Arizona defensive lineman Julian Savaiinaea is expected to play a larger role this season than he has previously in career and that is due in large part to his overall physical transformation from last season.
"Shoutout to our nutrition team and our strength and conditioning team," Savaiinaea said. "Every offseason we have a plan and then a goal weight. For me, it was taking it day by day and meeting those calorie intakes and seeing what was right for my body going into the season."
Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales credits Savaiinaea's hard work to why he has confidence in his ability.
"He's completely transformed his body," Savaiinaea said. "He is 280 pounds and really focused on developing his game. Jonah gave him an opportunity growing up to go against one of the best offensive lineman.
"The development from last year to his year has been super impressive. He's earned a spot in the rotation. He's one of the inside pieces that has enough twitch and enough power, enough strength to do everything that we ask him to do. I'm super excited to watch him play."
Speaking of Jonah Savaiinaea, the Miami Dolphins offensive lineman will be back in town Saturday as an honorary captain.
"Super excited for him to be back in town," Julian said. "I have not seen him since the draft party, so I am excited to be able to see him again. Growing up, I liked playing defensive line because of the aggressiveness and physicality aspect of it. A bonus was being able to go up against my brother and getting better at it. We would go to a park and do one-on-ones going down the line. Our dad would record and we would break each other down move and technique wise."
Ideally, Jonah sees an improved player that has taken well to a new level of coaching from Joe Salave'a.
"Coach Salave'a has done a lot of things for me," Julian said. "From the beginning, it has been about basic techniques and fundamentals. Using hands, tearing off of blocks, and just being physical overall playing at the line of scrimmage. We're finally playing somebody else, so it's about putting in that work in camp and spring and being able to put it against another uniform."