Brent Brennan's Three Biggest Priorities for Arizona After NFL Draft
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The 2026 draft took a toll on the Arizona Wildcats, as four standout players were picked. The defensive back room, in particular, will need a massive overhaul, as all four players taken within the seven rounds were defensive backs. Dalton Johnson, Treydan Stukes, Genesis Smith, and Michael Dansby will all be looking to continue playing professional football.
Head coach Brent Brennan and his staff are now fully focused on building on last year's momentum and becoming a Big 12 championship contender. Now that spring training camp is through, the Wildcats' sights have shifted to improving through summer training camp.
Establish a Defensive Leader
The loss of Stukes, Smith, Johnson, and Dansby will be felt on the Wildcats' defense, specifically in the passing game, which ranked seventh in the nation and recorded the second-most interceptions.
The loss of Johnson, Stukes, and Smith, especially, has created a leadership hole that must be filled for the defense to wreak the same amount of havoc it did in 2025. It is not just in the secondary, but also in the linebacker room and the defensive line.
Riley Wilson, Max Harris, Jabari Mann, Malachi Bailey, and Deshawn McKnight have all departed from the program and are looking to continue their football careers outside of college. It would do the Wildcats well to find the next leader of the defense so it can operate at its full potential.
Several players could fill that hole left by the "big three". Taye Brown was second in tackles last season with 94 and could be the anchor of the defense this upcoming season. Gavin Hunter started three games in place of Stukes. His stick has only gone up after a stellar month of spring practices. Jay'Vion Cole, in Danny Gonzales' words, has the potential to be the best comeback in the Big 12.
Find Your Strengths at Safety
The first three players to go off the board for Arizona were the starting safeties, which shows the high regard NFL scouts held for the Wildcats' secondary. To make up for the loss of three stalwarts at the position, Arizona hit the transfer portal hard for players with experience.
The addition of Malcolm Hartzog from Nebraska, Cam Chapa from Northern Colorado, and Lee Molette III from UConn is a good start for the Wildcats, not to mention Hunter, who has caught his coaches' attention.
While Arizona's new safeties may not be the trio that Wildcat fans have grown to love over the seasons, they are all worthy replacements who have a ton of snaps between the four of them. Time will tell just how good they will be.
Build a Dominant Offensive Line
The Widlcatys will have an electric offense with the return of its star quarterback, Noah Fifita, and its two running backs, Kedrick Reescano and Quincy Craig. Not only that, the wide receiving corps is loaded with Tre Spivey, Gio Richardson, Chris Hunter, Isaiah Mizell, and a list of transfers ready to show they can contribute.
Arizona has some serious firepower on the offensive side, and all that success will start at the trenches. The Wildcats lost Ka'ena Decambra, Ty Buchanan, and Chubba Ma'ae after the 2025 season, but have a strong amount of returning veterans to lead the way.
Tristan Bounds, Alexander Doost, and Rhino Tapa'atoutai have logged a lot of snaps for the Wildcats and will look to continue protecting Fifita and creating wide holes for the running backs. Arizona must decide who will start at center between Grayson Stovall and Washington transfer Zach Henning. Arizona also must find its starting tackle other than Bounds.
Louis Akpa and Matthew Lado are two offensive linemen who have received high praise from their coaches. Lado did a stellar job filling in for Bounds after Bounds went down for the season with an ankle injury against Cincinnati, while Akpa has been called one of the most improved players on the roster.
The Wildcats seem to have found their string guard alongside Doost in Tapa'atoutai, who has made the move to the interior after playing the swing tackle spot last year. No matter who is on the starting line, it will need to be built into a dominating one to replicate the same success as last season.
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Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.