So far Nick Foles has been sharp and it is obvious that Matt Scott is attempting to redshirt this season, allowing him to battle for the starting job as a fifth year starter in 2012. Bryson Beirne has been getting the bulk of the snaps with the second team, while Scott, the back-up in 2010, works with the scout team.

Keola Antolin and Daniel Jenkins are holding down the top two spots at running back and the real competition seems to be for the third running back job. Sophomore Kylan Butler has the edge early in camp, but walk-on Terris Jones and true freshman Ka’Deem Carey are getting their opportunities.

Heading into fall camp we knew the Arizona receiving corps was deep, but this appears top be the deepest the unit has ever been. Juron Criner is back with the team after attending to some personal matters over the summer. He does not appear 100% in shape, but is still making plays. Once he improves his conditioning, watch out.

Newcomer Dan Buckner, the Texas transfer, appears as good as advertised, while Tyler Slavin has made play after play.

Terrence Miller has been a go-to guy during 2:00 drills and he gives the Cats yet another big target.

All eyes are on the offensive line and so far, so good. The starting five of Mickey Baucus, Fabbians Ebelle, Chris Putton, Trace Biskin and Kyle Quinn have been solid and early on have fended off challenges from second teamers.

The biggest news among the line is the addition of Jack Baucus, who moves from tight end to tackle.

Another position of interest has been the defensive ends who have to replace three players drafted by the NFL. So far Muhammed Usman and C.J. Parish have been very good and true freshmen Reggie Gilbert and Dame Ndiaye have shown that the future at the position seems very bright.

Junior college transfer David Lopez will start alongside Paul Vassallo and Derek Earls when the Cats go with their 4-3 base defense, but all indications are that the Wildcats will spend a lot of time in their nickel and dime packages.

So far the defensive backs have also played well. Shaq Richardson and Jonathan McKnight are in a real battle to start opposite of senior Trevin Wasde and Derrick Rainey is also showing well at corner.

There is less competition at safety where Rob Golden and Marquis Flowers have their jobs all but sewn up.

Alex Zendejas and Jaime Salazar are in a duel for the place kicking job. Many assumed that after last year’s disasterous finish that Zendejas would be out of a job, but he worked hard over the summer and the job probably won’t be decided early in camp.

So far the Wildcats have remained relatively injury free, which is especially good news after all of the injuries during spring ball. Two of those injured players, linebacker Jake Fischer and safety Adam Hall, appear to be ahead of schedule and may have a tough decision to make about whether to play this year or use a redshirt.

Stoops discussed the final spring scrimmage, as well as the spring as a whole, after the scrimmage was over.

The Arizona offense was on display during the Spring Scrimmage. Well, sort of. Despite not showing a lot of special wrinkles, the offense scored four touchdowns and added a long field goal. A modified scoring system was used to boost “scoring” but the offense did not need it as they passed for over 380 yards.

The offense actually scored of five straight possessions, starting off with a 50-yard field goal from Alex Zendejas.

It was a solid day from the much-maligned kicker. Instead of regular extra points, the team went with field goals of varying length. Zendejas made four of five kicks. His lone miss was from 40. John Bonnano attempted the first field goal on the first possession and missed badly from 46 yards out.

Nick Foles led the offense to the first field goal, then turned over the keys to Bryson Beirne and the senior responded. Beirne seven straight passes then found Richard Morrison in the seam for a 26-yard score.

UA Media Relations officially had Beirne at 8-9 for 115 yards and two scores, although I had him closer to 130 yards with two more completions. Either way it was a good showing for the senior who is attempting to be Foles’ back-up as the team attempts to redshirt Matt Scott.

Morrison got it done on the next possession as well. This time it was Foles finding Morrison over the middle. The former back-up quarterback faked like he was going outside, then cut back inside and cruised for a 22-yard score.

For the day Morrison had four catches for 63 yards.

“He’s a playmaker and he’s another skill guy for us that can move when he catches the football,” Mike Stoops said. “He’s very elusive and he’s a good inside receiver.”

Not to feel left out, Scott led the team to their third straight touchdown on the next possession. He decided to let his arm do most of the work and fired a perfect bomb to Dan Buckner, who hauled in the pass for a 37-yard score.

Beirne got it done on his final work of the day. First he connected with Terrence Miller over the middle. Miller caught the ball about eight yards passed the line of scrimmage, then cut outside and picked up 20 more yards.

On the next play Beirne hit Tyler Slavin on a slant and the redshirt freshman scooted 32 yards for the touchdown.

