The Arizona Wildcats have 81 players on scholarship as they approach the summer.
This gives Kevin Sumlin some flexibility in the graduate transfer market, as NCAA rules only permit 85 scholarship student-athletes. A maximum of 25 players can be signed per recruiting class, as long as the staff remains below the allotted 85 total scholarships.
Here is a complete scholarship breakdown by position and year for your convenience:
There are a few things that stand out:
- Arizona has five scholarship quarterbacks, although you don’t expect Rhett Rodriguez or K’Hari Lane to compete for the starting job, and there’s always a chance that Jamarye Joiner changes positions, as he was open to the idea with ASU.
- The logjam at quarterback makes it difficult to swallow the fact that Arizona could have six scholarship quarterbacks next season, as Sumlin looks to add one in 2019, though, there can always be transfers.
- The wide receiver corps is going to be looking even more thin and inexperienced in 2019 after Shun Brown, Tony Ellison and Shawn Poindexter graduate.
- We’re still uncertain on the status of Keyshawn Johnson Jr., and if he will be on scholarship, paying his way, or even on the roster entirely come fall.
- Jaden Mitchell will be gray shirting, meaning he will not be on scholarship or join the team until January 2019 as he recovers from an ACL injury.
- The tight end group is very young, and you can even include Zach Williams in that group, who I listed at receiver.
- Offensive line is slowly building up depth, and will only graduate Layth Friekh after 2018. Keep in mind Thiyo Lukusa is still paying his way as a walk-on as well.
- The defensive line has 12 scholarship guys, and all of them are viable, even all the way down to the freshmen.
- Linebackers are a very young unit, and won’t be losing key players for a while.
- Cornerback depth looks extremely weak, although Sumlin already has one commit locked up in Logan Wilson.
- Another young and crowded bunch is the safety group and it’s a little concerning when you have more safeties than offensive linemen
- Special teams will have three scholarship guys, but Cal grad transfer Dylan Klumph and fifth-year senior Josh Pollack are leaving after the 2018 season.
- This is an extremely young roster with only nine seniors and 15 juniors, but the underclassmen bring a lot of talent.
- The lack of upperclassmen really shows you how unsuccessful Rich Rodriguez was at retaining his depth.
- The only problem with the young roster is that it doesn’t give Sumlin much breathing room to bring in his own guys, as he’ll be working through a few years before he really starts implementing his own picks.
- You figure somewhere down the road there will be transfers and players who are removed from the program, which also brings the scholarship count down.
- Sumlin has four scholarships to use this offseason should he decide to bring in graduate or long-term transfers.