Three Bold Arizona Depth Chart Observations (Hawaii Week)

“When we go through a tough season like we did a year ago, you got to find a way to fix what was broken, fix what wasn’t working and put those pieces together,” Brennan said. “And part of those pieces are how we’re going to do things in terms of how we’re going to coach, what we’re going to do schematically and the other part is who are the players that are going to play those roles.”

This season, the Big 12 as a conference didn’t have a media poll, however the optimism surrounding the program isn’t high and is clear with the Wildcats not having a single player on the All-Big-12 first and second-team list.

Plus the team was left out of all the preseason polls and didn’t receive any votes in the AP and Coaches Polls.

During training camp, we have seen the offense click with Doege calling the shots and making the system an uptempo attack that will put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses.

On the other side of the field, Gonzales has been able to keep the offense off balanced at times by stunts, shifts and disguising the blitz to create chaos in the backfield for the offensive unit.

One of the returning faces on the team is star quarterback Noah Fifita, who had a down 2024 season in comparison to when he took over the starting job during the 2023 season where he led the team to an impressive 38-24 win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.

When you take a look at how the new scheme fits Fifita, it is clear this is the type of offense that could completely unlock his game and help him get to the next level depending on the success of the season.

Recently, we saw Arizona release its depth chart for the Wildcats opening game against Hawaii with transfers in starting rolls and returning players taking on a larger load at their position.

We have broken down the opening week depth chart and have come up with three areas that stand out from the chart:

Ayden Garnes

• During training camp, one of the standout cornerbacks on the Wildcats’ roster was West Virginia transfer Ayden Garnes, who spent most of his time with the first-team defense, or at least in the rotation from the first and second team unit. Garnes was able to come up with multiple interceptions against both units and showed off his athleticism during 7-on-11 and 11-on-11 drills.

• Despite the great performance, Garnes is listed as the No. 2 cornerback on both sides of the secondary. Now, will he have a chance to play multiple snaps throughout a game? Yes, but his role could grow throughout the season.

The Tight Ends Unit

• Throughout training camp, we have seen mostly Tyler Powell and Sam Olson running with the first team offense with the duo bringing different strengths to the field with Powell’s receiving ability and Olson being a more physical player.

• After the two main guys, it was a massive drop off from the rest of the unit even with Keyan Burnett coming back after spending a spring camp with Kansas. Now, everyone did improve and look better but Powell and Olson are clearly the top two guys in the unit.

Punt Returning

• In training camp, there were a number of players receiving punts with Luke Wysong, Jeremiah Patterson, Kris Hutson and Javin Whatley. All the guys have been solid in the return game but the majority of the group has some issues muffing punts.

• The one guy that didn’t drop any punts was Wysong, but he wasn’t the best of the returners when in open space. Still, having someone you can trust not drop the ball is one of the biggest needs in the return game.

• So, it was shocking to see Wysong not listed as a punt returner in some fashion and right now Patterson and Huston are the only two players listed at the position.`