Rodriguez likes 'toughness' of early signing period group

Rich Rodriguez said in the weeks leading up to the start of Wednesday's early signing period that he projected around 70 percent of recruits to sign across the board. Within his own program he was right on the money. Of the 21 commits that Arizona went into Wednesday with the Wildcats signed 15 of those prospects. The program added another one Wednesday when junior college defensive tackle PJ Johnson committed and signed with the team.

“These young men all bring a toughness that we are looking forward to adding to our program,” Rodriguez said in a release. “They have the drive and work ethic that shows football is important to them, and they know we’re expecting them to come in and compete to make us a better team immediately.”

Arizona hit a stretch where it loaded up quickly during the season and since that time the focus has been on getting better up front and adding size to the offensive and defensive lines. Those were two of the bigger areas addressed over the last few weeks and Rodriguez is happy with that progress.

“Our biggest need was to get bigger and stronger in the trenches on both sides of the ball,” Rodriguez said. “We’re excited about the linemen we’re bringing in, and we’ll continue to make these positions a priority as we complete this class and others in the coming seasons.”

Over a third (6) of the total group signed were either offensive or defensive linemen.

There is still work to be done for Rodriguez and his staff. There were a handful of prospects who didn't end up signing with UA Wednesday but went into the day as committed recruits. Plus there are prospects who remain uncommitted that Arizona would like to continue recruiting and work to bring in during the regular signing period in February.

The Wildcats didn't sign any four-star prospects as the lone committed four-star recruit, Adam Plant Jr., plans to hold off on signing his National Letter of Intent. However, the program did make headway at certain spots that it wanted to improve such as with the lines and on the back end of the defense with several solid additions to the secondary.

Arizona's 2017 class was massive and it was intended to be that way and this class is going to be smaller when it is finished according to Rodriguez, but he likes what the staff was able to do in putting together the 16-man group for Wednesday.

“It was important for us to build off the class that we brought in this year, which was one of the largest freshmen classes in the country,” he said said. “We played more freshmen than any team in the Pac-12 and the best part was many of those players had significant roles in the success of this year’s team. The foundation they set has allowed us to recruit another class of players that we believe will position us for greater success as we strive to win a Pac-12 Championship.”

We will have continued coverage of the early signing period so continue to check the Early Signing Period HQ as well as our premium message boards for any developing stories.