Bleav in Arizona: Top 10 vets of Fall Camp; Noah Fifita is the face of the program

Top 10 vets of fall camp [Music] you're tuned in to the believe in Arizona [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] podcast hello Bear Down Believers and welcome into the show I'm your host Matt rennoldson and can you feel that in the air it's almost almost college football season week zero begins this week over in Dublin Ireland with Florida State taking on Georgia Tech and the Arizona wildcast less than two weeks away from kicking off the 2024 season under the lights at home against New Mexico at Arizona Stadium 7:30 Saturday night August 31st Can you feel it I'm excited we'll have plenty to get to of course before then next week we'll start our usual gameweek shows with opponent previews matchup previews everything like that we've got a lot to get to this week as well coming up today on the show I'll count down my top 10 vets that I've seen during Arizona's fall camp and then later this week I'll go through my top 10 risers of fall Camp between those newcomers and the young players that have really come up the ranks in the Wildcats program before we get to all that I want to remind you to please like And subscribe to the show click the download button on each one of the shows over on believe in Arizona bleav in Arizona that's on spot Spotify Apple podcasts Google Play wherever you get your podcasts and the video versions of these shows will be always uploaded on my YouTube page at mattor rennoldson all right we have seen so much fun so far in Arizona fall football camp and a team that has really come together culture-wise that's not a surprise based on the reports from earlier on this season based on the reports from really earlier on in the off season I guess I should say and offensive coordinator Dino bers really underscored that today when he said this is the closest team I've ever been around well that kind of boils down to the veterans in the room and the guys that are setting the standard setting the culture for not only what you do on the field not only practice habits not only you know ways to go about each day of fall camp but also what you do off the field the recovery habits the study habits in the classroom you know getting after it on an everyday day-to-day basis and Arizona has guys especially veterans on this team that returned to this program that are certainly setting the standard for that so I want to go through 10 of those veterans that I've seen that have really separated themselves in Fall Camp so far this year now there will be a couple that didn't play a huge role last year but still played in a lot of games still played in most of the games last year so my criteria for the top returning vets of fall Camp were guys that participated a lot in Fall camp and maybe made a jump or just impressed with the way that they approached this year's fall camp this year's fall practices as Arizona wraps it up tomorrow on Tuesday before beginning game prep on Wednesday all right we'll start out with number 10 I'm gonna go with tario Davis Arizona is one of Arizona's best professional prospects and 10 may seem a little low for tario a 64 Junior cornerback but it's because they haven't thrown his way a whole lot tario is going to be an absolute monster on the outside he is a physical specimen out there at corner a little taller than your average NFL Corner which is why Pros are so Pro Scouts are so intrigued by the prospects of him you I've seen scouts at practice watching tario and what he can do how he is consistently in the right position has great feet moves well has pretty good hands here's the thing tario Davis needs to do though last year he led the Pack 12 with 15 pass breakups 16 total passes defensed but didn't have very many picks he could have had probably five more picks from just the stuff that I saw and I got here in October so just the plays that I saw with my camera tario Davis could have had a lot more interceptions and uh and but it ended up batting him down but he was in the right position a lot of the time and nobody's throwing it tario in Fall Camp Noah is not throwing it tario col tanan bomb who is kind of emerged as the backup quarterback right now not throwing number one's way and Bobo as they call him has stayed pretty healthy throughout fall camp and he will be a massive massive part of this defense number nine a guy who has been sidelined for most of fall camp or limited most of fall Camp due to injury but is probably the second most important player on this entire team that's wide receiver tedo McMillan the five 65 Junior wide receiver I mean this guy's a stud this guy is being listed and projected as the first wide receiver off the board in the NFL draft it's either him or Missouri slot receiver Luther Burton and and here's my take about that you can find a slot receiver from anywhere you can't find a 65 unicorn wide receiver from anywhere T-Mac setting all kinds of Records I think this year that's my projection for him anyway and even though he has spent most of fall camp in either that red no contact Jersey or just limited to individual drills coming off of offseason foot surgery T-Mac continues to make incredible Place offensive coordinator Dino babers said today that he has the best catch radius anybody he's ever coached maybe outside of Larry Fitzgerald and may even have a better catch radius than Larry Fitzgerald that's the legendary Cardinals wide receiver and the highest wide receiver the Cardinals had actually drafted until this year in Marvin Harrison so