Arizona football roundtable: On beavers, disappointments, surprises, Jeff Casteel and UCLA

Tackling the biggest questions surrounding the Arizona Wildcats

It's been a rough couple of weeks for the Arizona Wildcats, but we are here to answer some of the important questions facing this team, and some not very important questions as well.

1. Who has been the most disappointing player overall to this point? The best surprise?

Gabe Encinas: The most disappointing player overall this season for me might be Will Parks. As the next guy in line as a defensive leader, he hasn't performed all too well this season. Arizona lost a lot on defense last year, and now it's more noticeable than ever, but it makes you think that Parks was a beneficiary of the secondary with Grandon, Tevis, and Bondurant last year. He doesn't get a lot of help from Cam Denson or DaVonte' Neal, who are also both huge disappointments this season as well.

I wouldn't say that there is a standout guy as the best surprise, The best surprise is probably Johnny Jackson. He's had two breakout games for Arizona and it's good to see him out there at receiver again, especially with the injuries to Trey Griffey and Tyrell Johnson, along with the switch from Neal.

Ryan Kelapire: I think Cayleb Jones has been the most disappointing player this season. He had over 1,000 yards receiving last season and I expected him to improve even more, but he's only at 241 yards receiving through five games. In Arizona's two conference games, Jones has just seven catches for 72 yards.

On the other hand, the best surprise has been David Richards. Richards came into the season as the fifth receiver, but injuries have opened up the door for him to have a bigger role, and he has taken advantage of it. He's currently the team's leading receiver and has caught four touchdown passes.

David Potts: Cam Denson has been the biggest disappointment so far. He has just had a rough year to this point. Opposing teams routinely pick on him and throw to his side of the field, and he's been on the wrong end of a lot of big plays. He's still young and has plenty of time to get better, but given that he managed to start games last season as a true freshman, I think my expectations for him were much higher than they should've been.

For best surprise, I'm going to go with two different receivers: David Richards and Johnny Jackson. If you asked me before the season who I thought the best receivers for Arizona would be this season, I would probably list at least four names before I got to Richards and would probably have forgotten that Jackson ever even played receiver. Both, though, have been extremely productive - they're tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns, first and second on the team in receptions, and first and third on the team in receiving yards. Even as the rest of the team has struggled, Richards and Jackson have both thrived.

Jason Bartel: The biggest disappointment to me has been Cayleb Jones. I thought he would come back from his hand injury last year and put up enormous numbers. But with Anu Solomon throwing more underneath routes, and David Richards getting a lot of the sideline targets, Jones just hasn't been able to get the targets, and I'm not sure if that has to do with his inability to get open, or if it's a lot of other circumstances.

Biggest surprise has been Johnny Jackson. He started fall camp as like a fourth-string safety. Now he leads the team in catches, and is tied for the lead in receiving touchdowns. I know that he was thriving the second he moved back to the offensive side of the ball, but this production is something that no one could have seen coming.

2. Could you envision a change at defensive coordinator in the near future?

GE: I could, but I think we should ride it out a bit. I've stood by the 3-3-5 defense for some time, but it's clearly not working. Now, Arizona is missing too many key players on defense this season, but even at full strength, it's hard to believe that the defense could hang with some of these teams. But currently, the defense has zero talent, meanwhile both UCLA and Stanford have very talented offenses. The level of competition in the Pac-12 is probably at an all-time high. There's a reason why not too many people use the 3-3-5 defense, but now you just wonder how it would affect recruiting if the change does come about, whether it's Casteel or the defensive scheme.

RK: I'm not sure what to think about the team's defense this year. Sure, they have constantly been gashed by opposing offenses, but they're also extremely banged up. Not to mention that without Scooby, they're simply not that talented. Think about, which position on defense could you say that Arizona has "above average" Pac-12 players at? It's hard for me to come up with one.

So, it's hard for me to put all the blame on Jeff Casteel, but I do think it's fair to say that he hasn't exactly been the best play-caller this year.

DP: I don't think so. Arizona's defense has had trouble this year, but the unit has had to deal with a multitude of injuries (especially to Scooby Wright and the rest of the linebackers) and has never operated at full strength. I don't expect the defense to be this bad going forward, and I don't think firing Jeff Casteel, the one defensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez has succeeded with, will solve anything. Better to stick with the devil we know than the devil we don't.

JB: No matter how much people complain, I don't see RichRod parting ways with Casteel. There's something to be said about how far back their bond goes, and if Rodriguez thought there was a better way to line up the defense, he would have no problem telling Casteel and implementing it.

Part of the problem has been the lack of recruiting success, so I could see a change at a position coach/recruiting guy on that side of the ball, but Casteel leaving, no.

3. What's UCLA's deal?

GE: I totally imagined Arizona State winning at UCLA, that's just such an Arizona State thing to do and a very Arizona thing to happen. UCLA looked really bad and just completely flat, and it was mostly because of the Devils' defense. Josh Rosen acted like he had never seen a team bring eight guys on a blitz before and Mora continued to run the ball into the congestion.

RK: In the Pac-12, we can expect nonsensical things happening each and every week, and UCLA losing to ASU is one of them. Why couldn't UCLA play that poorly against Arizona, though?!

DP: They're just trying to make Arizona fans miserable. They're mad that we finally beat them in the Pac-12 Tournament last March, and they're going to do whatever they can to ruin our season. If that means destroying us before rolling over and letting Arizona State beat them, then that's what they'll do. Well played, UCLA. Well played.

JB: Out of all teams, they had to lay an egg against ASU? Do that against Utah or USC or something, just not ASU.

4. What is your favorite thing about beavers?

GE: The Nickelodeon Show "Angry Beavers". One of the greatest cartoons of all-time. Beavers are also pretty cute, can munch on some treats, and float on their back. Pretty versatile animal right there.

RK: They have a dam good work ethic.

DP: I'm going to keep my answer PG and say the Angry Beavers theme song, a classic from the days of quality Nickelodeon programming.

JB: Beavers have built-in goggles in the form of transparent eyelids. Doesn't get much more clutch than that.

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