NFL Draft
12/24/24
6 min read
Jonah Savaiinaea 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Arizona Wildcats OG
Height: 6050 (unofficial)
Weight: 330lbs (unofficial)
Year: Junior
Pro Comparison: TBD
Scouting Overview
Arizona Wildcats offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea is a physical mauler in the trenches. He boasts positional versatility across his college resume, but his brute force power and heavy anchor will be best optimized at guard in the NFL.
Savaiinaea lacks the kind of dynamic hips and foot speed to allow him to consistently dictate terms on the edge as a space blocker setting the width of the pocket, but in short set opportunities and tighter alignment defenders, he has the chance to smother defenders with his center of gravity and grip strength.
He should be a viable run blocker from the jump — he shows good displacement and wash in vertical release and down block opportunities. The knowledge that he can get you through a stretch in a pinch at tackle will likely help move the needle for some, too.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Heavy anchor makes him difficult to rush through when defenders try to convert power against him
- Generates positive point-of-attack displacement on gap schemes
- Illustrates an impactful stun punch that offsets initial rush momentum from defenders
Negatives
- Lacks dynamic foot speed to play on the edge with great success at the pro level
- Struggles to flip hips and carry speed up the edge will hinge and open prematurely and create soft angles to corner
- Struggled with chemistry with linemate at times to provide pocket integrity by quickly identifying and passing stunts and line games
Background
Savaiinaea is from Tafuna, American Samoa, and played high school football for the Hawaiian powerhouse program St. Louis HS. There, he earned a 3-star recruiting ranking (247 Sports) and an invitation to the 2022 Polynesian Bowl before making his commitment to Arizona. Savaiinaea chose the Wildcats over other notable programs, including Arizona State (recruited by Kevin Mawae) and Syracuse.
Upon arrival with the Arizona program, Savaiinaea quickly found an impact on the field — he started all 12 games of his true freshman season as a right guard before transitioning to play nearly 700 snaps at right tackle as a true sophomore in 2023. By his junior season in 2024, he’d split half of his reps between left and right tackle — leaving him with experience starting on both sides of the line and as both an interior and exterior talent.
Tale Of The Tape
Savaiinaea is a dense offensive line prospect who boasts a powerful punch, a heavy anchor, and the ability to reset the line of scrimmage in the run game. This is a talent who would be a welcomed addition for the toughness and physicality he brings to the trenches.
He has NFL starter ability and plenty of room to continue to grow and maximize his abilities. He’s been a starter at left tackle, right guard, and right tackle at Arizona and would likely benefit from a full-time transition inside to help him fortify his technique and vision for defensive fronts.
It is easy to be impressed by how heavy his hands are, and the knockback he has illustrated the ability to create at the point of attack. Arizona, at times, went to jumbo offensive lines and used his left/right versatility to put him as the extra tackle to the point of attack before running behind him to maximize push and space in short-yardage situations.
Savaiinaea should have little issue handling solo and double-team assignments in these situations, particularly in gap schemes or inside zones where the landmarks are tight and won’t test his functional athleticism.
As an athlete, this is a viable interior player. His lack of foot speed and the way he struggles at times to flip his hips, protecting speed off the edge of the pocket highlights some of his limitations, and he appears to lack the length necessary to override his limitations on this front.
Rushes that test the limits of his blocking radius will pull his pads forward, and he’ll lean out overtop of his hips before his feet get left behind; putting him at guard ensures these issues are mitigated, and his success in protection comes more from the timing of his hands and not the ability to reach landmarks. In close quarters, he showcases good awareness of inside leverage and has illustrated a few hand counters to completely engulf rushers — including a snatch technique that buries his opponent.
He struggled with the chemistry needed with his linemate to stay on the same level on the man side of protections and would be in line to pass off twists, resulting at times with the first man splitting the pair and ricocheting to the quarterback.
Feeling and seeing these games faster will help close space and allow for a clean exchange that does not allow splitting through the quarterback. An easy assumption would be that with more time at a singular spot on the line, the processing of these opportunities will improve. He’s logged just short of 1,000 snaps at right guard, just over 1,000 snaps at right tackle, and almost 350 snaps at left tackle.
Overall, this power blocker would be best served living on the interior, allowing his power and wide frame to expand angles in tight quarters. Players with this kind of physicality can be tone-setting temperature changers for an offensive line unit, and I believe Savaiinaea can be that. But scheme fit and position will matter.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Savaiinaea is an ideal fit for a gap-heavy run scheme that looks to create vertical displacement in the run game. He has enough first-step ability to create a wash and wall off on power and counter schemes.
Savaiinaea, despite his resume at tackle, should be drafted with an eye towards returning to guard at the NFL level, where he’ll be protected from speed off the edge and allowed to work in tighter quarters with more achievable landmarks. He should be considered a developmental starter.
Grade: 74.50/100.00, Third Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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