Arizona football: Top five needs from the transfer portal

Tuesday marks the official opening of the April transfer window opening which last from the 16 to 30 before closing again. This means, you will see a larger amount of players hitting the portal from all across the country.

Right now, the Wildcats have had two players enter in Joseph Borjon and Bill Norton. With that, Arizona will have 16 available scholarships to give out in order to fill out the 2024 roster and fix some areas of need to sure things up.

With that, we took at look at Arizona roster and put together the five areas of need that the Wildcats need to address through the transfer portal in order to fill gaps before training came and the start of the 2024 season.

Defensive line

Since Brent Brennan took over the program and the transition of the new coaching staff happened, Arizona have seen numerous defensive linemen leave the program and enter the portal with five players from the 2023 roster.

The departures have created a lack of depth on the defensive line. Right now, the starting unit on the line this spring has been Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei, Isaiah Johnson, Chubba Ma'ae and Tre Smith, which has been a solid group that has created issues for the offensive line.

However that's were things get thin for Arizona. The second unit consists of Sterling Lane, Keanu Mailoto, Julian Savaiinaea and Dominic Lolesio. The major problem with this group is that Savaiinaea is an edge rusher that has had to move inside because of the lack of depth on the defensive line.

Also, in the second unit, only Lane and Lolesio have experience playing snaps in games during the 2023 season.

With that, the defensive line is the top priority for Arizona to attack in the transfer portal and build depth in order to have a solid steady rotation for the 2024 season.

Arizona could use adding two to three defensive linemen to sure things up and steady the second-unit defensive line.

Cornerback

Right now, the top cornerback on Arizona's roster is Tacario Davis, who originally entered the transfer portal. It is unclear if Davis is still in the portal even though he ha been working out with the team all spring practice long.

Behind Davis has been a mix of Jai-Ayviauynn Celestine and Emmanuel Karnley as the No. 2 cornerback on the starting defensive unit. Both players have had good moments throughout spring and other moments where its clear that they are still developing as players.

Plus, Celestine saw little playing time during the 2023 season while Karnley used his redshirt and didn't make any appearances on the field.

Getting a solid No. 2 cornerback that had experience playing would be big for Arizona and give the team depth in the secondary when lining up in a dime package when going up against Big 12 offenses that love to sling the ball all over the field.

Quarterback

In terms of the starting quarterback position, that is already figured out with Noah Fifita and Arizona has no issues with who will be leading the offense for the 2024 season. However, the problem line behind Fifita and the fact that the Wildcats only have three quarterbacks on the roster and only two of which are scholarship players.

It has been Brayden Dorman working with the second-unit offense and he has looked good and been making throws that he wasn't a season ago in practice. But, although the development is progressing, he still has things to work on and doesn't look like he can be thrown into a fire to help calm things down if Fifita goes down in the middle of a game.

Dorman has the ability to be the backup and prepare to start a game if need be, but that would be with a week of preparation and practice leading up to the opponent.

Right now, Arizona doesn't have that break glass player that they can rely upon in case of an emergency situation.

Brennan stated in a press conference that the staff will be looking to add 'one, maybe two' quarterbacks from the portal.

Arizona will be looking for depth at the quarterback position and a player that can be that steady force off the bench for a middle of the game situation.

Offensive line

The starting offensive line for Arizona has been rock-solid this spring when everyone is out on the field with Jonah Savaiinaea, Wendell Moe, Josh Baker, Leif Magnuson and Raymond Pulido.

After that, Arizona is a little thin on the line with Alexander Doost being first option that rotates on the starting unit. But, that when it get tough because outside of that, there isn't much experience on the second-unit line.

When it comes to football, the game is won on the line of scrimmage and you can never have too much depth on the offensive line. Having another player like Doost that can be used in the rotation could be the difference in win a close game, or losing a game that costs you a spot in the conference title game.

Linebacker

Outside of linebacker Jacob Manu, the second linebacking spot in the Wildcats' 4-2-5 defense is wide open for the taking. So far this spring, Taye Brown has been the guy manning the position and has been holding his own.

Behind them has been Kamuela Ka'aihue and Justin Flowe, who have primarily been working with the second-unit defense.

Again, I think the system of the 4-2-5 defense helps the depth at the linebacker position and Arizona doesn't desperately need to add anyone. However, it is of interest to note that New Mexico transfer Alec Marenco was at practice on Saturday.

Plus, Arizona's linebacking coach is former New Mexico head coach Danny Gonzales, who recruited and coach Marenco. The linebacker led the Lobos with 66 total tackles and became a force for the defense.

I'm sure Arizona will have more than 16 scholarships available once a few more player transfer out. But as of now, these are the positions the Wildcats could use some added depth.