Arizona's Star OL Jonah Savaiinaea Falls Out of First Round in Latest Mock Draft

In one of the most recent mock drafts, Arizona's star is no longer a first-round pick.

Oct 19, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea (71) against the Colorado Buffalos at Arizona Stadium | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Despite the poor season the Arizona Wildcats had, they still should be well represented in the upcoming NFL draft since their roster features some high-end talent that teams at the professional ranks would love to have.

It's universally understood that Tetairoa McMillan is going to be a first-round pick, and one of the most recent mock drafts has the superstar wide receiver going in the top five.

Someone who is expected to join him on Day 1 is offense lineman Jonah Savaiinaea.

The big man started as a true freshman and put together an incredible career in Tucson that was unfortunately marred by him missing the Territorial Cup, the first time he has ever not been able to appear in a game as a member of the Wildcats.

Savaiinaea has proven to be versatile and durable at Arizona, starting out in the interior before moving out to the tackle spots where he was one of the best pass-blocking lineman in the country.

Someone with his size and athleticism is hard to come by, and that's one of the reasons why his name was consistently written in as a first-round pick.

However, in the same PFF mock draft put together by Trevor Sikkema that saw McMillan get picked No. 4 overall, the analyst has Savaiinaea falling out of the first round until he is selected with the 43rd pick by the Chicago Bears.

That's surprising.

NFL teams love versatile offensive linemen who can play multiple positions since the roster size is smaller than at the collegiate level, so that alone would seem to play into Savaiinaea's favor.

He also was the lone bright spot in the trenches for Arizona this year, so it's hard to poke holes in his performance on the field even if the overall play by that unit was poor for the Wildcats this year.

It's very early in the evaluation process and Savaiinaea has yet to officially declare for the draft yet, but there could be a feeling that the Wildcats star is no longer a lock to join McMillan in the first round.