Arizona football: The impact of Trevor Wood's injury in 2015

With Trevor Wood out for the season, the tight end development might hit a small bump in the road.

Trevor Wood had been held out of camp for the majority of the fall, raising some concerns about his health. It wasn't clear as to how much time he would be out for, but it seemed as if he was going to miss an extended period of time. On Thursday, he announced he underwent surgery and will miss the 2015 season. Rich Rodriguez confirmed that on Friday.

Wood was definitely Arizona's most polished tight end in the system. At least in the scrimmage, tight ends were used sparingly, despite a good amount of looks in the spring game. With almost an entire offseason down, the tight end utilization doesn't seem to be where most would expect or like it to be.

With some offensive line shake up, Anu Solomon could have used some extra blocking, which is where Wood could have excelled as a tight end. He also has the potential to be a great pass catcher and bigger target for Solomon, at 6-5 251lbs.

Josh Kern has been the top tight end on the depth chart throughout camp, and he seems to be more of a vertical threat than Wood. He's still 6-5 229lbs, and also played quarterback in his high school days. But after Kern, it seems like there's a bit of a drop off in tight end talent, which is understandable considering the fact that Matt Morin and Darrell Cloy Jr. just joined this past spring.

The development of the tight end would have been nice to see this season, only broadening the possibilities on offense for Anu Solomon. The way tight ends were being used before, and with the injury of Trevor Wood, it seems like the tight end will still be a work in progress.

The progress could speed up depending on how healthy the receiving corps is. Tyrell Johnson has been held out for almost all of fall camp, and Trey Griffey has also been nursing some sort of injury while wearing a walking boot. Both of them will miss the UTSA game. But the development of Shun Brown, and the switch back to receiver for Johnny Jackson seem to be going very well for both, widening the depth at receiver.

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