Arizona football training camp preview: wide receivers and tight ends

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: receivers and tight ends, the pass-catchers of the UA offense.

Position coach: Bobby Wade (receivers), Josh Miller (tight ends)

Returners at receiver: Chris Hunter (R-Jr.), Brandon Phelps (R-Fr.), Jeremiah Patterson (R-Sr.), Devin Hyatt (R-So.), Rex Haynes (R-Jr.), Jordan McCord III (R-Fr.)

Returners at tight end: Keyan Burnett (Sr.), Sam Olson (Sr.), Tyler Powell (R-Jr.), John Hart (R-Jr.), Tyler Mustain (R-So.), Kayden Luke (So.)

Departures at receiver: Tetairoa McMillan, Montana Lemonious-Craig, Malachi Riley, Reymello Murphy, AJ Jones, Jackson Holman, Julius Oliver, Jaden Clark

Departures at tight end: Roberto Miranda, Dorian Thomas, Dylan Tapley

Newcomers at receiver: Kris Hutson (R-Sr.), Gio Richardson (Fr.), Javin “Nunu” Whatley (R-Sr.), Tre Spivey III (R-So.), Luke Wysong (R-Sr.), Isaiah Mizell (Fr.), Scotty Brennan (Fr.), Landon Kelsey (Fr.)

Newcomers at tight end: Cameron Barmore (R-Sr.), Kellan Ford (Fr.)

The rundown: There’s one question often asked to Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita nowadays: “How is life without T-Mac?”

The last time Fifita and McMillan weren’t teammates, they were in the seventh grade, Rich Rodriguez was in his second-to-last season as head coach of the Wildcats, Khalil Tate was a backup quarterback at Arizona and the Chicago Cubs were still cursed.

Fifita is elated for McMillan, who is Arizona’s highest-selected offensive player in NFL Draft, and his buddy’s upcoming rookie season with the Carolina Panthers, but “we’ve got business of our own to handle in Tucson,” he said at Big 12 Media Days.

Arizona is officially in the Post McMillan (PM) era, as it looks to replace a once-in-a-generation talent who made up 31% of Arizona’s offensive yards for the 2024 season.

It’s a tall task to fill the McMillan-sized hole in Arizona’s offense, so the Wildcats are doing it by committee — and with speed.

“They did a great job bringing in receivers to make my job easy,” Fifita said.

The Wildcats signed four wide receivers in the transfer portal for 2025: Wysong (New Mexico), Hutson (Washington State), Spivey (Kansas State) and Whatley (Chattanooga), who all combined for 193 catches for 2,380 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. All of the aforementioned transfer portal players hail from track backgrounds.

“Speed was something we needed to address this offseason, especially in the receiver room,” Wade said in the spring. “We felt like the direction we were moving in offensively was going to require guys who can really stretch the football field, something we failed to do last year. I also think a lot had to do with personnel that we had. We went into the portal and focused on guys that can run, guys with experience.”

Hutson, Whatley, Wysong were among the leaders at slot receiver in the spring, with Spivey sharing reps at “X” receiver (McMillan’s position) with rising redshirt freshman Brandon Phelps, who was among the top performers in the second half of Arizona’s spring practices. Phelps, a former star at American Leadership Academy Gilbert North, is the Arizona state record-holder for career receiving yards (4,971).

“We feel great about the depth we added in the offseason,” Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said. “With that depth, how do we raise the level of competition in each position to where day in and day out, that competition is at an extremely high level and pressurized to where the guys are competing every day for the job? ... I feel like we’ve done that with the people that we brought in. I feel great about that.”

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Mizell, who has Arizona’s highest speed rating in the College Football 26 video game, and Richardson, a former Chandler Basha standout who is coming off a leg injury he suffered in the Class 6A state championship game, are also rising freshmen from Arizona’s 2025 high school recruiting class with game-ready speed.

Brennan said in the spring that speed “was something we felt like we didn’t have quite enough at that position a year ago.”

