Arizona football training camp preview: running backs

Arizona officially begins preparation for its second season under head coach Brent Brennan when the Wildcats kick off fall training camp on Wednesday, July 30.

Leading up to training camp, the Star is providing a position-by-position preview. Up next: running backs.

Position coach: Alonzo Carter

Returners: Kedrick Reescano (Jr.), Anthony Wilhite (R-Jr.)

Departures: Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Quali Conley, Rayshon “Speedy” Luke, Brandon Johnson

Newcomers: Ismail Mahdi (Sr.), Quincy Craig (Jr.), Wesley Yarbrough (Fr.), Cornelius Warren III (Fr.)

The rundown: Once again, Arizona will have an overhaul of talent in its running backs room.

Following the 10-win season that was capped by the Alamo Bowl in 2023, the Wildcats lost seniors Michael Wiley and D.J. Williams, along with leading rusher Jonah Coleman, who’s currently a standout under former Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch at Washington. After the spring football schedule last year, the Wildcats also lost incoming freshman Jordan Washington.

After head coach Brent Brennan was hired last January, Arizona added Conley (San Jose State), Croskey-Merritt (New Mexico) and Reescano (Ole Miss) out of the transfer portal. After Croskey-Merritt’s eligibility saga and Luke opting to redshirt after four games, Arizona’s running backs became a one-two punch of Conley and Reescano, who is the only scholarship returner at running back this season. Tucson product and fullback Kayden Luke moved to tight end in the spring.

Arizona had the second-worst rushing offense in the Big 12 last season, averaging 106.6 yards per game. It was one of many flaws in Arizona’s confusing and low-scoring offense last season.

It also didn’t help that Arizona had seven different offensive lines with 11 different players. Arizona’s offensive line “was a place that got bit by the injury bug pretty significantly and it impacted our ability to protect (quarterback Noah Fifita) and our ability to run the football,” said Brennan at Big 12 Media Days.

Arizona addressed the aforementioned concerns in the last recruiting cycle and the changing of the guard at offensive coordinator with Seth Doege, who orchestrated the third-best rushing offense in the Sun Belt last season at Marshall.

Arizona’s “running back group is going to be a lot of fun to watch,” Brennan said.

“There’s a good mix of youth and experience in there with some high-level players returning that we’ve inserted into that mix,” Arizona’s head coach added.

Arizona signed three running backs in the transfer portal: Mahdi, Craig and Utah transfer Mike Mitchell, who suffered a season-ending leg injury in spring practices. Mitchell is no longer a part of the program.

Mahdi, who signed with Arizona over Arkansas, is expected to either start or have a prominent role at running back for Arizona. The 5-9, 188-pound Texas State transfer rushed for 2,322 yards and 14 touchdowns in two seasons with the Bobcats. He led FBS in all-purpose yards (2,169) in 2023 and was a two-time All-Sun Belt First Team selection in 2023 and ’24.

Carter described Mahdi as a “home-run hitter” and “we felt like he would fit the offense.”

“Ismail, if you’ve seen what he did at Texas State, just get the ball in his hands and he can take the top off,” Carter said.

Mahdi was a part of a similar “tempo-based offense” at Texas State under TSU head coach and former quarterback G.J. Kinne, Mahdi said. The Bobcats led the Sun Belt in total offense, averaging 476.9 yards per game. With Mahdi leading the way at running back, Texas State’s balanced offense was second in its conference — 15th nationally — in rushing with 208.2 yards per game.

“Texas State offense and Doege’s offense is similar,” Mahdi said. “Me playing in that offense and knowing the stuff I did, it can translate into that offense.”

Carter said, “You still haven’t seen him at his full tilt because the verbiage is different and everything, but I’m excited to have him.”

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If the spring is forecasting Arizona’s depth chart, Craig could also become a mainstay in Arizona’s running back rotation. Despite a shaky opening practice, the Portland State transfer became effective in the passing game and had multiple runs of 10-plus yards in the Wildcats’ spring showcase in April.

