Wildcats Duo "Super Excited" to Share the Field
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2024 was a season to forget for Dalton Johnson and the Arizona Wildcats, as the team went 4-8 in their inaugural season in the Big 12. A defense riddled with injuries, Johnson was forced to step outside of his usual safety role to play linebacker, but who else but him could do it?
Johnson prided himself on being a downhill safety who could not only cover, but stop the run and is unafraid of hard contact. 2025 was the perfect season for the Katy, TX native to end things on. His team leading 97 tackles showed just the kind of player he was and always had been.
Don't sleep on Dalton. #RaiderNation
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) April 25, 2026
📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/QeVLN4d82k
This Saturday, his dreams were finally realized by being drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders in the fifth round with the 150th pick. He joins his teammate Treydan Stukes, who was drafted in the second round with the 38th pick.
Both safeties started in the Kevin Sumlin era and chose to stay with the Wildcats following his firing. After a single season with Jedd Fisch and an abysmal year in Brent Brennan's first season as head coach of the Wildcats, they still chose Arizona, sticking with the process that eventually led to a 9-4 season and the seventh-best passing defense in the NCAA.
Best Friends Stick Together
Not only does Johnson get to realize his dreams and play in the NFL for the Raiders, but he gets to do it with a teammate with whom he has shared the field for the past five years. Johnson and Stukes were two players who made up an absolutely loaded secondary unit for Arizona.
The pair were not just teammates, they were two good friends and that camaraderie showed on the football field on Saturdays. Johnson even called Stukes his best friend and he cannot wait to once again share the field with him.
"I'm super excited," Johnson said. "That's my boy. We're best friends. And being drafted is one
thing but being drafted to a team that I get to go somewhere with my best friend and continue this Bear Down brotherhood, I'm super excited and ready to take that leadership and turn Las Vegas up."
Johnson And Stukes "Grateful To Be A Raider"
When Johnson realized he would be competing at the professional level with his good friend Stukes, one of the first things he did was contact him to share the excitement. For five seasons, the pair shared the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
Special moments such as winning the Alamo Bowl in 2023 will be remembered in the hearts of Wildcats fans everywhere. So will the lowest ones, like losing to their greatest rival in the ASU Sun Devils 49-7 in 2024. No matter what those moments are what made them the players they are today and what got them to the position they are currently in.
welcome to the darkside @Raiders pic.twitter.com/Dhj1jksepF
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) April 25, 2026
“I called him (Stukes) real quick and he just couldn't believe it," Johnson said. "He was like, ‘I think this the best day of my life.’ Like I mentioned earlier, it's one thing to be drafted, and I'm so grateful to be a Raider. And then on top of that, I get to do it with Stukes. So, this is probably the best day of our lives for both of us."
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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.