After some lows last week Arizona is back and riding high as the final full week of January gets underway. There is plenty to discuss so lets get right into this week’s War Room.
Football
Rich Rodriguez is moving forward with his team. It’s 2017 schedule is now out and the Wildcats will have six home games in the upcoming season. We also now know that UA will begin spring practice early picking things up again Feb. 18 much like it did last year. Between now and then there will be quite a lot of recruiting going on.
* When it comes to the current team and closing in on spring ball we will continue our look at each position group and how they performed last season along with a look at how we see the group coming together this year. We have made our way over to the defense the last couple weeks and today we make our way into the secondary and UA’s safeties group.
- 2016 overview: Like every other position on defense Arizona was working through some adjustments with a new coach, and maybe more so than any other position the safety group had to work through new additions and youth. It meant a chance for young players to earn some experience and get a head start on their careers. It didn’t come without bumps as there were still growing pains for Jahmile Addae’s group, but it should mean a chance to improve in 2017.
Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles was the star of the safety group for Arizona in 2016 accumulating 78 tackles on the year, which was good enough for second on the team behind Paul Magloire. The bandit position in Arizona’s defense is one where a player will get plenty of action and that was certainly the case for Flannigan-Fowles this season. He had to help out quite a bit in the run, but he also had to cover and make plays in the passing game as well. He had four tackles for loss on the season and was third on the team with six pass breakups. It was another step in the right direction for Flannigan-Fowles in his sophomore season.
The other up safety spot, the spur, had somewhat of a rotating door of players throughout the year. Three different players made the start at the position with Tellas Jones, Anthony Mariscal and freshman Tristan Cooper all getting the call at one point. At the end of the year UA’s staff decided to go with Cooper for the most part and he impressed in his first season in college. He was one of the more aggressive tacklers in the unit and he showed some nice instincts for such a young player. Jones was Arizona’s Mr. Do-Everything over the course of his career and that carried into his final season. Meanwhile, Mariscal showed flashes of being a playmaker but injuries made things a little more difficult in his first season of action after his redshirt year.
Arizona mixed things up at free safety trying to find the right combination as well ultimately deciding to end the season with freshman Isaiah Hayes taking the majority of the snaps there. Hayes has the range to play on the back end and it was his aggressiveness that Addae talked about most during the season that helped him get more in the mix and eventually earn the starting job. Hayes finished sixth on the team with 38 tackles to go along with 2.5 tackles for loss.
- 2017 outlook: It will be an interesting season for Arizona’s safety group in the upcoming year. The unit will still be on the young side, but there will be some experience that it didn’t have in 2016 as well. As a group the safety unit is responsible for quite a bit in UA’s defense and it didn’t necessarily live up to that during the season. The turnovers that you would expect from the group didn’t quite come to fruition and tackling was an issue at times as well.
UA fell into a familiar pattern allowing big passing days at different times throughout the year and that is something that will have to be reduced as things transition to the new season. That responsibility doesn’t solely fall on the safety unit but it is and should be a big part of what it does game in and game out.
Addae will have a solid returning unit in 2017 with the starters already penciled in. Flannigan-Fowles, Cooper and Hayes make up a solid starting safety unit and with others - such as Mariscal - getting some experience last season there should at least be some more depth than in 2016. The key for the starting group as a whole will be to ramp things up to another level. A year (or two in the case of Flannigan-Fowles) of experience under their belts means the patience for mistakes goes down and the expectations start to rise. There will surely still be bumps as the players look to take things to a new level, but there is still a lot to be excited about.
In addition to that UA will have some impressive freshmen coming in with the 2017 recruiting class this summer who could help out right away. Xavier Bell, Rhedi Short and Scottie Young are all players who have the skill set to contribute sooner rather than later for the ‘Cats.
