Jake Fischer left last season's spring game on a cart. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

New Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez says much of his first spring with the Wildcats will be about evaluation, and he’ll withhold judgment — and a depth chart — until the end of spring ball.

That won’t stop him from being eager to see, among others, linebacker Jake Fischer.

Fischer, who was one of five UA players who sat out last season because of a torn ACL, is a “full-go” for the spring, Rodriguez said Thursday.

“He’s worked so hard,” Rodriguez said.

“Without question, Jake Fischer is going to be one of our leaders defensively. I can see why the coaching staff missed him so much last year. He’s an athletic guy who is a tough guy. He’s a football player. I’m sure that was a huge loss.”

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Utah's Star Lotulelei takes up a lot of space in the middle. Photo by Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

Mash together Arizona’s offense (at least in the passing game) and Utah’s defense (at least against the run), and you’d have a pretty good college football team.

It will be a battle of opposites Saturday at Arizona Stadium, with Wildcats quarterback Nick Foles taking aim at, statistically, the best defense in the Pac-12.

The Utes are allowing only 325.6 yards per game and rank 11th nationally against the run, yielding a mere 91.0 yards per game.

“They’re good. I would say one of the top two defenses we have played all year,” said UA offensive coordinator Seth Littrell.

“They’re extremely physical up front. In the secondary, they are going to try to man you up, beat your receivers up. They are, at times, going to play press coverage and say, ‘Come and get us. If you can make the play, go make the play.’ …

“It’s not going to be one of those easy-type football games where you run up and down the field, I’ll tell you that.”

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Is wide receiver Dan Bucker the Arizona redshirt you are most eager to see? Photo by Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic

With five Arizona football practices in the books, some players who have never seen the field for the Wildcats are either emerging or solidifying key roles.

Before practice began, we ran down our newcomers to watch — those from the most recent recruiting class.

Now, let’s take a look at the top players who redshirted last season at Arizona and will be making their UA debut Sept. 3 against NAU.

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Chris Putton worked as the starting left guard in spring practice. Photo by Michael Chow, The Arizona Republic

In collaboration with our Gannett partner, The Arizona Republic, we will be providing a weekly series throughout the summer, previewing the Arizona Wildcats football team.

The Republic sent a photographer to Tucson three times in the spring to capture the pictures needed for its slick presentation of the preview, which you can find here at azcentral.com. You can also read about those other guys all summer in the ASU preview.

At TucsonCitizen.com, we can’t offer the cool look of the preview that you’ll find on azcentral.com, but we’ll give you the text and some of the photography.

Here is the third part: The offensive line. Look for updates every Friday.

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Trace Biskin jumps rope before practice. Photo by Michael Chow, The Arizona Republic

Arizona Wildcats coach Mike Stoops was asked what quality new offensive line coach Robert Anae brought to the team.

“Patience,” Stoops said with a chuckle.

Anae has been working this spring with a bunch of pups. Big pups to be sure. But pups nonetheless. The all-new offensive line will display the results of Anae’s work Saturday at the team’s final spring scrimmage at Arizona Stadium (1:30 p.m.).

“Everybody since day one after the bowl game has been saying, ‘What’s going to happen with Arizona with their offensive line being young?’” said junior guard Trace Biskin. “You know, whatever.

“We come out here and just try to get better. We don’t care how old we are. We’re just looking to get better every day. Coach Anae stresses that as long as we play tough, we’re going to be fine.

“You can correct mistakes, but you can’t correct toughness.”

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Freshman Fabbians Ebbele works out during fall camp.
Photo by Brad Allis, Wildcat Sports Report

The Arizona Wildcats have eight-and-a-half-months to figure out an all-new offensive line, under an all-new offensive line coach, trying out a slightly new philosophy.

First things first. The coach, Robert Anae, while new to Arizona is a veteran coach whose recent stops include Texas Tech and BYU. He replaces co-coordinator Bill Bedenbaugh, whose departure to West Virginia leaves running backs coach Seth Littrell as the sole coordinator.

“Hiring Robert Anae, it couldn’t be a better fit for us,” said coach Mike Stoops said.

“He has an expertise on the offensive line that is desperately needed at this level of football. I couldn’t be more pleased with that element of our staff.”

Anae will be the run-game coordinator and will collaborate with the play-calling Littrell on the game plan.

“I’m just happy that he’s here,” Stoops said of Anae. “I didn’t think this opportunity would ever arise. He’s a guy who I have competed against for many years at BYU and at Texas Tech. I certainly was well-aware of the preparation of his players and how they played.”

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Freshman Fabbians Ebbele works out during fall camp.
Photo by Brad Allis, WildcatSportsReport.com

The Arizona Wildcats are losing their entire starting offensive line after this season, so who’s next?

One likely answer is Kyle Quinn, who will make his first career start in the Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl against Oklahoma State. Quinn replaces senior Colin Baxter, who is out following surgery on his right knee.

The next wave includes three redshirt freshmen and four freshmen who are redshirting. Among that latter group, watch for Mickey Baucus and Fabbians Ebbele.

“Those two young tackles, if they continue to improve, they’re going to be as good as anybody I’ve coached,” said offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator Bill Bedenbaugh.

“They’ve got that talent. Now, they have to come with a mentality and a competitiveness and a toughness and those kind of things. If you look at them and see how they work, they’ve got what it takes.”

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Fabbians Ebbele, from Chicago, should be one of the new building blocks for the offensive line/Photo by Brad Allis, WildcatSportsReport.com

You might not have been able to tell from the kind of vocabulary offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh was using during Monday’s practice, but he seems to really like his young offensive linemen.

It’s this group of four true freshmen, combined with three redshirt freshman offensive linemen from the class of 2009, that will be the future foundation of everything the Wildcats want to do on offense.

For now, the true freshmen might give up a speed rush to Brooks Reed coming off the edge in practice. They might not go hard every time from snap to whistle. That’s OK. It’s early. What is encouraging is they look the part.

Mickey Baucus, Fabbians Ebbele, Carter Lees and Trent Spurgeon are part of what appears to be Mike Stoops’ most physically impressive freshman class.

“These guys, there are all in the 6-6 to 6-8 range, and they all have long arms, and they are all 290 to 300 pounds. They’re athletes,” Bedenbaugh, also the co-offensive coordinator, said of his linemen.

“But the biggest thing is, just mentally picking up the game. They’re getting a lot of reps right now, but it’s going to take some time.”

With six seniors and one junior (guard Vaughn Dotsy) in the two-deep, Arizona doesn’t have much margin or error with injuries. The experience drops off quickly. Redshirt freshman Eric Bender-Ramsay is listed as a possible backup at left tackle. Chris Putton is a second-stringer at left guard.

The opportunity could be there for a true freshman.

“We’ve got to have one of them develop in case we get into a situation where we need them,” Bedenbaugh said.

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