Arizona football finished the 2022 season with a 5-7 record. Despite missing a bowl, Arizona actually overachieved and eclipsed its preseason win total. The team defeated San Diego State, North Dakota State, Colorado, UCLA and Arizona State. A number of those games ended up as outright upsets. Regardless, it was a step in the right direction for the Wildcats. In this post, we’ll be providing our 203 Arizona football predictions, including a look at win totals and more, in our season preview.
Arizona’s win total isn’t widely available in the market. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Wildcats at +10000 to win the Pac-12, which ranks only ahead of Arizona State, Colorado and Stanford. Their win total previously came in at 4.5, which may pop up again sometime this offseason. With that said, let’s dive into Arizona’s season preview.
2023 Arizona Football Predictions & Season Preview
Arizona Football 2023 Season Preview: Coaching Staff
Arizona now enters Year 3 of the Jedd Fisch era. After going 1-11 in his first season, Fisch improved the program to 5-7 last year. Fisch has a background with quarterbacks and plays a major role on the offensive side of the ball. He returns both coordinators this year as well. On offense, Brennan Carroll holds down the coordinator job. The son of Pete Carroll, Brennan previously coordinated the Seattle Seahawks run game in 2020. On defense, Johnny Nansen also returns as coordinator. He previously coached UCLA’s defensive line from 2020 to 2021. The continuity is solid, but the defense in particular needs to make a jump.
Arizona Football 2023 Season Preview: Offense
Quarterback
Arizona returns former Washington State quarterback Jayden de Laura. De Laura completed 272 of his 435 es (62.5%) for 3,685 yards (8.5 yards per attempt), 25 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. It should be noted that De Laura threw multiple interceptions when Arizona trailed by double digits in an attempt to throw his team back into games.
People sometimes label him as turnover prone, but de Laura actually had pretty solid efficiency stats in 2022. De Laura doesn’t have the greatest mobility with 116 rushing yards on 74 carries. However, he did take 27 sacks last year, severely depressing his rushing output. Overall, he finished as the eighth graded er in the Pac-12 last year, according to PFF.
Behind him, Arizona retains the services of Noah Fifita, who threw 19 es as the backup last year. Those have been the only 19 es of his career. Arizona landed 4-star recruit Brayden Dorman, who ranks as the 23rd quarterback in this class. This is the best the quarterback room has looked for Arizona in multiple seasons.
Running Back
The Wildcats lost a few depth transfers at running back, but they return most of their production. Michael Wiley led the group with 113 carries for 771 yards and eight touchdowns last year. He also caught 36 es for 349 yards out of the backfield. Efficiency wise, his 4.66 yards after per attempt and 38% forced missed tackle rate are near the elite range.
Behind him, the Wildcats retain D.J. Williams, who rushed 60 times for 376 yards himself. At 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, Williams also caught five es for 65 yards. However, he dropped four es as well. He averaged 3.24 yards after and forced a missed tackle on 36.7% of his attempts.
Even Jonah Coleman returns after rushing 75 times for 372 yards and four touchdowns. He caught eight es for 104 yards, while averaging 3.04 yards after and a 34.7% forced missed tackle rate. Arizona fans should also be excited for Rayshon Luke in his second season. A 4-star recruit from the 2022 class, Luke battled injury last year. However, he was one of the recruiting crown jewels from Fisch’s early tenure. This running back room is better than most people think.
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