Jonah Savaiinaea, OT, Arizona
Size:
Height: 6041
Weight: 324
Arm: 33 ⅞”
Hand: 10 ¼”
Accomplishments:
All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention (2023, 2022) • Freshman All-American (2022)
“Jonah Savaiiinaea has the necessary length and athletic profile to develop into a reliable starter on the next level.”
Strengths:
Ideal length and mass
Good football IQ
Ability to anchor in pass protection
Concerns:
Plays with high pad level
Reactionary athleticism in pass protection
Hand placement leads to holding penalties
Film Analysis:
Jonah Savaiinaea is a multi-year starter for the Arizona Wildcats team that surprised everyone with their program turnaround, led by an offensive explosion in 2023. Savaiinaea served as a key piece to this offensive turnaround by being a reliable starter on the offensive line. In his time at Arizona, he has shown to have a good combination of length and mass—key physical attributes that aid in his success as an OT.
In pass protection, Savaiinaea’s best reps come when he can maintain inside leverage on defenders and force them around the arc. Using his heavy inside alignment, he forces defenders who want to work a tighter angle to run through his frame, allowing Savaiinaea to use his mass to his advantage. Savaiinaea has enough overall strength to anchor against defenders and stop their rush.
In the run game, Savaiinaea appears to have good overall athleticism and range to get to defenders and make effective blocks. Savaiinaea can smother defenders with his size and force them to have to go around his frame to win the rep, which means the defenders have vacated their gaps, creating a running lane for the ball-carrier. Savaiinaea can also climb to the second level of the defense and make effective blocks.
Looking at Savaiinaea's improvements as a player, they start with his lower half and his ability to keep his feet active. Oftentimes, Savaiinaeea stops his feet on contact and lunges, whether it's in the run game or in pass protection, which transitions him from being in a good position to having to lunge at defenders or put himself in position for holding penalties to be called. Being able to sustain blocks is a huge part of Savaiinaea’s needed improvement because he does a good job making initial contact, but the ability to consistently sustain/finish blocks to make them effective blocks is a missing piece.
Overall, Saviinaea projects to be best suited in a heavy zone run scheme where he can use his athleticism to beat defenders to a spot and be effective. Saviinaea presents a lot of NFL-translatable qualities as a prospect, he just needs to improve the details of his game to become more consistent in his effectiveness.
Prospect Projection: Day 2 — Adequate Starter
Written By: Keith Sanchez
Exposures: Utah (2024), Kansas State (2024), Washington (2023), UCLA (2023), Utah (2023), Mississippi State (2023)
