Is the Arizona Football Defense depleted? Cats lose one more

Unfortunately, it happens all-too-often, and Arizona Football is no stranger to losing committed athletes. Sometimes players work out, and sometimes they don’t!

For the Wildcats, 2016 Junior College commit, Josh Allen will not be on the sidelines this coming season. After having red-shirted while at Long Beach City College last season, Allen was unable to fulfill the academic requirements for admittance at the University of Arizona.

While it is definitely unfortunate, since Arizona could certainly use all the help they can on defense this season, perhaps it’s for the best. The team doesn’t need any distractions, nor guys who are not truly an OKG (Our Kinda Guy).

With the loss of Allen, Arizona loses their third player in the program in just the past few weeks…AND THEY ARE ALL DEFENSIVE PLAYERS! Allen also joins Anthony Fotu (kicked-off the roster) and Kendal Franklin (transfer).

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Since head coach Rich Rodriguez took over the program in 2012, it feels like the team has certainly had a lot of turnover. It’s hard to benchmark losses and which team leads the Pac-12 in that category. Just last weekend Arizona hosted Hunter Echols who just de-committed from UCLA.

Sometimes players make moves because they feel they won’t get playing time when all the committing and de-committing shakes out. Or they have been asked to blue shirt or gray shirt.

And while it is normal for all college football teams and programs to have high turnover, Arizona certainly has had more than their fair share of players that have either quit, transferred, or didn’t qualify to make it on campus.

Changes in the coaching staff, players breaking Rich Rod’s rules, career-ending injuries, and other issues unmentioned have contributed to this attrition. We don’t know all the facts, but it is truly disappointing.

Just from memory, here is a list of Wildcats dropping off the roster on defensive side:

Wayne Capers Jr.

Nov 28, 2014; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils running back D.J. Foster (8) is tackled Arizona Wildcats linebacker Cody Ippolito (57) and linebacker Scooby Wright III (33) during the first half at Arizona football Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports /

Bryan Harper

Keoni Bush-Loo

Leo Thomas

Yamen Sanders

Dakota Conwell

CJ Dozier

Kyle Kelley

David Price

Lee Walker

Derek Babiash

Bryan Wagner

Derrick Turituri

Ryan Dunn

Rodney Carr

Anthony Fotu

Timmy Hamilton

Kendal Franklin

That’s a lot of names. Again, maybe this is just a perception thing, but that’s certainly a lot of turnover for the defense, and perhaps may explain the talent drop-off over the past few seasons.

We are excited for the changes defensively Rodriguez has made coming into 2016, but understand while there may be some improvement overall this coming season, the Wildcats are still a little ways away from improving that unit from top-to-bottom.

Recruiting has certainly picked up, and Arizona is looking to vastly improve the defensive unit that ranked 115th overall (heck it’s hard to get any worse) last year among all Division 1 programs with the brand new defensive coaching staff.

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As we approach the opening season kick-off, we are very anxious and excited to see what this season has in store for us Wildcats fans. At ZonaZealots, we’re curious to see how Cody Ippolito and Sani Fuimaono lead the defense.

It is a ‘next man up’ situation with freshman like Justin Holt ready to compete. What kind of defense will we have this season and beyond with our new coaches in tow? That’s still yet to be seen, but the future is bright. BEARDOWN, Arizona!

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