* When it comes to Arizona players working their way onto NFL teams in the upcoming draf Magloire has helped himself the most and should end up getting drafted where that seemed more like a long shot at the end of the season. He did lead the Wildcats in tackles, but there were some plays he would have like to have back. One thing the UA linebacker did was produce and while he may have been somewhat out of position throughout his career the hybrid linebacker/safety role is something that is picking up steam in the NFL.
Magloire, along with Trey Griffey, played in the East-West Shrine Game over the weekend and after a week of some nice buzz the UA linebacker impressed those in attendance. He finished the all-star game fourth in tackles with five including a tackle for loss. Meanwhile, Griffey led things for the West squad with three catches that ended up going for 34 yards. Both players have helped their stock, but Magloire is more of a reality when it comes to getting drafted.
Football recruiting
It’s down to the final week. Arizona is putting the final pieces of its class together and next Wednesday it will all come to an end. There are several positions to fill remaining in the 2017 class, but for UA it is a time of waiting and seeing what happens next but having a plan ready to go.
* One position Arizona wants to add another recruit at is the quarterback spot. As the Braxton Burmeister saga was playing out the Wildcats were already working on being prepared for a decision that didn’t end well. That ended up happening with the four-star quarterback going to Oregon instead of UA and that meant the Wildcats were once again in the market for a signal caller. The issues is Arizona is looking for one at a time when there aren’t many impact quarterbacks out there. It quickly identified Florida-based recruit and UNC-Charlotte commit Nick Tronti. The Mr. Football for the state of Florida now has an offer from the Wildcats and the next step will be deciding if he wants to visit.
UA offered feeling good that it would be able to get him out on a trip, but he is still deciding on whether he will see Arizona or Connecticut the final weekend before National Signing Day. Should he take the trip to Tucson the Wildcats’ chances of landing the two-star prospect shoots up quite a bit. The staff feels confident at this point, but when it gets this late in the recruiting cycle things can get a bit muddy.
At this point it is no guarantee that Arizona goes after another quarterback should the Wildcats not get a visit from Tronti. Matt McDonald from Mission Viejo, California remains an option but at this stage he does not yet have an offer from the Wildcats.
Football
Rich Rodriguez is moving forward with his team. It’s 2017 schedule is now out and the Wildcats will have six home games in the upcoming season. We also now know that UA will begin spring practice early picking things up again Feb. 18 much like it did last year. Between now and then there will be quite a lot of recruiting going on.
* When it comes to the current team and closing in on spring ball we will continue our look at each position group and how they performed last season along with a look at how we see the group coming together this year. We have made our way over to the defense the last couple weeks and today we make our way into the secondary and UA’s safeties group.
- 2016 overview: Like every other position on defense Arizona was working through some adjustments with a new coach, and maybe more so than any other position the safety group had to work through new additions and youth. It meant a chance for young players to earn some experience and get a head start on their careers. It didn’t come without bumps as there were still growing pains for Jahmile Addae’s group, but it should mean a chance to improve in 2017.
Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles was the star of the safety group for Arizona in 2016 accumulating 78 tackles on the year, which was good enough for second on the team behind Paul Magloire. The bandit position in Arizona’s defense is one where a player will get plenty of action and that was certainly the case for Flannigan-Fowles this season. He had to help out quite a bit in the run, but he also had to cover and make plays in the passing game as well. He had four tackles for loss on the season and was third on the team with six pass breakups. It was another step in the right direction for Flannigan-Fowles in his sophomore season.
The other up safety spot, the spur, had somewhat of a rotating door of players throughout the year. Three different players made the start at the position with Tellas Jones, Anthony Mariscal and freshman Tristan Cooper all getting the call at one point. At the end of the year UA’s staff decided to go with Cooper for the most part and he impressed in his first season in college. He was one of the more aggressive tacklers in the unit and he showed some nice instincts for such a young player. Jones was Arizona’s Mr. Do-Everything over the course of his career and that carried into his final season. Meanwhile, Mariscal showed flashes of being a playmaker but injuries made things a little more difficult in his first season of action after his redshirt year.
