The New Generation of Wildcats: Future is bright for Arizona Football

Whatever is in the recruiting waters in Tucson, it’s starting to look as though Arizona Football is keen on getting back into the Pac-12 contention conversation sooner rather than later.

Typically, when you go 1-16 in your past two seasons, there’s not much of a reason for hope, as a rebuild from the depths at which Arizona Football has bottomed out, does not include a recruiting class inside the Top 20 for a coach that just took the reigns. However, that is exactly what has happened in Tucson.

Jedd Fisch has preached “It’s Personal” since taking over the Wildcats, and he has been focused on a sense of family as seen by landing a quartet of potential skill position stars from “Juice County”, and it has seemed to taken quite well on the recruiting trail, as the Wildcats seem poised to take a fairly large leap in 2022.

The fact that the Wildcats’ approach was a national one from day one, the staff has made a big push to get out anywhere that there was talent to be found from Maine to Massachusetts, Arizona to California, and from Utah to Hawaii. As a result, the incoming Freshman class is poised to be an all-time great one or at least a fortune-changing class for Arizona.

While this class will be judged by and large by the Juice County quartet of Noah Fifita, Keyan Burnett, Jacob Manu, and Tetairoa McMillan, they have been the headliners from virtually the start of the recruiting cycle.

The depth of this 2022 class is what has it among the Top 20 in the nation, and the most recent addition of Rayshon Luke who made his announcement on the national stage sets the ‘Cats up with a potential game-changing talent at each of the skill positions as the Running Back should fit in nicely with, Fifita (QB), McMillan (WR), and Burnett (TE).

While the offensive weapons are exciting enough to think about, don’t sleep on the Defensive recruits either, as Ephesians Prysock, Jai-Ayviauynn Celestine, Sterling Lane, Tyler Martin, and Manu among others look to bring the thump to the Wildcats.

Adding the high potential prospects on defense with a unit that looks to be anchored by second-year Wildcat Jerry Roberts, Arizona should be much improved in 2022 despite the several departures on that side of the ball following the 2021 season.

In addition to their success on the recruiting trail, Arizona Football also makes a splash in the infamous Transfer Portal.

While the rest of the country was watching the field goal fest that was the first half of the College Football Playoff Final between Alabama and Georgia last night, coach Fisch secured one of the Pac-12’s best QBs from the transfer portal in Jayden de Laura. The reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year instantly gives a position that was a significant liability in 2021, some stability for 2022.

Jayden will bring a good presence to the room for Noah Fifita as well, while a lot of early attention will still be on Fifita.De Laura will provide the Wildcats with a strong and confident option that will allow Fifita to work his way into the college game and pace, while also giving Arizona a chance to be in virtually every matchup in 2022, as his experience at Washington State will only be of benefit for the Wildcats.

Don’t sleep on de Laura keeping the job either. If he wins the job outright in camp, he has the potential to thrive even more with what could turn out to be a much more dynamic receiving core than he had with the Cougars.

Power 5 Transfers Look to Strengthen Arizona Defense

While the recent signing of de Laura is bound to grab the headlines, the additional transfers brought in by Fisch and Co. are nothing to sleep on, as Hunter Echols (USC), Anthony Solomon (Michigan), and DJ Warnell (UCLA) look to bring major conference experience to what’s expected to be a very young nucleus of players on defense. Echols and Warnell will bring prior Pac-12 experience as well which will surely benefit the Wildcats.

Add in one of the best Wide Receivers in the Transfer Portal in Jacob Cowing from UTEP, and the Wildcats have largely filled their biggest holes with prior college experience.

The Future is Bright in Tucson

While it’s easy to get ahead of ourselves as this recruiting cycle feels more like something out of a Disney movie as opposed to reality, it’s hard not to look for possibilities for the Wildcats to go bowling in 2022.

The 2022 Arizona Pac-12 schedule is set up very favorably with Oregon, USC, Colorado, Washington State, and Arizona State all slated to visit Tucson, while the Wildcats face Utah, Washington, UCLA, and Cal on the road. The Utes are the only opponent that on paper looks to not be a matchup that the ‘Cats line up with well quite yet.