Breaking Down Arizona's All-Quarter-Century Team Tight Ends
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Welcome! To another edition of the Arizona Wildcats Insiders Podcast featuring your host Troy Hutchison, who will be delivering a daily podcast discussing everything happening surrounding Arizona athletics, giving you an inside look at all the programs on campus.
Hutchison has been covering Arizona for the last seven years, with his coverage spanning all across UA’s campus from football and men’s basketball to Title IX sports. Plus, with so many former Wildcats playing at the next level in their respective sports, there will be moments where he will take a deep dive into the Cats excelling outside of Tucson.
So far in the Brent Brennan era of Arizona football, the Wildcats have had their struggles on the road with four-straight losses dating back to last year. UA has lost those games by an average of 28 points and has fallen behind by double-digits in all four games.
Arizona (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) was able to get things going early by striking quickly as quarterback Noah Fifita hit receiver Tre Spivey for a 70-yard touchdown pass, which seemed to set the tone early for the offense.
Despite the fast start, Arizona found itself trailing 21-14 to Houston (6-1-,3-1) at the half thanks to defensive struggles in the second quarter. And once again, the Wildcats lost the middle eight of the game, which resulted in a Cougars 31-28 win over the Wildcats.
Although Arizona fell on Saturday against Houston and has lost two-straight games, the program is clearly moving in the right direction and has improved drastically from a season ago.
Now with the Wildcats in the bye-week, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI have decided to roll out our All-Quarter-Century Team breaking down the top players at every position over the last 25 years of Arizona football.
Today we are taking a look at what the top two tight ends would be over the last 25 years with one player at each position.
Top Tight Ends
2. Tanner McLachlan (2022-23)
The only player to come close to the things Gronkowski was able to do at Arizona at the position was tight end Tanner McLachlan, who was a critical piece in the Wildcats 10-3 Alamo Bowl winning season. In his career, McLachlan totaled 984 yards on 79 catches while getting to the end zone six times. During the 2023 season, he established himself as one of the better tight ends in the Pac-12 conference.
The story of McLachlan is a very unique one. Like Gronkowski, he dealt with injuries early in his career while at Southern Utah, where he tore his ACL. Arizona allowed McLachlan to walk-on with the recommendation of then-tight ends coach Jordan Paopao. With the opportunity, he shined, and it wasn't too long until they made him a scholarship player.
1. Rob Gronkowski (2007-09)
Rob Gronkowski is the all-time leader in receiving yards for a tight end and it isn't close with his 1,197 yards on 75 receptions while hauling in 16 TDs. That's all despite missing his junior season due to a back surgery. Gronk was a monster in his first two years with the program and set the standard for tight ends not only at Arizona but nationally as well.
His best season came in 2008, where he recorded 672 yards on 75 catches and found the end zone 10 times. Gronkowski became the No. 2 option for quarterback Willie Tuitama behind star receiver Mike Thomas. During that season, Gronkowski helped the program reach the Vegas Bowl where the Wildcats upset No. 16 BYU 31-21 ending a 10-year bowl drought delivering the X win for the Wildcats in bowl games.
Please be sure to share your thoughts on our All-Quarter-Century Team top two tight ends ranking. To do so, follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.
Troy Hutchison grew up attending Arizona athletic events, which gave him a unique perspective and knowledge of the athletic department's rich history. He attended UA and began covering the Wildcats in 2018. As the Arizona Wildcats Beat Writer on SI, he is set to deliver wall-to-wall coverage to give fans an in-depth perspective.
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