A Fair Grading of Arizona's Tight Ends Through the BYE Week

The Arizona Wildcats are now 4-3 following a two-game skid, dropping heartbreaking one-possession matchups to BYU 33-27 in double overtime and Houston 31-28 on a walk-off field goal with seconds remaining.

With those losses comes the bitter pain of being so close to a win, but not doing enough to get the job done. Head coach Brent Brennan knows all too well what that feels like and will do whatever it takes to make sure his team does not feel that pain again for the remainder of the 2025 season.

Cameron Barmore celebrating with wide receiver Chris Hunter | Catherine Regan, Arizona Athletics

"When you lose two games that way and it's so hard and it's so challenging, the thing that we talk about with the players is what choice do you have," Brennan said. "...You want to choose to believe you can or you can't. And so with this team, this team believes they can. And that's the way they showed up for work yesterday and that's the way they'll show up for work tomorrow."

... Helping our players navigate that and doing those things the right way and continuing to live redline and continuing to dive into our process is what's given us a chance to play better football. And if we stay the course, we will get it. Keep We have to keep pounding the rock. Eventually, it' sgoing to break."

Tight ends "pounding the rock"

Nov 2, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; Arizona Wildcats tight end Sam Olson (84) catches a touchdown pass against UCF Knights linebacker Xe'ree Alexander (24) during the second quarter at FBC Mortgage Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

No room has worked harder at improving and becoming better throughout the season than the tight end room, which has faced some setbacks and challenges seven games into the season.

Arizona lost its starting tight end, Tyler Powell, on the very first play of the first game of the season with a leg injury.

Keyan Burnett, who is perhaps the team's best receiving tight end, chose to redshirt for the remainder of the season after battling a hamstring issue that occurred in the offseason, which made him miss a significant amount of practices.

Aug 31, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; New Mexico Lobos safety Christian Ellis (8) goes in to tackle Arizona Wildcats tightend Keyan Burnett (88) while he catches the ball during first quarter at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Veteran tight end Sam Olson has done a tremendous job in making sure the tight end room has stayed afloat, as he has made all the gritty blocks and made sure that he is an open target for Noah Fifita.

Cameron Barmore has really stepped into his own when Powell went down with his injury and has served as an amazing backup to Olson.

Grade: B

Sep 2, 2023; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats tight end Keyan Burnett (88) runs the ball against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks during the first half at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zac BonDurant-Imagn Images | Zachary BonDurant-Imagn Images

It took some time for the tight ends to get going fully, as that group only had one score in the red zone that came in the first game of the season.

Despite that, the tight end group has done an excellent job in run blocking and being a reliable check-down option for Fifita when his first reads aren't open downfield.

Sep 27, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Arizona Wildcats tight end Sam Olson (84) is tackled by Iowa State Cyclones linebacker Carson Willich (14) during the second half at Jack Trice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Look for the tight ends to be more included then Arizona is in the red zone more often, as they have proven to be reliable targets.

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