Arizona mixed things up at free safety trying to find the right combination as well ultimately deciding to end the season with freshman Isaiah Hayes taking the majority of the snaps there. Hayes has the range to play on the back end and it was his aggressiveness that Addae talked about most during the season that helped him get more in the mix and eventually earn the starting job. Hayes finished sixth on the team with 38 tackles to go along with 2.5 tackles for loss.
- 2017 outlook: It will be an interesting season for Arizona’s safety group in the upcoming year. The unit will still be on the young side, but there will be some experience that it didn’t have in 2016 as well. As a group the safety unit is responsible for quite a bit in UA’s defense and it didn’t necessarily live up to that during the season. The turnovers that you would expect from the group didn’t quite come to fruition and tackling was an issue at times as well.
UA fell into a familiar pattern allowing big passing days at different times throughout the year and that is something that will have to be reduced as things transition to the new season. That responsibility doesn’t solely fall on the safety unit but it is and should be a big part of what it does game in and game out.
Addae will have a solid returning unit in 2017 with the starters already penciled in. Flannigan-Fowles, Cooper and Hayes make up a solid starting safety unit and with others - such as Mariscal - getting some experience last season there should at least be some more depth than in 2016. The key for the starting group as a whole will be to ramp things up to another level. A year (or two in the case of Flannigan-Fowles) of experience under their belts means the patience for mistakes goes down and the expectations start to rise. There will surely still be bumps as the players look to take things to a new level, but there is still a lot to be excited about.
In addition to that UA will have some impressive freshmen coming in with the 2017 recruiting class this summer who could help out right away. Xavier Bell, Rhedi Short and Scottie Young are all players who have the skill set to contribute sooner rather than later for the ‘Cats.
* When it comes to Arizona players working their way onto NFL teams in the upcoming draf Magloire has helped himself the most and should end up getting drafted where that seemed more like a long shot at the end of the season. He did lead the Wildcats in tackles, but there were some plays he would have like to have back. One thing the UA linebacker did was produce and while he may have been somewhat out of position throughout his career the hybrid linebacker/safety role is something that is picking up steam in the NFL.
Magloire, along with Trey Griffey, played in the East-West Shrine Game over the weekend and after a week of some nice buzz the UA linebacker impressed those in attendance. He finished the all-star game fourth in tackles with five including a tackle for loss. Meanwhile, Griffey led things for the West squad with three catches that ended up going for 34 yards. Both players have helped their stock, but Magloire is more of a reality when it comes to getting drafted.
Football recruiting
It’s down to the final week. Arizona is putting the final pieces of its class together and next Wednesday it will all come to an end. There are several positions to fill remaining in the 2017 class, but for UA it is a time of waiting and seeing what happens next but having a plan ready to go.
* One position Arizona wants to add another recruit at is the quarterback spot. As the Braxton Burmeister saga was playing out the Wildcats were already working on being prepared for a decision that didn’t end well. That ended up happening with the four-star quarterback going to Oregon instead of UA and that meant the Wildcats were once again in the market for a signal caller. The issues is Arizona is looking for one at a time when there aren’t many impact quarterbacks out there. It quickly identified Florida-based recruit and UNC-Charlotte commit Nick Tronti. The Mr. Football for the state of Florida now has an offer from the Wildcats and the next step will be deciding if he wants to visit.
UA offered feeling good that it would be able to get him out on a trip, but he is still deciding on whether he will see Arizona or Connecticut the final weekend before National Signing Day. Should he take the trip to Tucson the Wildcats’ chances of landing the two-star prospect shoots up quite a bit. The staff feels confident at this point, but when it gets this late in the recruiting cycle things can get a bit muddy.
At this point it is no guarantee that Arizona goes after another quarterback should the Wildcats not get a visit from Tronti. Matt McDonald from Mission Viejo, California remains an option but at this stage he does not yet have an offer from the Wildcats.
