Arizona continues to be in a busy time, but things will soon shift gears. On the football side of things the 2015 season will finally come to an end Saturday in New Mexico as the Wildcats play their final game of they year in the New Mexico Bowl. There are plenty of questions that will be answered in the time following the bowl game, but for now UA is working toward finishing strong.
When it comes to basketball the Wildcats continue to work on getting settled heading into the Pac-12 portion of the schedule. Three nonconference games remain for UA with a tough matchup against UNLV on Saturday. The Wildcats continue to deal with a number of issues at this point in the year but the winning remains consistent.
For both football and basketball it is an important time of year on the recruiting front as well and we’ll have the latest on that in this week’s War Room. Let’s get right into it.
Football
Arizona has two more days of preparation in Tucson before it heads out to Albuquerque to continued the preparations for the New Mexico Bowl with the game on Saturday. After that the Wildcats will have a month to rest and recover for spring ball, which will start a month earlier next year as it is set to begin in February.
* Here are five things to watch for this week and heading into the offseason as the Wildcats start to move on from the 2015 season.
- Scooby: Arizona middle linebacker Scooby Wright will play in the New Mexico Bowl but beyond that is very unlikely. The wheels on making a move to the NFL after his junior season were already being put in place before the season started and while there have been bumps in the road since then all signs continue to point to him declaring early after this season. That is how things have felt around practice this week now that Wright is back on the field and that has been the word as of late.
There are certainly benefits and draw backs to either decision, but there certainly remains a scenario in play that a team could guarantee Wright a spot in the middle rounds and even with all the injuries that have taken place that would be hard to turn down. Wright’s draft stock has taken a hit with him not being on the field, but there is also the risk of returning and not being the same player he was back in 2014 - that too would only hurt his draft stock even more. It will be a difficult task to replicate his sophomore season - healthy or not - and whether it is fair or not any season of his will always be compared to that one.
Wright did not want to discuss the NFL or his future last week during his return to the practice field for the Wildcats.
- Injuries: The injuries have taken a toll on Arizona all season long and that has continued up until the bowl game preparations. Arizona will likely be without Luca Bruno who injured his ankle/foot in the Territorial Cup game. Bruno is just one of the many players around practice who is in a yellow (limited contact) jersey. Nick Wilson remains limited in practice as well and there are numerous others who are banged up. The benefit of playing an early game is there is not more of a chance to get players injured leading up to the bowl game, but Rich Rodriguez said last week that if the team had a couple more weeks players who are closer to being healthy could have had the chance to play.
For now there will continue to be some players missing from the usual two-deep depth chart when the team takes the field in Albuquerque on Saturday.
- The quarterback situation. It still looks as though Anu Solomon will get the start against New Mexico, but all three of Arizona’s scholarship signal callers remain in red, no-contact jerseys. Usually throughout the season it has just been the first two who wear those special jerseys. Brandon Dawkins was certainly impressive in the Territorial Cup game when he came on in relief of Jerrard Randall. At this point Rodriguez said last week he believes his team has two backups and he would not say one has the edge over the other.
Randall will get some time at receiver in the New Mexico Bowl as there is some promise for him at the next level as an athlete-type player who gets used at a position other than quarterback. He has been working at both still and the plan is for this to be the biggest opportunity for him at the receiver position.
- Another player who could see himself used more at a different position is Cam Denson. The cornerback who really raised his stock in high school as a receiver and return man has been working more with the offense and spending extra time after practice with the quarterbacks there as well. It is no secret that Denson would prefer to play on the offensive side of the ball and that is something to watch going into spring practice. The sense right now is that he could start to see more time on offense and help Arizona as Cayleb Jones puts out some preliminary feelers about moving on to the NFL.
If that were to happen and Jones was not on the roster next season there would be more of a need for Denson back on the offensive side of the ball. It is something that is starting to pick up some more steam here late in the season.
- Young players: Arizona has been getting some extra work in for its young players over the last week and while it only gives the staff a glimpse of what they can bring it has been a positive experience. The Wildcats will need a number of younger players to step up next season especially on defense and the offensive line so it is an important time for the unit. Rodriguez said last week his hope is that with double-digit midyear enrollees expected the competition level will be at a high level in spring ball and that will give UA a good base to build off of heading into the summer and fall.
Football recruiting
It is a busy time for Arizona’s coaching staff as it has to balance getting ready for the bowl game with a heavy recruiting point in the year. Luckily for college programs it is now the start of a dead period for the next month so it will give UA’s staff some time to regroup and see which prospects it wants to put the focus on heading into the final stretch before the signing period.
The Wildcats had a decent-sized group of visitors over the weekend and earned a commitment out of it. There is still work to be done and of course schools to keep away from current commits until Signing Day but Arizona is headed in the right direction.
* The big news of the weekend was Arizona finally successfully flipping former Utah commit Kahi Neves. The Wildcats have been quietly working this recruitment for quite some time and things really died down during the season. Neves is one who likes to keep things quiet so he never publicized his trips too much. He briefly visited Colorado on Friday before making his way to Tucson for a weekend visit and by Saturday night Arizona had closed the deal it had started to put in place over the spring.
What it really came down to was convincing Neves that linebacker was where his future is at and Arizona’s staff was able to do so leading up to and on the visit. In addition to that Neves has a relationship with a number of players on Arizona’s team and in its recruiting class as well. He has played at the same school as Scooby Wright as well as Michael Eletise in the past and he has built a really strong bond with quarterback commit Devon Modster.