“We’re going to hand it to him, we’re going to throw it him and we’re excited about Quincy,” Brennan said earlier this month. “He’s a really good football player. Quincy is going to play a lot of football for us. He had a great spring, a great offseason, he’s a fantastic kid. He’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Before the 5-10, 195-pound Craig played three seasons at Portland State, he was an all-purpose player at Los Angeles-area powerhouse Mater Dei, where he battled Fifita, who played at rival Servite High School. At the youth football level, Craig’s Irvine Chargers played against Fifita’s Orange County Buckeyes. At Mater Dei, Craig had more return yards (877) than rushing yards (464) and receiving yards (759).

“I find value in special teams,” Craig said. “It’s definitely another aspect of the game. If you can create some juice on the special teams side, it definitely allows the offense and defense to have even more energy when they take the field.”

In the spring, Carter described Craig as “a jack of all trades” and said the Portland State transfer and Mahdi “bring versatility to the room that we didn’t have last year.”

The Wildcats were one-dimensional with their running backs last year. Arizona’s running backs produced 422 receiving yards, the lowest for the position group since 2018. That’ll likely change under Doege’s up-tempo system, which installed two-running back packages in the spring. Doege said “that room is extremely tough” and “every single one of them bring a little bit of a different skillset to the table.”

“Then we got the young guys coming in, and we’ll see what they can do,” Doege said.

Arizona had a Texas two-fer in its 2025 recruiting class in Yarbrough and Warren, who was an early enrollee in the spring. Reescano, a Houston-area native, and Mahdi, a Dallas-area native, are assigned to be “big bros” to their fellow Texas brethren.

At Crosby High School in Crosby, Texas, Yarbrough had 458 rushes for 2,767 yards and 32 touchdowns in three seasons. The 5-10, 203-pound Yarbrough “is country corn-fed” and “one of them players where he’s big, but he’s still quick and twitchy,” Reescano said.

Warren, who also has experience at slot receiver, just finished his career at North Crowley High School in Fort Worth, Texas, where he rushed for 3,341 yards and 48 touchdowns in three seasons. Warren also had 37 receptions for 580 yards and four touchdowns.

As a senior, Warren led North Crowley to an undefeated season (16-0) and a Class 6A state championship, capped by a 50-21 win over Austin Westlake at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Warren had 23 carries for 217 yards and a touchdown in the state championship game.

Arizona “had to out-recruit some schools” to sign Warren, who held offers from Baylor, Houston, Texas Tech, Miami, Ole Miss, Utah and Marshall.

Warren signed with UNLV, but after head coach Barry Odom left for the same role at Purdue and offensive coordinator Brennan Marion became the head coach at Sacramento State, the Dallas-area running back was released from his national letter of intent. As Warren became a free agent, “he was one of the first guys I reached out to, because we felt he would bring that versatility, as well,” Carter said.

“If you watch his film, he’s dynamic,” Carter said. “He did it in all of the big games and is another person that you can play in the backfield, play him in the slot, you can play him in so many different ways.”

The 5-9, 170-pound Warren, known as “Corn” by his teammates, “was really just thrown in there” this spring, Mahdi said.

“Corn is a hell of a player,” Mahdi said. “He’s a baller. He’s adjusting real well coming into this offense. He’s a fast guy and a really good ball player. I’m excited to see what he’s going to do.”

Since the season ended, the 6-foot, 213-pound Reescano (pronounced ree-suh-no) “changed his body and has done a fabulous job of buying into the culture of the team and the redline mentality, always doing the extra work, always bringing other people with him, being a leader on and off the football field,” Carter said.

“Now being that lead guy, he’s very mature and had a great offseason with (strength and conditioning coach Cullen Carroll) and his staff,” Carter said. “They did a great job. He’s a quiet leader, but I’m trying to get him to be more vocal because he has a lot of respect between his teammates and his peers.”

Added Carter: “To see him buy into the offseason program and be able to get out front and be the leader that we need him to be and being the only returner in that room is really important to me.”

One pertinent component to Arizona’s running backs group is how well they block this season, especially with so much uncertainty on Arizona’s offensive line. Helping Fifita as pass-catchers and pocket-protectors could determine who plays this season.

As Carter often echoes: “No block, no rock.”