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Sep 28, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Braedyn Locke (18) throws the ball in the second half against the Southern California Trojans at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Arizona QB Breakdown (Training Camp)

Originally posted on Arizona Wildcats on SI
By Troy Hutchison | Last updated Aug 15, 2025 9:00 AM ET

When Brent Brennan was looking to turn things around on his coaching staff he hired offensive coordinator Seth Doege to fix the offense and get things back on track after an underwhelming season that saw the year end for the Wildcats with a 4-8 record and an offense that struggled after the 61-point explosion against New Mexico.

The offense struggled with injuries, lack of talent in the wide receiver room (outside of Tetairoa McMillan) and playcalling from former offensive coordinator Dino Babers.

One thing Brennan and his staff set out to do this offseason was add talent to the roster and create battles on the roster to get iron sharping iron to help improve the program.

Arizona brought in transfer quarterback Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke, who played in 16 games for the Badgers and threw for 2,713 yards with 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

With Fifita and Locke, there is no quarterback controversy at Arizona and they are clearly the top two quarterbacks on the roster.

Not only are the top two spots filled, but Fifita is 100% the starting QB with Brennan making that clear at the beginning of the offseason ahead of spring ball and training camp.

Still, with the new offense both quarterbacks are learning the system and have taken all the first and second-team reps to get ready for the 2025 season.

Arizona has wrapped up week two of training camp and both quarterbacks have gotten all the first and second team reps and have progressed in the offensive system.

We took a look back at this past week and how Fifita and Locke have progressed in the Doege offense and have taken on leadership roles with the youth in the locker room.

Quarterback Breakdown

Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Noah Fifita

These past four days in training camp, it has been a mix review for Fifita, who had success early on against the defense in 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills finding his receivers at every level of the secondary.

However, the defense had their best day of practice in the most recent day picking off Fifita three times and causing issues in the backfield sacking him multiple times. He had issues with some tipped passes and trying to fit the ball into tight windows.

Still, like we have talked about before, you are going to have ups and downs throughout training camp and that is the only way that teams, players and coaches are going to get better for the upcoming season.

Braedyn Locke

Similarly to Fifita, backup quarterback Locke had his struggles during these past four days with a low completion percentage and multiple picks from the defensive secondary. He just couldn’t get his timing down and the defensive players were making incredible plays downfield.

However, overall throughout camp Locke has been a high-level backup to Fifita and has excelled in the Doege offense giving the Wildcats needed depth that they didn’t have a season ago.

This article first appeared on Arizona Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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