certainly high expectations to live up to for T-Mac but that is a really really impressive comp right there because T-Mac just looks to be a matchup nightmare for just about anybody you look at the Colorado game last year he torched Travis Hunter all game long and H Hunter looks to be potentially the top cornerback off the board in next year's NFL Draft it's either him or probably will Campbell at Michigan but the fact that T-Mac can do that against a player like Travis Hunter and T-Mac can do that all season long set receiving records against ASU uh throw up the one-handed Elite catches against the four stars and five stars in Oklahoma secondary I mean taroa McMillan will be a matchup nightmare for just about any and even though he went through all of fall camp in that no contact Jersey it really just felt like he was out there going stride for stride in most situations and they know what number four is bringing to the table so they didn't need to see much from him in Fall camp and they saw what they needed to tedo McMillan at number nine number eight Gunner Maldonado and I've been really really interested with the senior free safeties fall Camp you know he comes in as the rangy safety in that room he and dton John of the returning safeties for Arizona and I've really seen gunar Maldonado be involved in so many of these place I have him at number eight because I think that Maldonado has been so impressive not in the maybe consistency of what he's done maybe like some of these other guys that are a little higher than him on this list but I think Maldonado has been so impressive in how he's responded in the first practice under the lights at Arizona Stadium he got trucked a couple times times you know especially coming up in run support by bigger backs Kendrick rcano the Old Miss transfer got him a couple times and malado returned the favor later in practice so that was extremely impressive to me because not everything's going to go well all the time on a football field you're playing 80 to 90 snaps per game especially in the Big 12 because these teams are going to want to run that level of that that amount of plays and that level of pace in a game so not every play is going to go your way sometimes you're going to get trucked so what's football about football is about how you respond to adversity and Gunnar Maldonado is a perfect example of that you know had his ups and downs a little bit early last year but I think the alamoo bile was a perfect example of how he responds to adversity in his own game with an interception a beautiful play ranging over from his free safety spot to pick off Jackson Arnold and then eventually an 83 yard fumble return touchdown he was the defensive MVP of that game no question him and Martell Herby I would say but gunar Maldonado is kind of the picture of resilience on Arizona's defense and that's why I had the senior free safety Gunner Maldonado at number eight of my top 10 vets of fall Camp number seven a guy who didn't play a huge role last year but he's played a lot of snaps for Arizona and now I see him being one of the most important players on this offense that's Junior tight end Roberto Miranda 6-3 guy from ger Germany he's mostly been a blocking tight end he has played in 23 career games at Arizona guess how many catches he has one one career catch in blowout garbage time over Arizona State in last year's game but he was an important part last year of The Blocking schemes but you know when you have a guy like Tanner mclin you don't need to throw the ball to Roberto Miranda and they didn't run a lot of heavy sets last year they didn't run a lot of 12 personnel which puts two tight ends on the field with one running back so Miranda didn't get a lot of opportunities to catch passes he caught one so he's on the board officially as as a stat guy for Arizona but now what I've seen from him in Fall Camp is the way they have him running in these sets the way they have him running up the seam he looks fast he looks ready he's got good hands he's tough he is strong at the catch Point Roberto Miranda is going to be a tough matchup for anybody because you don't have to teach them how to block lot of these wide receivers or excuse me a lot of these tight ends that come in you got to work on the blocking so they can earn the catches because they want to be the guy who you know snag snags the tough catch or is the guy who scores the Red Zone touchdown or being the third down Target Roberto Miranda has done the dirty work for years for Arizona even cutting his teeth a lot on special teams and last year played in 12 of the 13 games and now he's ready to play a much much bigger role in this Arizona offense I see him and Kean Bernett as the starting tight ends for Arizona and Roberto Miranda will play a much much bigger role in this passing game this year I'm really excited of what I'm going to see from number 85 another guy that flew under the radar last year comes in at number six on this list and he flew under the radar because it was such a deep defensive line room now he's kind of the returning veteran in the Arizona defensive line room and that's TI Tai U ungal the defensive and I think he's been so impressive all throughout fall Camp 64 Junior defensive linemen he played in all 13 games with one start last year had his best performance against Utah but Tai Tai has been really unbelievable all throughout fall camp and a defensive line room that has been kind of a major Shuffle in a position group that has been a major question mark for Arizona we've seen guys step up and