Arizona Transfers with Something to Prove

Leroy Palu

• This offseason, Arizona and its staff were looking to add depth to the defensive line by adding talent through the transfer portal and landing junior college transfer players. One of the players the team went after was defensive tackle Laroy Palu from Cerritos College.

• While playing for Cerritos College, Palu played in 18 games where he recorded 83 total tackles, 29 solo tackles, 16 ½ tackles for loss and 5 ½ sacks. He was named to the All-SCFA National Central Team as a freshman during the 2023 season.

• In camp, Palu has worked his way up from seeing some playing time with the second team defense to becoming a key rotational defensive tackle on the first team unit. He has been able to slow down the running game and every now and then get into the backfield to create issues for the offense.

Malachi Bailey

• One of the transfers that Arizona fans and the coaching staff were excited about landing was edge rusher Malachi Bailey, who recorded 128 total tackles, 69 solo tackles, 46 ½ tackles for loss and 28 sacks while playing 34 games for Alcorn State.

• However, through spring football and the first few days of training camp, Bailey looked overwhelmed at times while getting adjusted to the speed of Power 4 football. It was to the point where seeing him get playing time for the upcoming season didn’t look realistic.

• Despite that, Bailey has had a massive turnaround over the last week and a half in camp where he is starting to create issues in the backfield for the offense and has recorded a handful of sacks and tackles for loss.

• I can now see Bailey as a rotational edge rusher for Arizona that will be hard for offensive lines to defend in a Gonzales defense that will throw different looks at the opponents.

Quincy Craig

• One running back that Arizona was able to add from the transfer portal was former Portland State RB Quincy Craig, who totaled 916 total yards on offense to go along with 10 touchdowns for the Vikings. However, many didn’t know what Craig would look like going against Power 4-level competition.

• Throughout camp we saw Craig have highs where he was getting into the second-level of the defense and then struggle protecting the quarterback. It was a bag of mixed reviews for him throughout that time.

Please share your thoughts on the three transfers that still have something to prove heading into the Wildcats’ opening game against Hawaii. To do so, make sure to give us a follow on our X account by clicking on the link.