How Has Whatley Developed Over Fall Training Camp?
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It seems as though wide receiver Javin 'Nunu' Whatley has gotten fully used to being at Arizona since transferring over from FCS university Chattanooga in the offseason.
Whatley signed with the Wildcats on January 8 of this year to play one more season as a redshirt senior at a higher level in the FBS after three years at UT Chattanooga.
Over that span with the Mocs, Whatley caught 140 receptions, 2125 yards and 18 touchdowns in an impressive career.
The desert is a much different atmosphere from his home at Rockmart, GA, and his former school in Chattanooga in Tennessee, where he played the first three years of college football.
The 5-foot-10, 167-pound Whatley is a part of a handful of receivers who transferred over to an Arizona team that emphasized a need to improve in speed and depth.
He joined Tre Spivey (Kansas State), Luke Wysong (New Mexico) and Kris Hutson (Washington State), along with freshmen Isaiah Mizell out of Orlando, FL and Gio Richardson from Chandler, AZ.
Where Whatley comes from, it's always humid and hot," he said during spring training camp. "You step outside and you can't breathe. The air out here is amazing. I haven't seen nothing like it. Seeing cactuses every day and palm trees, I've never seen that."
Whatley and other receivers have built a connection with the quarterback room over the summer and it has shown in fall training camp
Spending time with each other outside of practice has benefited the chemistry between quarterbacks and receivers, not just to talk football and get timing down, but also to build a friendship and a bond between the two positions for more successful results on game days.
"It'd be times where we meet our quarterbacks outside of football, just us and the quarterbacks to go over plays and also know what the quarterback wants out of this play and also for him to understand what we want as a receiver," Whatley said. "Also just hanging out outside of like football, like, if it's going to eat, go bowl or take a trip to Phoenix, really anything just to build that connection."
There have been times where the offense has appeared shaky in offensive coordinator Seth Doege's new scheme, but Whatley credits that to facing a tough defense spearheaded by Danny Gonzales.
"I feel like our defense is very good, and they scheme things very good," Whatley said. "I feel like as an offense, it's good to struggle, because we got a good defense, and we very much talk about responding, how we're gonna respond to things like that."
Doege brought over an up-tempo offense to Arizona that was highly successful during his time at Marshall last year. The Thundering Herd went 10-3 last year with its first Sun Belt Conference championship.
The high-octane offense averaged 31.8 points and 382 total yards of offense per game in his first and only season there.
Whatley and the rest of the offense bought into the offense that Doege brought over with him. What made it easy for them was the fact that Doege "He He brought an energy and hey, you either with it or you ain't."
Whatley has gotten consistent reps with both the first and second teams over the course of fall camp.
Head coach Brent Brennan has said that he's rolled eight to nine receivers in the past and has even had as little as four, depending on the situation of the game.
Wide receivers coach Bobby Wade says that "We have an idea of the top six are" who will be in the top rotation during in-game action.
Given the amount of action that Whatley has seen, it is likely that he may be in that top six rotation when the season kicks off on August 30.
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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.