look pretty good especially against um a second team of mostly interior players on the Arizona offensive line with injuries taking out a lot of the um or I guess taking time away from the team reps from the Arizona offensive line but on the defensive line we've seen the ends stand out and that's impressive because Arizona's starting tackles on the left rot tapa aotai and on the right Jonah Savanah who I'll get to in a little bit later on this list have been there the entirety of fall Camp have been taking all of the ones reps all of the team reps the entirety of fall Camp so who in that situation would have a tougher time rushing the passer it's the ends especially because the tight ends will stay in and Chip a lot too but these defensive ends Arizona's likely two starting defensive ends in Tai Tai U young and Trey Smith have had great fall camps and Tai Tai seems to be one of those guys that's going to take a big jump this year uh seems to be setting the edge extremely well in the Run game he's disruptive in the pass rush and with them running this 425 under dway Aina I think Tai Tha could have a monster year and not just freeing things up for linebackers not just freeing things up for a third down Edge Rush from someone like Justin Flo or Sterling Lane Tai Tai can get to the quarterback in and of himself and I think what we have seen of this new defensive line Philosophy from dline coach Jose UMO is giving guys like Tai Tha an opportunity to get into the back field be disruptors and not just be a set the edge guy and I think that's going to play directly into the junior lineman strength number five rolling in with Jacob Manu and of course he's going to be in the top five you know he went down with a minor injury in one of the night practices but this staff has been really intentional about holding out some of its veteran players Jacob Manu is one of the most important players not only on this defense but on this entire roster a returning First Team all Pack 12 inside linebacker led the conference in tackles last year you know he won't impress you with his size only 5'11 but he is a thumper Jacob monu one of the Servite guys with faf McMillan and Bernett that has created this incredible core incredible culture around the Arizona program Manu is the most important player on the defense he is the quarterback of the defense Dwayne Aina and Danny Gonzalez the inside linebackers coach have said that he's going to wear the Green Dot helmet which means he will get communication from the Sidelines from those defensive coaches on looks on Personnel on everything like that up until the 15 second Mark of the play clock that's a big honor to be bestowed on anybody but somebody with the mental fortitude of a Jacob Manu is certainly somebody that can handle it I mean he is just an emotional physical leader of this Arizona defense um they have had actually trouble Danny Gonzalez admitted they've had trouble really creating their own energy as a defense when it was off the field so that just goes to show how important he is and he has had just a rock solid fall Camp being involved on so many plays being aggressive high energy during the team periods and I'd be surprised if he does a lot of hitting the rest of fall camp and the rest of game prep because even though number five wants to be in there and wants to get his hands dirty a little bit you know I think uh I think they know what they're going to see from Manu and they're ready to see him out on that field in 2024 number four the starting right tackle and arguably the best pro prospect on Arizona's offensive line Jonah Savanah is going to be a stud at right tackle once again started all 13 games in 2023 honorable mention all Pack 12 and now he's the bookend of this offensive line and usually we see the book end on the left side but now you got a red shirt freshman out there starting on the left side in Rhino tapa AO taii so Savania is going to be the guy at right tackle who is going to draw you know some of the tougher matchups out there look the Big 12 is no slouch in Edge rushers and especially given what Arizona will see in September not talking about New Mexico or NAU but the two toughest games right now on paper for Arizona are two Road games at Kansas State and at Utah in the first month of the Season yeah Jonah's gonna be a Jonah's going to need to hold his own at right tackle there and I think he has been super consistent all the way through fall Camp he's the only offensive lineman on this list because he's the only one that's been healthy outside of rhino because we've seen wend Mo Le Magnuson Josh baker other guys miss all kinds of time Jonah has been there at right tackle the staple very steady all the way through fall Camp they run the ball extremely well off the right side they're creative he chips well with the tight ends he can hold down a block he can hold down a defensive end you know he can go in a double team he can ship a little bit so the def so the tight end can leak out into the flat I mean they can do so many things off the right side because of what they are getting from their right tackle Jonah Savanah at number four their most versatile defensive back is number three I have Trayden stooks coming in at number three the 6-2 senior defensive back and I could Define him as a safety I could Define him as a corner he's probably going to be the starting Corner opposite to Cario Davis but stooks is just the guy that you can put anywhere you need to he played a lot of nickel last year so we know what he can do we know what his capabilities