Added Hunter: “The receiver room is so much faster now and it’s going to unlock a whole new route tree and concepts that we can run in the future. ... It has only elevated all of us. That’s something that’s not teachable.”

Hunter, who was Arizona’s second-leading receiver last season and replaced Lemonious-Craig in the starting lineup, is also in position for a potential breakout season after emerging in the second half of the 2024 season with 35 catches for 323 yards and three touchdowns, including two acrobatic touchdown grabs against TCU in November.

“I’ve put a lot on him as far as expectations for him and him pushing the room and what to expect from me and my coaching style,” Wade said. “I’m very pleased with Chris and I’m excited for what he’s going to be able do in this offense.”

Hyatt, who suffered a gruesome leg injury in the Territorial Cup, is another returning receiver who could emerge as a mainstay in Arizona’s offense. Hyatt, the younger brother of New York Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, appeared in all 12 games last season and had a crucial 41-yard reception in Arizona’s win over 10th-ranked Utah. Hyatt was out for the spring to rehab his injury.

Determining Arizona’s starting trio at receiver, along with reliable rotational players, remains a work in progress for the Wildcats. In the spring, Arizona often used a trio of Spivey, Hunter and Hutson. Whatley, Wysong and Phelps also made starter-worthy plays in the spring.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how the dust settles in the receiver room,” Brennan said.

Arizona’s receiver corps, “from top bottom, is one of the best I’ve seen,” Fifita said.

“We have guys that can do everything,” added the Arizona quarterback. “I know the big storyline is T-Mac being gone, but they did a great job bringing in guys that can replace him and pick up the slack.”

The tight ends will also have an influence on Arizona’s offensive production this season, especially with Burnett back for a fourth season. Burnett, who caught Arizona’s game-sealing touchdown against No. 10 Utah last season, transferred to Kansas after an up-and-down three-year career with the Wildcats, but did an about-face. Following a breakout spring and training camp, the 6-6, 248-pound Burnett dealt with injuries and ended last season with 18 catches for 217 yards and a touchdown.

“I’m coming back and I feel like a different player,” said Burnett, who was recruited by Doege at USC. “I’m ready to go.”

The pecking order of Arizona’s tight ends will be determined in training camp, but it’ll likely be Burnett, Powell and Olson in some order, with Ford and Barmore as other options. The 6-5, 231-pound Northern California Ford is a longtime family friend of Brennan, who went to the hospital when Ford was born.

“Kellan is going to provide a skillset that’s going to help the room,” said Miller, who followed offensive coordinator Seth Doege from Marshall to Arizona. “I was pretty impressed with his blocking ability and his willingness on film. Obviously, college life is going to be different, but the biggest thing he has is a mentality, so we’ll polish him up. He’ll be fine.”

Besides contributing to Arizona’s passing attack, the UA tight ends will also have an essential role in protecting Fifita to assist with Arizona’s rebuilding offensive line that lost three starters and signed 14 scholarship newcomers, along with the Wildcats’ rushing attack, which ranked second-to-last in the Big 12 last season.

The 6-7, 248-pound Powell has “the length, long arms, thick lower half and that helps him be dominant in the run game and also be really explosive running routes,” said Olson, who’s in his second season at Arizona after transferring from San Jose State.

“TP has a great a combination and is a great player, and I’m trying my best to help him be the best he can be, because we need everybody,” said Olson.

In the spring, Arizona sometimes deployed two- and three-tight end packages, in addition to multi-running back packages, but mostly used its base offense with three receivers, a tight end and a running back. Fifita said Doege’s up-tempo and flexible no-huddle system “is the best scheme that I’ve ever seen.”

“This is the scheme that fits my game the best, that’s how I feel,” he said. “It enhances all of my strengths and it caters to your personnel. In my opinion, we have guys at every position that can make us the best offense in the country. ... I’m excited to see what Coach Doege cooks up. The guys believe him wholeheartedly we’re going to follow him wherever he takes us.”