It is finally here! Arizona football opens up training camp on Wednesday meaning we are 31 days away from the start of the 2024 season and the Brent Brennan era.
After an offseason filled with coaching moves, player movement, roster retention and additions to the team, the Wildcats can finally focus on getting ready for the new season.
A good amount of the Wildcats' starting unit is set with there being no starting quarterback competition thanks to the return of Noah Fifita, the return of several starters on the offensive line and a defense that welcomes back six starters from the previous season.
Still there are several key positions to watch in training camp and players to watch as they find themselves as a first time starter, or a key rotational player for the new staff.
To get you ready for training camp, we at GOAZCATS.com will be breaking down the four things you need to watch leading up to the 2024 season. From position battles, coaching styles and players' health these are just some of the things that we'll be watching this camp season.
Here's the four things you need to watch throughout the Wildcats' training camp ahead of the season:
The depth of the offensive line
During the offseason, Arizona's offensive line depth was depleted with guys moving on to the NFL, players graduating and a few entering the transfer portal. This left the Wildcats thin during spring football on the line and as a few players got banged up, the depth was tested and put to the max.
There were a few times that players like Rhino Tapa'atoutai had to go with the first and second units on the offensive because there weren't enough players on the line due to injuries throughout spring.
In terms of the starting unit, the Wildcats seems set with Jonah Savaiinaea and Raymond Pulido at the tackles positions, Wendell Moe and Leif Magnuson at the guards and Josh Baker manning the middle at center.
After that, its hard to say which guys would be the "break glass" players in case of an injury, or when a player needs a break during a game. And to be honest, in spring, I'm not sure the staff had an offensive linemen outside of those five that they would trust in a key situation at that point in time.
To help the offensive line depth, the staff went to work and brought in three new additions to the unit after spring in transfers Jonah Rodriguez, Michael Wooten and Shancco Matautia.
However among the three additions, only Matautia has seen significant time on the field appearing in 12 games in two seasons at New Mexico.
This camp will be critical to see if the additions to the line can help the offensive line depth issues, or if they are all a little too young to make any impact on the 2024 season.