Six of 21 Arizona Transfer Portal additions have been in the secondary. Arizona lost four key players from its 2025 secondary. Cornerback Michael Dansby and safeties Dalton Johnson and Treydan Stukes completely their eligibliity and safety Genesis Smith decided to enter the NFL Draft.
Arizona added Cornerbacks Daylen Austin from Oregon, Dwight Bootle III from Charlotte and Tyrese Boss from Wyoming, Brandon Holmes from Fresno City College and safeties Cam Chapa from Northern Colorado, Malcolm Hartzog from Nebraska, and Lee Molette III from Connecticut to the 2026 roster in the secondary.
Justin Spears of the Arizona Daily Star posted to X on Thursday night that the six transfers added to the secondary have 5.901snaps on defense during their collegiate careers. Conversely, Johnson, Smith and Stukes combined for 6,700 snaps at Arizona per Spears.
Arizona returns rising sophomore Colemon Patmon and rising redshirt junior Gavin Hunter at safety and rising redshirt senior Jay'Vin Cole and rising redshirt junior Johno Price at CB from the 2025 two-deep depth chart to the 2026 roster.
Arizona has 21 players in its transfer portal class — six of them are defensive backs (excluding a JuCo transfer).
— Justin Spears (@JustinESports) January 16, 2026
Those defensive backs are adding 5,901 defensive snaps of experience to the secondary.
Treydan Stukes, Genesis Smith and Dalton Johnson combined for 6,700 snaps at…
Who else could earn playing time for Arizona in the secondary in 2026?
Rising redshirt freshman Dajon Hinton was the 87th-ranked CB in the 2025 class and should compete for snaps in 2026. Cornerback Xaier Haier is one of five four-star signees in the 2026 class. The Arizona staff is high on Haier and he could make an impact as a true freshman.
Safety Hannibal Carter Navies is the only other defensive back Arizona signed in the 2026 class. At 6'2.5 and 195 pounds, Navies gives Arizona good length in the secondary. Navies will have to add mass to become more of an impact player.
Although Arizona will have a nearly completely rebuilt secondary in 2025, the Wildcats return Gonzales, CBs coach Chip Viney and safeties coach Brett Arce to the staff in 2026. The entire Arizona defensive staff returns in 2026 to provide stability for Brent Brennan and the Wildcats' program.