are you know moving around this defensive backfield but give Dwayne Aina a chess piece and he'll put you in Checkmate that's what trayon stooks is to Dwayne Ain right now because having a Savvy defensive back like that who does have Pro aspirations wants to play in the NFL but came back for his senior year did not hit the transfer portal he was ready to come back and ready to be an integral part of this Arizona defense stooks is going to be a stud back there and he was so important last year not only in the alamoo bowl not only late in the season but really all the way throughout I mean in that win streak where Arizona won four consecutive games against ranked teams uh I remember him making plays against Oregon State against UCLA uh you know against in the Utah game I mean stooks was all over the field and when you look at number two in that defensive backfield he stands out Above the Rest I mean he is 6'2 but he plays like 65 the hair might help too uh but I think stooks is somebody that will come down in run support he can probably rush the passer off the edge from a corner position if that's something that aino wants to employ there he's somebody that can lock down wide receivers on the edge he's somebody that can float in zone coverage I mean the more versatile defensive backs you have in this era of college football especially going into a conference like the big 12 for the first time the more successful you're going to be because defensive backs in this room and they're deep don't get me wrong they're deep but the defensive backs in this room are all to some extent cross trained are all to some extent versatile able to be moved around and in a 425 like this and in the dollar package which is what they've talked about employing and you know having those extra defensive backs and getting guys on the field in multiple ways and just getting your best 11 on defense out on that field I think it really helps to have a guy that can move all over the place like tradon stooks and I'm excited to see what D Aina does with him all season but as of right now as of right now where I project trading stooks to be to start the year is CB2 and then we'll see how that looks in the nickel and dollar packages as those come along my number two veteran of fall Camp Tyler Loop has just been unbelievable all the way throughout fall Camp I mean every it feels like at the end of every practice period he's drilling a 50 yard Danny Gonzalez as a special teams coordinator told us he was hitting 65 yarders in practice 50 55 no problem 45 no issue left hash right hash straight down the middle Tyler Loop is a weapon for this Arizona team and to have a kicker like that that you know is going to be able to put three points on the board from pretty much anywhere on the right side of the 50 yard line that's huge that's huge because Arizona is going to be in a lot of close games this year Arizona is likely going to be in two very close games in September I project those games against Kansas State and against Utah in the first month of the season to go down to the wire what do you need in those situations you need a reliable kicker a reliable guy to put three on the board that could send a game to overtime that could be a gamewinner that could be any given situation a 55 yard field goal to end the half give yourself some momentum when you you know you be getting your face beat in a little bit in the first half and okay we're cutting a 10-point deficit to seven Tyler Lop does that for you and it changes the momentum of a game and he has been so Rock Solid steady all throughout fall camp that he hasn't just been a great kicker he's been a leader on this team that's hugely important he's been a leader in that special team's room and what do we see a lot of times with new coaching staffs right the offense could look creative and new the defense could be buttoned up but then special teams say what the heck special teams just lost us a game well when you have a leader and a rocks guy in that room like Tyler Loop a guy who knows where to kick the ball off to you know a guy who's going to get you three points a guy who's not going to shank extra points having number 33 back there is so key for this team's success and I've been so impressed with Loop's consistency all throughout fall Camp he's my number two performer number two vet of Arizona's fall Camp all right drum roll I don't think this is any surprise I I don't have to suspens FY this if you will the number one returning vet of Arizona's fall Camp has been Noah faf the starting quarterback coming into Camp the starting quarterback all spring all summer all fall Camp no question leader of this team he has been an absolute stud all the way through fall Camp the footwork has been better the awareness has been Prime the high pointing of the ball hitting guys in stride the touch the command of the offense the true Mastery of how Arizona looks in different sets run plays look clean audibles we haven't really gotten a huge look into what those might might be we'll have to see a game situation for that but when they change things at the line of scrimmage or they tell him to change things at the line of scrimmage it's been clean his communication with the offensive coordinator Dino babers has been clean everything that we have seen from Noah ffid has just been electric and because of that just look at your wide receiver room now our opinion my opinion of this wide receiver group has grown exponentially all throughout fall camp and that helps because number 11 is putting the ball in Jeremiah