Arizona's QB Noah Fifita Needs to Improve in Key Areas

When Brent Brennan was looking to turn things around on his coaching staff he hired offensive coordinator Seth Doege to fix the offense and get things back on track after an underwhelming season that saw the year end for the Wildcats with a 4-8 record and an offense that struggled after the 61-point explosion against New Mexico.

The offense struggled with injuries, lack of talent in the wide receiver room (outside of Tetairoa McMillan) and playcalling from former offensive coordinator Dino Babers.

Although he has been an amazing leader and face of the program, quarterback Noah Fifita wasn’t as vocal as Brennan and the rest of the staff would’ve liked him to be.

Brennan pointed to times where the team could’ve used a voice on the field to help recollect the team after a tough sequence, or loss that seemed to spiral out of control down the stretch of the season.

Both Brennan and Doege set the tone in spring practice by challenging Fifita to become that leader on the field by becoming an extension of the coaches on the field.

Throughout camp, Fifita took the challenge head on and became more of that leader the coaches were looking for on the field.

When talking to the media, Doege stated that there were times the offense wasn’t clicking and he went to go talk to the first-team unit but when he got close to the huddle, Fifita told him that he had things under control and would get everything in order.

After that, the offense would have its best drive of the day and started to click the rest of camp. This is exactly what the coaches have been looking for from Fifita as a leader in the huddle.

While watching training camp, you can see Fifita being more confident in that leadership role and helping his teammates on the details of the offense.

He has always been a leader off the field but is clearly growing into the leadership role that all starting quarterbacks need in order to get to the next level.

However, there are still some areas that Fifita needs to improve in order to have a bounce back season and lead the Wildcats to a bowl game.

Three Areas Fifita Needs to Improve

Nov 30, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita (11) against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the Territorial Cup at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Running the Ball

One thing Fifita talked about working on during training camp was his running ability and getting more involved in the running game. In his career, he has rushed for (-16) yards for his career, the rushing attack hasn’t been apart of his game.

Now, Fifita has been working on his running game in camp, but until you see it on the field you just simply don’t know how he is going to react in the middle of games, or if he would go away from trying to run the ball.

Again, he won’t turn into a Pat White, or Khalil Tate, that isn’t Fifita’s game. But, the ability to hit the defense with a 10-yard gain here and an 8-yard gain there would be massive for the offense.

Field Vision

Last season there were times where Fifita missed wide open guys over the middle of the field, or saw the opening too late and threw an interception. Now, a lot of those issues came because of the lack of talent in the receiving room and the poor offensive scheme.

Still, like the running game, you need to see Fifita improve in this area in live in-game reps against opponents other than the Wildcats’ first team defensive unit.

The Deep Ball

Fifita is a highly accurate passer and an extremely talented quarterback that stacks up with the best the Big 12 Conference has to offer. However, his deep ball hasn’t been fully unlocked at this point in his career.

The arm talent is there for Fifita, who has the strength to hit receivers at every level of the football field. Still, the accuracy isn’t there yet with his deep ball and the ball placement hasn’t always been the best.

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