The scoring streak ended when true freshman Daxx Garman came in the game. Garman was not as sharp as the three seniors. His first pass was complete to Slavin, but he actually lost two yards. He tried to go deep on third and long, but just missed his man.

Although it was the first drive to stall in the offense’s half of the field, all was not lost. JC transfer punter Kyle Dugandzic blasted a punt that officially went 72-yards, but actually went further as it sailed into the endzone.

Foles was 11-16 for 133, while Scott was 11-14 for 134. Garman was just 1-2.

The defense struggled, but did force a fumble and had two sacks and five pass break ups.

“Defensively, we weren’t very good today but we were good all spring,” Stoops said. “We didn’t play well today but I feel good about that group.”

Hankins becomes the third linebacker commit in the 2011 recruiting class for the Wildcats, joining Hank Hobson and Jabral Johnson.

When the three get on campus next summer, the Wildcats’ linebacker breakdown by class will look like this.

Seniors: Derek Earls,  Paul Vassallo

Juniors: Jake Fischer, R.J. Young (used redshirt)

Sophomores: Cordarious Golston (used redshirt); Trevor Erno (used redshirt)

Redshirt Freshmen: Kyle Benson  (expected to redshirt due to knee injury)

True Freshmen: Hank Hobson,  Jabral Johnson,  Rob Hankins

This will give the Cats a balance, with at least two players in each class. This year the Wildcats will have three new starters, and do not have a non-JUCO upperclassman on the roster. The Cats do not have a backer on the roster with a start under his belt, and just two who logged any meaningful time last year.

Ideally, you’d expect the Cats to try to redshirt at least two of the newcomers, in an effort to further spread out the talent among the four classes.

The Cats find themselves in this position due to three factors, the reliance of junior college linebackers, players changing positions and players leaving the program. The Wildcats currently have three defensive ends who began their careers as linebackers in Brooks Reed, D’Aundre Reed and Apai Tuihalamaka. Add to that Zander Fabri’s departure and a few other recruits de-committing and you have the unbalance in the classes the Cats’ have faced the past few seasons.

Hankins does more than just give the Cats depth, he gives them a very well regarded recruit. He is a four-star player and ESPN.com’s #9 ILB nationally. He’s one of the “great instinct” guys that Tim Kish has done so well with, but has legit athleticism and good enough size and could be a guy who comes in and challenges for playing time.

His commitment mean the Cats have really solidified their linebacking and running back units. Although they might still add another player if an elite talent wanted to come on board, with three backers and two runners, the Cats are in very good shape at both positions.

Ka'Deem Carey (WildcatSportsReport.com)

Only Sabino’s Keanu Nelson chose to play elsewhere and he could hardly be faulted for choosing a Stanford education. The other five, Adam Hall, Jake Fischer, Josh Robbins, Carey and Jacob Arzouman, all stayed home.

By my count, Stoops has offered 15 local players and 11 have decided to become Wildcats. Of the four he has lost out on, one was already committed to Notre Dame when Stoops got the job and one never played a down of D-I college football.

To be fair, the Wildcats would have offered Cienega’s Zach Davila, but the offensive lineman committed to Utah before the Cats could extend an offer.

While keeping local talent home is nice, it is hardly enough to build a program. Of the 11 players who stayed home, only one, Brooks Reed, has played at an All-Conference level. Two, Daniel Borg and Glyndon Bolasky, had their careers cut short. Only Reed, Borg and Brandon Lopez were starters, although both Hall and Fischer have a chance to start this year.

It must also be noted, that the best player of the bunch, Salpointe’s Kris O’Dowd, chose USC, although the Trojans offered Hall and might still get involved with Carey if his grades are good enough.

Another good piece of news is that the Wildcats have not lost a local player to ASU under Stoops. The Sun Devils have just one scholarship player from Tucson, Santa Rita receiver J.J. Holiday, and the Cats never offered him a scholarship.

While all of this is great, the fact is, Stoops has to recruit more than the Tucson Area. Keeping the top local players home is big, but not as big as getting top talent out of Phoenix, Los Angeles, Houston and Dallas.

While there are still a number of jobs being competed for, most won’t be settled until the fall. The good news is that there are competent bodies at every spot and there do not seem to be many glaring weaknesses.

It has taken quite some time, but Mike Stoops has brought stability and talent to the program. With the possible exception of the linebackers, there are experienced, capable players at every open spot.

