trey Griffey or Tony Ellison
Slot: Nate Phillips; Shun Brown
Slot: Samajie Grant; Johnny Jackson
TE: Josh Kern, Trevor Wood
OT: Freddie Tagaloa, Layth Friekh
OG: TD Gross; David Catalano
C: Cayman Bundage; Zach Hemmila or David Catalano
OG: Jacob Alsadek; Kaige Lawrence
OT: Lene Maiava; Gerhard de Beer
Defense
DT: Luca Bruno or Jeff Worthy
NT: Parker Zellers or Sani Fuimaono; Jeff Worthy
DE: Reggie Gilbert; Anthony Fotu or Jeff Worthy
LB: Derrick Turituri; Cody Ippolito
LB: Scooby Wright; Haden Gregory
LB: Jake Matthews; DeAndre' Miller
Spur: Will Parks; Anthony Lopez or Paul Magloire
Bandit: Tellas Jones; Carter Hehr or Paul Magloire
FS: Jamar Allah; Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
CB: Cam Denson or Sammy Morrison; Kwesi Mashack
CB: DaVonte' Neal; Sammy Morrison
There is still some figuring out to do as to who will start at some of the positions, but for the most part UA's staff has figured out who will be able to contribute this year.
Here is today's practice report as Arizona heads into another practice later on tonight.
* Injury wise things are looking a lot better for Arizona as most of the players who were dinged up are now back and a full go during practice. Monday morning was a full pads practice and only Darrell Cloy was limited of the group. There are of course players being held out still, but I have already discussed those ones previously. Rich Rodriguez has really tried to limit the amount of hitting the team has done this fall and so far the group has been able to stay relatively healthy when it comes to new injuries.
Position breakdown
Quarterbacks: At this point things are settled with the quarterback situation with Anu Solomon and Jerrard Randall as the top two and that's a good thing for Arizona as the season gets close. Solomon has become comfortable with his receiving group and you can see that when you watch practice. There are certain routes and passes that he's making now that he might not have previously because of that familiarity. Rodriguez continues to put a little more pressure each day on Solomon on the quarterbacks with the season approaching and so far so good for the group led by the redshirt sophomore.
Running backs: I have already discussed the top two quite a bit this fall and those two co-starters of Nick Wilson and Jared Baker will lead the way. Both have looked better than previously and the duo will receive a bulk of the carries. Still, Arizona wants to have four guys ready to go by the start of the season and it remains Zach Green and Orlando Bradford battling for those three and four spots. Bradford has continued to make strides in the right direction and it will be interesting to see if he can close the gap on Green over the next couple weeks.
Green has trimmed up quite a bit this fall and he looks more capable of handling a bigger work load. Either way Arizona looks to have a solid group of four going into the year.
Receivers/tight ends: With much of the group already settled the big news lately has been about Johnny Jackson and his return to offense. I told you last week when he made the move even on the first day that he looked like he had not missed a beat being on defense. He has continued to be impressive in practice and he has the right skill set to be effective in this offense as he has shown before. Right now the staff feels confident putting Jackson out there when the season begins and you can expect him to get on the field quite a bit during the early portion of the season.
Trevor Wood is back as a full go with the tight ends again after battling through a little injury, and that means Arizona's top two options at tight end will be able to continue working with the first two groups as fall camp continues. Both Wood and Josh Kern figure to be increased parts of Arizona's offense this year.
Offensive line: The more camp goes on the more it feels like things are settling in with the offensive line. Jim Michalczik still wants to see how some players respond, but for now TD Gross has his hold on that starting guard spot that Cayman Bundage left open. With that open spot now filled, the staff can start working on the group that will travel including that top eight it likes to have ready to play. Zach Hemmila will be Arizona's top replacement should anything happen to that starting unit and he has put together a solid camp.
Layth Friekh also continues to have a solid fall with his size really changing from the spring until now. He has really added some good weight and he will be part of that group of eight as well.
Defensive line: Right now the big news on the defensive side of the ball in the trenches is that Sani Fuimaono has made his move now and it will be interesting to see if he can hold onto it. The junior has been running with the first unit over the last few practices at nose with Parker Zellers with the second group. All six members of the first two units will get their chance to be on the field, but Fuimaono is looking like he could be the one to get the start as of now. Luca Bruno has held onto his spot with the first group, but Jeff Worthy is coming. The coaching staff still feels that is a battle, but it really does look like Bruno will be the one starting things off.
Still, Worthy and Anthony Fotu will get their opportunity to get on the field this year quite a bit themselves too.
Linebackers: Even if it does ultimately end up being a body short, Arizona's linebacker group did what it need to do this summer and in fall camp to be ready to go for the season. Scooby Wright is the key cog to the defense, but the pieces around him have improved as well. That unit has really started to reflect Jeff Casteel in that it just works and does its job and doesn't make too much noise until it matters most. I think it has a chance to surprise some people especially with the strides players like Jake Matthews and DeAndre' Miller have made coming into fall camp.
Safeties: The starting unit is set with Will Parks at spur, Tellas Jones at bandit and Jamar Allah at free safety. The second unit free safety looks set with Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles now too. Anthony Lopez continues to have his hand wrapped pretty heavily and Monday he was working with one of the groups further down, but he has plenty of experience and if he's ready to go he'll be in the mix as well. Paul Magloire continues to be the interesting one from the group as he has been moved around a little bit at times and in between groups as well. He set plenty of records in the weight room during the summer and he has shown he has the ability so it will be interesting to see where exactly he ends up as he has spent time at both spur and bandit during camp.
Cornerbacks: With the absence of Jarvis McCall, DaVonte' Neal has taken full advantage of his opportunity to work with the first unit. He has been the talk of camp for his ability to continue working over the course of practice without getting worn out and he has become more comfortable playing the cornerback position. Right now he looks very capable of running with that first unit during the season and he is the favorite to land there now. The Wildcat have continued to run with Sammy Morrison with that first unit and Cam Denson with the second group. Both will play this season and now it will be about figuring out who is best to take the starting job. Denson has experience on his side, but UA's staff really likes what Morrison brings to the table.
I still think in the end Arizona will side with experience and Denson will have that job, but it has been interesting to see Morrison run with the first group as much as he has this month.
Depth Chart
Offense
QB: Anu Solomon; Jerrard Randall
RB: Nick Wilson or Jared Baker; Zach Green
WR: Cayleb Jones; Abraham Mendivil
WR: David Richards; Trey Griffey or Tony Ellison
Slot: Nate Phillips; Shun Brown
Slot: Samajie Grant; Johnny Jackson
TE: Josh Kern, Trevor Wood
OT: Freddie Tagaloa, Layth Friekh
OG: TD Gross; David Catalano
C: Cayman Bundage; Zach Hemmila or David Catalano
OG: Jacob Alsadek; Kaige Lawrence
OT: Lene Maiava; Gerhard de Beer
Defense
DT: Luca Bruno or Jeff Worthy
NT: Parker Zellers or Sani Fuimaono; Jeff Worthy
DE: Reggie Gilbert; Anthony Fotu or Jeff Worthy
LB: Derrick Turituri; Cody Ippolito
LB: Scooby Wright; Haden Gregory
LB: Jake Matthews; DeAndre' Miller
Spur: Will Parks; Anthony Lopez or Paul Magloire
Bandit: Tellas Jones; Carter Hehr or Paul Magloire
FS: Jamar Allah; Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
CB: Cam Denson or Sammy Morrison; Kwesi Mashack
CB: DaVonte' Neal; Sammy Morrison
