3 Arizona football recruits who are underrated

The Arizona Wildcats have inked 20 2019 recruits during the Early Signing Period, ranging from four-star prospects such as Jalen Curry, Grant Gunnell and Bobby Wolfe, to quite a handful of prospects who didn’t get nearly as much attention as they should have during the recruitment process.

Here we take a look at three prospects who flew under the nation’s recruiting radar.

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Eddie Siaumau, LB/S

Holding offers to Idaho and Virginia Union, Siaumau is probably the most underrated prospect of the bunch, and that’s likely due to the fact that he comes from American Somoa.

However, when Siaumau was first entered into the 247Sports database in August of 2017, he was ranked 641st in the nation regardless of position. Prior to his commitment to Arizona in July, 11 months after he was first ranked, he was sitting outside the Top 1800. Prior to Early Signing Period, he was in danger of falling out of the Top 2200.

Now he is currently received a boost in the rankings, sitting just outside the Top 1700. But without a doubt had Siaumau been in California, Texas or even Arizona, he would be a top 1000 recruit.

He had received interest from ASU, Oregon, USC and Utah, but no official offers came his way.

He now stands at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds and will come in as an edge rusher. He’s big, strong, physical and fast and Arizona definitely got a steal in what I believe is the nations best kept secret.

Leone High School
American Samoa
Class of 2019
OLB/SS
Eddie Siaumau @EddieSiaumau1
Height: 6’3
Weight: 221lbs
Bench: 235lbs
Squat: 315lbs
Core GPA: 3.89
3-Star
Offers: #Arizona #LevelUp pic.twitter.com/z1OWfxQHq4

— Level Up Elites (@levelupelites) July 22, 2018

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Michael Wiley, RB

One of Arizona’s first commits of the class, Wiley’s junior film left a lot to be desired. Fasts forward to his senior season and he was shredding defenses in Texas, finishing with 186 carries for 1,569 yards and 19 touchdowns. He also added 15 receptions for 211 yards and one touchdown.

Despite his spectacular season, he didn’t add a single offer to his list, which had originally included McNeese State, Princeton and Yale.

He’s been fluctuating throughout the rankings since his commitment, as he was ranked 1660 shortly after, but fell during bi-weekly ranking adjustment until November 30, when he went from 1844th to 1539th.

Now just barely inside the Top 1500, I would personally ranked him inside the top T000. He has a lot of characteristics of current running back Darrius Smith, and for those who have been following recruiting for a while, Pierre Cormier, who was a four-star prospect back in 2014 but had to medically retire shortly after arriving to campus.

Wiley is an explosive little back who can find the holes and accelerate into the next level. While Arizona still does not have a running backs coach after Clarence McKinney left for Texas Southern, the new position coach will have a very talented piece to work with going forward.

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Jordan Morgan, OL

Arizona is bringing in a local Tucson product in Jordan Morgan of Marana High School, a 6-foot-5, 270 pound offensive tackle that has arguably the highest upside of any Arizona signee.

He didn’t have a whole lot of film available, but from what you could see, Morgan looked ultra-athletic and lean for his size, possessing a strong balance of speed and power.

Prior to receiving his Arizona offer, Morgan held offers from Northern Arizona and South Dakota State. He was unranked at the time of his commitment, and eventually landed just outside the Top 1900 once he was officially ranked.

Suddenly he picked up offers to Arizona State and USC, and it looked like Morgan was about to blow up. At this point Morgan was a priority that Arizona could not let out of its own backyard.

Oddly enough, Morgan never added another offer to his list. But had Morgan even played in Phoenix rather than Tucson, it’s easy to think that he would have had over half the Pac-12 giving him an opportunity to play for their program.

Knowing what o-line coach Joe Gilbert did in his first year as the offensive line coach, piecing together a more than respectable offensive line that included a true freshman right tackle and walk-on center, you have to feel good about the development of a young and raw player like Morgan.

The potential is there for Morgan, and with Gilbert as his line coach, it’s not out of the question to think that he could achieve All-Pac-12 honors and eventually head to the NFL.

| Inside the film room: Jordan Morgan ⬇️ ️@AZGilbertGoCats #EraZona19 | #BearDown pic.twitter.com/JXD5aSBdpV

— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) December 19, 2018

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