Although there are four new co-coordinators, three of them were on the staff a year ago, so the transition has been very smooth. The players have been very positive about the new roles of the coaches.

There is also a new quarterbacks coach, the first dedicated quarterback coach of the Stoops era. Both Mike Canales and Sonny Dykes were offensive coordinators as well as the quarterbacks coaches. Frank Scelfo enters the picture and made no bones about having to make some tweaks to his passers’ mechanics.

The linebacking spot is an interesting one, in that only Jake Fischer and RJ Young saw any meaningful time last year, and even that was mostly in mop-up situations. The Cats are still sifting through the linebackers, which include three junior college players and three very young players.

The stability means that the Cats can do some experimenting. They have moved some players around in the defensive backfield, including trying safety Robert Golden at cornerback, the position he originally occupied when he was a freshman.

Some of the biggest news is about the two transfer wide receivers. Texas transfer Dan Buckner passes the eyeball test, while former West Virginia receiver Gino Crump has been a pleasant surprise.

It may not be a great spring for those of us in the media looking for stories, but it may just be a great spring for the Wildcat football program.

Certainly, Tucson is not known for a ton of high D-I talent. For a city it’s size, it actually produces very few prospects. That is why when a legit player does emerge in town, the Cats have to pounce.

Josh Robbins - WildcatSportsReport.com

For the most part the Cats have done just that. During the Mike Stoops era the Wildcats have extended written offers to just 13 local players and, with Robbins’ verbal, have landed nine of them.

The four players the Cats have missed out on have gone to Stanford, USC, Notre Dame and Nevada.

This year the Cats are batting just .500. While Robbins chose the Wildcats, Sabino’s Keanu Nelson could not say no to the academics and is a verbal commitment to Stanford.

Last year the Cats signed both Adam Hall (Palo Verde) and Jake Fischer (Ironwood Ridge) and both have made immediate contributions on special teams.

To be fair, the Cats did miss out on the highest rated player to come out of Tucson in a decade. Salpointe’s Kris O’Dowd chose USC over the Wildcats and started from day one for the Trojans, but has also battled injuries.

That year the Cats did sign Buena’s Devin Veal but he has not done much beyond special teams, but has also battled some tough personal tragedies.

Brooks Reed - WildcatSportsReport.com

2006 may have been the strangest year. The Wildcats signed two Sabino players in Glyndon Bolasky and Brooks Reed, but missed out on Salpointe’s John Romero. Romero chose to play for Nevada, despite having better offers. In a strange twist, Romero never played for the Wolfpack becoming one of three lancer linemen to sign a D-I scholarship but not last more than a year at the school as a football player.

Reed has gone on to have a terrific career, while Bolasky had to give up football for medical reasons.

2005 was also a strange class. The Wildcats went 2-2, signing both Xavier Smith and Daniel Borg. Both made an impact for the Wildcats, but neither completed his eligibility. Borg was a part-time starter but gave up football for academic pursuits. Smith was a reserve running back who, despite a personal tragedy of his own, was on track to graduate. Smith still had one year of eligibility left but was essentially told by the coaches that he did not have much of a role this upcoming season and was not with the team.

2004 was Stoops’ first recruiting class, which he got a late start on, so it is really hard to judge. The Mackovic staff extended offers to Salpointe’s John Kadous and Cienega’s Brandon Lopez. Kadous had committed to Notre Dame before Stoops was hired, but the team made a push for him but could not pry him away from the Irish. Lopez committed to the Mackovic staff but his scholarship was honored by the new staff.

Lopez had a solid career at Arizona after moving from linebacker to fullback. Kadous quit the Notre Dame football team his first year in South Bend, flirted with walking on at Arizona and ultimately re-enrolled at Notre Dame as a general student.

It should be noted that the Wildcats never officially extended an offer to Cienega offensive lineman Zach Davila, but were just waiting for him to attend their team camp to earn a scholarship. Davila committed to Utah just prior to the camp, so he was never offered.

The past few years a few other players signed with decent football schools, but none were offered scholarships by Arizona. Santa Rita’s J.J. Holiday signed with ASU last year, while Jamal Womble, Jovan Stevenson and Lucas Reed signed with North Carolina, Oregon State and New Mexico respectively. Reed, had a preferred walk-on offer, while the Cats pursued Womble for quite some time but never pulled the trigger on an offer.

Womble rushed for 41 yards this year for North Carolina, while Stevenson had 125 yards for the Beavers and was their third leading rusher.

EXTERNAL LINK: A full interview with Josh Robbins