Concerning Reports About Offensive Line Come from Arizona's Practice

It was a rough day on the offensive side of the ball for Arizona, highlighting some struggles that could be coming this season.

Dec 28, 2023; San Antonio, TX, USA; Arizona Wildcats offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea (71) gets ready for a play in the first half against the Oklahoma Sooners at Alamodome / Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona has gotten their preseason practice sessions underway during the week, allowing reporters to get a look at how things are operating under new head coach Brent Brennan as the Wildcats inch closer to their opener on August 31.

Anytime there is a head coaching change like what Arizona went through this offseason, there are questions about how players will adjust to the change in philosophy and new schemes.

For the Wildcats, they are hoping to build upon their 10-win showing last year with a win over Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl.

And while there is excitement surrounding this new era, there have also been some growing pains.

According to Jason Scheer of 247Sports, "the offensive line really struggled as a whole" during practice on Friday where the coaching staff was mixing things up, but "it was by far the worst day of camp for that unit."

That's concerning because this group has to be able to give Noah Fifita time to find his weapons, especially superstar Tetairoa McMillan, if Arizona is going to find success in their first year of Big 12 football.

It should be noted that both starting guards, Wendell Moe and Leif Magnuson, were out of practice as Moe continues to recover from his lower leg injury and Magnuson was given the day off. This pushed Alexander Doost and Shancco Matautia into extended reps, something that wasn't handled well by those two.

Still, Arizona has experience across the offensive line.

Projected starting right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea is a junior and center Josh Baker is a senior, so those two should at least be able to anchor things during a practice setting to not look as disjointed as they did on Friday.

Overall, this doesn't mean that this unit is going to be a detriment, but it does bring up some concerns about what happens if they lose some players to injury.

The Wildcats lost three offensive lineman in the transfer portal following the departure of Jedd Fisch, but they were able to gain five new players at different spots on the line of their own. Only one, Ryan Stewart, followed Brennan from San Jose State, so there is still a learning curve for the new players.

It will be interesting see how this progresses throughout camp.