Arizona’s Matthew Lado ‘has all the ability to be a true lockdown Big 12 tackle’

Former Arizona offensive line coach Brennan Carroll attended one of Arizona’s practices to observe the team he coached for three seasons under head coach Jedd Fisch, who brought Carroll to Washington before the son of Pete Carroll became the offensive line coach of the Las Vegas Raiders for a season.

Carroll has connections to a few Arizona offensive linemen, including a majority of the Wildcats’ starters on the offensive line: left tackle Matthew Lado and left guard Rhino Tapa’atoutai, center Zachary Henning — who Carroll coached at Washington — and right guard Alexander Doost, who Carroll recruited out of the transfer portal. Lado was a part of Arizona’s 2024 recruiting class as a three-star tackle from Apollo High School in Glendale.

For Doost and Lado, who were on campus for about a week when Fisch accepted the Washington job in 2024, they connected with Carroll on the recruiting trail. When they saw Carroll at practice last week, Lado said “it was good seeing him, just catching up and him talking about the experience at Washington. He thought me and Doost were going to come over there (to Washington).”

Both Lado and Doost stayed. Lado zagged when his Apollo teammates in running back Adam Mohammed and offensive lineman Michael Watkins — two UA signees who followed Fisch to Washington — zigged.

For the last two seasons, the 6-7, 332-pound Doost has grown into a rock-solid right guard and a three-year starter, and Lado went from 255-260 pounds, to now 318 pounds on his 6-6 frame.

Besides growing his body mass, Lado spent the last two seasons as a backup, but was thrusted into playing time in the second half of last season. Lado stepped in for left tackle Ty Buchanan in the final three quarters of the Wildcats' bowl-clinching win over Kansas, then played the final three-plus games at right tackle for the injured Bounds.

Including the Holiday Bowl loss to SMU, Lado didn't allow a sack in 183 pass-blocking snaps, though he surrendered nine quarterback pressures and two quarterback hits, according to Pro Football Focus.

“The thing that’s crazy about Lado is we all forget how young he is, because it feels like he’s been here forever,” said Arizona offensive line coach Josh Oglesby. “It feels like this dude is on his third contract or something. He’s been here a minute. But he has gotten so much better and the amount of reps he’s taking in practice in year’s past and the playing time he got in-season last year has made his growth exponential.”

Lado is still getting adjusted to the roughly 60 pounds added to his frame. The most challenging part is “the balance aspect,” Lado said.

“Just getting adjusted to my body weight, learning how to move at 320 pounds,” Lado said. “Just building my strength, building my ability to control defenders and balance.”

Oglesby said Lado is working through pad level at left tackle.

“Once that comes around, his game is close to limitless,” Oglesby said.

Between the body transformation, the experience, the trust Arizona’s coaches have in Lado at left tackle, “it’s time for him to take the next step, because he has all the ability to be a true lockdown Big 12 tackle,” Oglesby said.

“We’re starting to focus on the little nuances of it because the game has slowed down for him,” Oglesby said. “He’s ready to take the next step and truly become a guy that people talk about. I’m excited to see that starting to take shape. He has become more confident with his hands and he’s confident in the fact that he’s a large human and he’s starting to act like a large human out there.”

Extra points

– Oglesby, on the depth of Arizona’s offensive line: “I think we’re in a much better place depth wise and that’s because, last year, there was a great crop of young kids that weren’t really ready. … They were freshmen. Now having a year under their belt, you can see the development from those guys. … The room is in a very healthy place. The best part about it, there’s competition. You see that out there now with different guys getting in and getting snaps and having a productive camp.”

– Oglesby said four-star offensive lineman and former Kansas State commit Justin Morales, who has been limited in training camp, is taking reps at guard.

– Freshman offensive tackle Malachi Joyner “is going to be a phenomenal player,” Oglesby said. Oglesby said the 6-3, 297-pound Joyner is “athletic (and) he’s strong. There’s a lot to learn for him right now, because it’s all new. The transition from high school to college, I liken it to learning a second language.”

– Joyner was a Class 6A shot put state champion at Williams Field in Gilbert earlier this year. Said Oglesby: “The explosion he has in his lower body and the fluidity he has in his hips, it’s all super paramount in what we do. He’s as advertised in that way.”

– Oglesby said: “Once the game slows down for Joyner, you’re going to see the talent that he is. There are times where he’s still not 100% sure in what he’s doing, but his athletic ability allows him to recover — which at tackle is a huge weapon, being able to recover on the edge. He’s got natural hips, natural feet, has a great punch. I’m super excited about Malachi and I’m so fired up he decided to stay home.”

– San Jose State transfer tackle Nathan Hale, a fourth-year senior, “has had a really productive fall camp. From where he started in the spring to where he is now, it’s market-value improvement,” Oglesby said.

– Former Mater Dei (California) standout Sione Tohi, a 6-3, 329-pound guard, is “proof of if you stick to the plan and truly buy into the process and the development, good things happen,” Oglesby said. Added Arizona’s offensive line coach: “He’s gone from a guy that people were questioning whether or not he should be here, to a guy that we’re talking about how much he’s going to play this year. I’m super proud of him and super excited about him. He has taken a huge step forward.”

– Oglesby said Arizona’s second-team offensive line is “completely flushed out yet, but I think that’s a good thing, because we have guys that are pushing for those spots and there’s great competition there.”