Patterson's hands in Chris Hunter's hands in Montana lemonius Craig's hands when you have a guy that allows the skill position players to shine you have a better offense and we'll see it from the running back room as well you know all three of their top three running backs can catch it out of the backfield in jakori crossy Meritt quy connley and Kendrick rcano and oh yeah you're fourth maybe the best out of the back field in rayan Speedy Luke that doesn't happen without a quarterback having Elite command of the offense like Noah faid does it has been so impressive to see how number 11 operates not only as a passer not only as a quarterback technician but also as a leader and I'll discuss when we come back on this show I'll discuss what he has shown as a leader throughout fall camp and why Noah ffid is now the face of the Arizona Wildcats program if there was ever any debate on who the face of this Arizona football program was Noah ffid put that debate to rest in January when he and Brent Noah Fifita has separated himself as a leader Brennan led the team out onto the court to announce that he was coming back taroa McMillan was coming back Jacob Manu as well several defensive backs and that they were running it back for the first time with this new coaching staff and driving the Wildcats into this 2024 season Noah ffid is the perfect Ambassador for this football program and if you don't believe me just listen to what literally everybody has to say about number 11 he's not the biggest guy but he carries himself like he's 6'5 you know he is not arrogant he is a servant leader he's someone that gives others the opportunity to shine he's Ultra humble he gives others credit all the time but he's confident he's Ultra confident he steps into the Huddle and makes his voice heard he puts zip on his throws that you would see from a guy that's 63 64 200 30 lbs and you're getting it from this stocky 5 foot1 zipping Speedster of a quarterback and a guy who is not a dual threat quarterback doesn't Define himself as a dual threat quarterback but is just a Savvy pocket operator a point guard and somebody who just can make all the throws at this level but off the field he's softspoken he's confident he's family forward he sets the culture and he always represents himself and his family well and now an extension of his family has become the Arizona football program and what he has represented to this program look unless the NFL changes their scouting Minds Noah faid is not leaving early so we get as observers three more seasons of seeing number 11 under center for the red and what a treat on that but it's more than that for this Ultra important season in 2024 and I'm not looking past 2024 at all because I think this is the team that has a chance to be special for this Ultra important season in 2024 there doesn't seem to be a transition with this coaching staff it doesn't look like a group that's going to take their lumps and you know ease into working together and why is that because Noah faf is the glue to what makes this engine go Noah is somebody who is the Catalyst Noah is somebody who is the communicator he knows the terminology he communicates it well and he makes sure everybody is on the same page and he has such a high standard for his own play that that exudes towards all of his other teammates it trickles down to all of his other teammates on offense and defense and if you're looking for someone to lead you out of the tunnel as an Arizona Wildcat number 11's going to be the one to do it listen to what Dino babers had to say about Noah today because it was incredible Noah was going to always be the starting quarterback when you meet him you just understand why that it's not even close he is he is as comparable to any quarterback I've ever had off the football field mentally the only person I can compare him to is Jimmy Garoppolo and he's still in the league okay so uh Noah as I said before and I'll I'll bring this to a close is not normal he's different thank God for that Dino has been around the game an awful long time he's coached a lot of good quarterbacks and what Noah represents both off the field and on the field a smooth operator and somebody that not only runs the offense but catalyzes the entire team just makes him so wonderfully important to this group so fun to see and it's so fun to talk to him and feel how he has progressed not only in just his leadership abilities but his confidence in what he brings to the table he knows what he's about he's always 100% authentic he is and let's not ignore this he is the face and the Cornerstone of the Polynesian culture inside Arizona's football program and that's important because what's been the messaging all offseason it's been family it's been going to battle together that represents what Polynesian football players bring to this Arizona Wildcats program and Noah is the guy that represents that the most listen to some of his comments from last week and then I'll play some comments from quarterback's coach ly mow of how he's embraced the leadership roles and how he's embraced keeping his standard up all the way through fall camp and just being that guy and being the No Doubt starting quarterback and I would be shocked if he's not a captain coming into 2024 at the end of the day I feel like I'm my biggest critic um I always want uh I never want to be content I always kind of want to continue to get better that's kind of something my dad's taught me um throughout my life but for the most part it's not really this is this season is not about me this fall Camp is