At 6-foot-5 Neves will give Arizona some size on its defense and now that he will enroll early that will give him a leg up on being an early contributor as well.
When it comes to basketball the Wildcats continue to work on getting settled heading into the Pac-12 portion of the schedule. Three nonconference games remain for UA with a tough matchup against UNLV on Saturday. The Wildcats continue to deal with a number of issues at this point in the year but the winning remains consistent.
For both football and basketball it is an important time of year on the recruiting front as well and we’ll have the latest on that in this week’s War Room. Let’s get right into it.
Football
Arizona has two more days of preparation in Tucson before it heads out to Albuquerque to continued the preparations for the New Mexico Bowl with the game on Saturday. After that the Wildcats will have a month to rest and recover for spring ball, which will start a month earlier next year as it is set to begin in February.
* Here are five things to watch for this week and heading into the offseason as the Wildcats start to move on from the 2015 season.
- Scooby: Arizona middle linebacker Scooby Wright will play in the New Mexico Bowl but beyond that is very unlikely. The wheels on making a move to the NFL after his junior season were already being put in place before the season started and while there have been bumps in the road since then all signs continue to point to him declaring early after this season. That is how things have felt around practice this week now that Wright is back on the field and that has been the word as of late.
There are certainly benefits and draw backs to either decision, but there certainly remains a scenario in play that a team could guarantee Wright a spot in the middle rounds and even with all the injuries that have taken place that would be hard to turn down. Wright’s draft stock has taken a hit with him not being on the field, but there is also the risk of returning and not being the same player he was back in 2014 - that too would only hurt his draft stock even more. It will be a difficult task to replicate his sophomore season - healthy or not - and whether it is fair or not any season of his will always be compared to that one.
Wright did not want to discuss the NFL or his future last week during his return to the practice field for the Wildcats.
- Injuries: The injuries have taken a toll on Arizona all season long and that has continued up until the bowl game preparations. Arizona will likely be without Luca Bruno who injured his ankle/foot in the Territorial Cup game. Bruno is just one of the many players around practice who is in a yellow (limited contact) jersey. Nick Wilson remains limited in practice as well and there are numerous others who are banged up. The benefit of playing an early game is there is not more of a chance to get players injured leading up to the bowl game, but Rich Rodriguez said last week that if the team had a couple more weeks players who are closer to being healthy could have had the chance to play.
For now there will continue to be some players missing from the usual two-deep depth chart when the team takes the field in Albuquerque on Saturday.
- The quarterback situation. It still looks as though Anu Solomon will get the start against New Mexico, but all three of Arizona’s scholarship signal callers remain in red, no-contact jerseys. Usually throughout the season it has just been the first two who wear those special jerseys. Brandon Dawkins was certainly impressive in the Territorial Cup game when he came on in relief of Jerrard Randall. At this point Rodriguez said last week he believes his team has two backups and he would not say one has the edge over the other.
Randall will get some time at receiver in the New Mexico Bowl as there is some promise for him at the next level as an athlete-type player who gets used at a position other than quarterback. He has been working at both still and the plan is for this to be the biggest opportunity for him at the receiver position.
- Another player who could see himself used more at a different position is Cam Denson. The cornerback who really raised his stock in high school as a receiver and return man has been working more with the offense and spending extra time after practice with the quarterbacks there as well. It is no secret that Denson would prefer to play on the offensive side of the ball and that is something to watch going into spring practice. The sense right now is that he could start to see more time on offense and help Arizona as Cayleb Jones puts out some preliminary feelers about moving on to the NFL.
If that were to happen and Jones was not on the roster next season there would be more of a need for Denson back on the offensive side of the ball. It is something that is starting to pick up some more steam here late in the season.
- Young players: Arizona has been getting some extra work in for its young players over the last week and while it only gives the staff a glimpse of what they can bring it has been a positive experience. The Wildcats will need a number of younger players to step up next season especially on defense and the offensive line so it is an important time for the unit. Rodriguez said last week his hope is that with double-digit midyear enrollees expected the competition level will be at a high level in spring ball and that will give UA a good base to build off of heading into the summer and fall.
Football recruiting
It is a busy time for Arizona’s coaching staff as it has to balance getting ready for the bowl game with a heavy recruiting point in the year. Luckily for college programs it is now the start of a dead period for the next month so it will give UA’s staff some time to regroup and see which prospects it wants to put the focus on heading into the final stretch before the signing period.
The Wildcats had a decent-sized group of visitors over the weekend and earned a commitment out of it. There is still work to be done and of course schools to keep away from current commits until Signing Day but Arizona is headed in the right direction.
* The big news of the weekend was Arizona finally successfully flipping former Utah commit Kahi Neves. The Wildcats have been quietly working this recruitment for quite some time and things really died down during the season. Neves is one who likes to keep things quiet so he never publicized his trips too much. He briefly visited Colorado on Friday before making his way to Tucson for a weekend visit and by Saturday night Arizona had closed the deal it had started to put in place over the spring.
What it really came down to was convincing Neves that linebacker was where his future is at and Arizona’s staff was able to do so leading up to and on the visit. In addition to that Neves has a relationship with a number of players on Arizona’s team and in its recruiting class as well. He has played at the same school as Scooby Wright as well as Michael Eletise in the past and he has built a really strong bond with quarterback commit Devon Modster.
At 6-foot-5 Neves will give Arizona some size on its defense and now that he will enroll early that will give him a leg up on being an early contributor as well.
