These Arizona Football alums have made NFL rosters

The 2020 NFL season is nearly upon us, and as we prepare for football this year, there are few Arizona Football alums that have made the 53-man rosters.

It has been a busy off-season, especially as NFL teams prepare for the 2020 season amid the Covid pandemic. The same could also be said for a few Arizona Football alums as well.

While generally, the Arizona Football program has not seen a ton of success at the professional level, there are a few Wildcats that are getting opportunities this year, and any positive exposure is no matter how small, is a good thing.

Arizona Wildcats

So far, we’ve seen former Cats Jace Whittaker, J.J. Taylor and Nick Folk get cut and sign with practice squads. Now while that’s unfortunate, at least a few other Wildcats have found homes this off-season.

These are our Wildcats that are on the 53-man rosters as of last weekend:

Dane Cruikshank

Tennessee Titans
Summary: Entering his third season in the NFL, Dane Cruikshank has became a solid special teams player for the Titans, and for 2020, he could have an even greater role.

In just his first two seasons, Dane has accumulated 21 tackles (16 solo), with one tackle for a loss. Not bad considering his opportunities.

He still has two years left on his contact, and given the Titans’ needs in the secondary, perhaps this is the perfect chance for him to take a major step forward.

Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles

San Francisco 49ers
Summary: Technically entering his second season in the NFL, former Wildcats Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles has yet to make an appearance with the San Francisco 49ers, however, he did seem to make some noise on the practice squad last year.

So much, that Demetrius is now on the 53-man roster, which is a huge step forward for him!

Having been considered an underrated player dating back to his recruitment to Arizona, he has made great strides and seeing him get an opportunity is exciting. I imagine it’ll be served more so in a special teams capacity this year, however, given that San Francisco is one of the older teams in the NFL, perhaps that bodes well for Demetrius in getting an even bigger role.

Nick Foles

Chicago Bears
Summary: A back-up for the Chicago Bears, I think the legendary former Arizona quarterback and Super Bowl MVP will have an opportunity to do what he does best in Chicago, go under the radar and surprise people.

As you may recall, Nick Foles was initially the back-up at Arizona behind Matt Scott at the start of the 2009 season, before unseating him and becoming arguably the quarterback to ever play at Arizona.

He was also a back-up for the Philadelphia Eagles, before taking over for the injured Carson Wentz, helping the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ bring home the Lombardi Trophy they always longed for.

He comes in to Chicago with another great opportunity. Nick is already pushing quarterback Mitch Trubisky, and given his shaky 2019 season, the opportunity is there for him to surprise again!

Rob Gronkowski

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Summary: The Gronk returns! After a one year hiatus, Rob Gronkowski is coming back to the NFL, and is teaming up again with former Patriot quarterback Tom Brady!

When healthy, he is a dominate tight end, and it could be argued that he was on pace to potentially be the best tight end ever, that is until injuries seemed to derail his career and production a bit.

Now granted it is hard to say if the 2020 version of Gronk will be anything close to the 2010s version of Gronk, however, just seeing him return to the NFL is great thing, and seeing him in Tampa with some good talent around him will be fun to follow this season.

Will Parks

Philadelphia Eagles
Summary: The loveable Wildcat who went from being a lowly-recruited kid out of Philly, Will Parks now returns to his hometown after a rather successful four-year stint with the Denver Broncos.

‘Philly Will’ as he has so loveably been called, has done a tremendous job in being a Safety/Linebacker-type of player. He is incredibly versatile, smart and talented. Look no further than his production in Denver.

In his four seasons with the Broncos, Will had 149 tackles (104 solo), a sack, four tackles for loss, four interceptions, 13 pass deflections, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

In Philly, even despite facing injury currently, he will likely have an even greater opportunity, and with a hungry and ambitious player like Will playing in his hometown, I could see this being a recipe for success!

At Zona Zealots, we’re excited to see our Wildcats get opportunities and hope they can find success this season! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!