Early enrollee breakdown: Sione Taufahema
Arizona was able to get one junior college midyear enrollee signed already for the upcoming year and he came at a position of need. College of the Canyons defensive tackle Sione Taufahema is a big body and should be able to help the Wildcats in the coming years and getting a head start on his next college season during spring ball will be important as well.
Here is a closer look at the JUCO transfer and what he'll mean to the Wildcats in 2017.
The rundown
Taufahema's recruitment came together rather quickly with him going from not offered, to offered, to committed in a just a matter of a couple weeks. In reality the Wildcats have had an eye on the 2017 prospect for longer than that but it took defensive line coach Vince Amey seeing the nose tackle in person to move the process along.
Once that happened UA offered and Taufahema quickly scheduled an official visit to see Tucson and eventually that led to his pledge.
Arizona's coaching staff wanted to put an emphasis on closing out the class with some more size especially up front. Taufahema brings that at 6-foot-2 and 325 pounds and that size will be able to help solve some of Arizona's issues along the defensive line.
Defensive tackle
0 STARS
Arizona
Santa Clarita
RR:
Ht: 6'3.0"
Wt: 320.0
Class: 2017
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POSITION
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NATIONAL
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STATE
Commitment status:
signed
GOAZCATS.com outlook
Taufahema is exactly one of the pieces Arizona needed in this recruiting cycle. He isn't a big name nor did he have big offers, but his skill set fits with what the Wildcats are looking for in a nose tackle. The other aspect is he is a true nose and has played the position already so the staff will not have to make any adjustments. His position will be well defined up front.
The Wildcats desperately need size in the middle of the defensive line in the coming years as Parker Zellers goes into his final season and the team will need some more options at the position. Taufahema will help fill that role and now it will be up to him to make the contributions. More than with other JUCO prospects UA will have time on its side with the California-based recruit coming in early and still have a redshirt season available to him.
UA is the type of program that needs help right now, however, and being able to get him in for spring ball will help go a long way.
Moving forward there will be some key things for Taufahema to find success at UA. He will likely need to drop a little weight to allow him to be a faster off the ball and he will have to stay healthy. UA knows all too well how much health can change things and for a junior college recruit that is even more important.
The Wildcats have had success with junior college prospects such as Steven Gurrola and most recently Paul Magloire, but it has also had its busts. Healthy has played a big part in that so it will be important for Taufahema to stay on the field and give himself the best shot to make an immediate impact.