not about me it's about this team and um this team is why we're here this team is we all came back together so um at the end of the day the expectation for this team is really high and we're just trying to hold ourselves to that stand standard so it's not as much individual as it is as this Arizona football team yeah when you have a quarterback that operates like that that carries that level of confidence that carries that level of humility and self-awareness and everything that makes Noah faf a good person as well as a good football player you know the sky is the limit for him and that as I've said with other things exudes to other players on this roster they see the standard that number 11 carries into every practice every day onto the field for every game they see his perseverance they see how he is even Keel doesn't get too high doesn't get too low and that keeps the standard at what Arizona calls the red line at 100% effort 100% dedication that's the mantra for this year's Arizona football team and Noah faf reflects that on the highest level we've heard it from head coach Brent Brennan we've you know the the fun thing about Noah is his mind is always on what's our plan what's our plan what's our plan and and a lot of times early in Camp it's like you know just trust the process that's the biggest thing is just understanding we got a a lot of new parts a lot of new pieces as far as Personnel this is obviously a new offense where we were doing it in the spring but we didn't have guys in the spring that we have now in Fall Camp so um there's going to be a timeline of these guys having to learn you know how to adjust to whatever we had drawn on paper now all of a sudden you present defense and there's going to be adjustments that need to be made and so early on I think that's what you saw is is some of that adjustment period uh as i' like to tell you know um Noah and uh now obviously we all continue to have those conversations of when we get to game day this will be something that we can do of presenting different options of how we want to take care of those problems that we may be seeing or uh ways of being able to go about that situation but um that's the beauty of working with Noah is he's always going to be you know one step ahead and sometimes you got to be able to just continue to let them know hey we got other guys that aren't on your level yet you know we're trying to get to that point but this is what that point is we know we're we're we're learning and and we're working through it so I'll wrap it up with this because we've now seen Noah ffid start most of a season we've seen him through a full spring a full summer workouts and a full fall camp now as fall Camp ends on Wednesday and Arizona begins game preparations for New Mexico Noah faf is the most even readyto Rock Nicole Dallin leads the NCAA in goals Superstar starter in the Big 12 Conference better than cam Rising better than shidu Sanders better than Jaylen Daniels I think Noah faid is the guy that can take this team to the next level he's a Smooth Operator incredible pocket awareness makes his receivers better he's a clear leader he's even Ked he has all the traits that a superstar quarterback possesses and he has it at such a young age already with so few starts under his belt now he can head into the Big 12 now he can head into this new Venture for Arizona as the ultimate shining star for this wild cats team we've seen it all through fall Camp he's been the top returning player from Arizona all throughout fall Camp he's been the unquestioned leader not only of this offense but of this team and he's been the culture seter for Arizona all the way through Noah ffid is going to be the best quarterback in the Big 12 and he will be in the Heisman conversation all throughout 2024 all right as we wrap up the show time now for the be down rundown something we do every show here on the believe in Arizona podcast I want to give a shout out to Arizona Soccer a two and0 start to the season and one particular player who continues to light up the stat sheet Nicole D is five goals already into this year's campaign she has been so impressive all the way through and scored four against Pacific that's the first time for Arizona since 2014 that a player has scored more than three goals in a match Nicole Doan has been unbelievable and Arizona now has wins over Grand Canyon and Pacific to start the season a very good start to this year they'll roll into a Big 12 Conference that's a little easier than what they'd seen in past years in the Pack 12 Arizona Soccer has been very impressive to start the year and dalan The Graduate senior she has been unbelievable so get out to the pitch over there and go check out one of the Arizona soccer games they continue action this week but an incredible incredible weekend for her scoring five goals she currently leads the entire nation in goals scored early on in the season that'll do it for this edition of the believe in Arizona podcast once again I'm your host host Matt reynoldson please don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and click the play button on all those shows over on Spotify Google play Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and the YouTube versions of these will all be uploaded on my YouTube page at mattor rennoldson coming up later this week I'll have my top 10 risers and newcomers of fall Camp as Arizona wraps up fall camp and begins preparations for New Mexico here in Tucson that'll do it for me for now have a great week and we'll see you later [Music] [Applause] [Music]