When no Arizona players were selected in the 2022 NFL Draft — the fifth time in 10 drafts that the UA got shut out — Wildcats coach Jedd Fisch made a proclamation.
“Never Again,” the ever-optimistic leader of UA football tweeted.
Well, it could happen again this year. I looked at half a dozen recently published seven-round mock drafts. None featured a single Wildcat coming off the board.
But this particular year/draft comes with a saguaro-sized asterisk.
Arizona’s best draft prospects — legit dudes — decided to come back to school for another season. If tackle Jordan Morgan and/or receiver Jacob Cowing had left — which we all thought would be the case last October — we’d be having a different discussion about Arizona and the draft right now.
So if/when you see the headline Saturday afternoon about the UA not having anyone drafted again — an outcome I’m not rooting for in any shape or form, by the way — please consider the context. And think about what the near future might bring.
If all goes well for Morgan, he could be in the discussion for the first round in 2024. Arizona’s coaches have said multiple times that Morgan, the athletic marvel from Marana, was trending in that direction before tearing an ACL at UCLA in November.
“If he did not get injured, I’m confident to say that he was gonna be a first-round pick (this year),” Fisch said in a phone interview this week. “So I believe he has a great opportunity for that to happen again a year from now.”
Morgan needs to get healthy, and he needs to keep improving, but he has the traits that NFL teams desire. He also made a massive leap in 2022 before getting hurt.
Even if he went on Day Two, which consists of the second and third rounds, it’d be a momentous occasion for Arizona. The UA hasn’t had a player go higher than the fourth round since quarterback Nick Foles (third round) in 2012. The last Wildcat offensive lineman to be drafted was Eben Britton in 2009.
No one was talking about Morgan that way last spring because he had yet to prove himself. Everyone viewed Cowing as a one-and-done transfer. After starring at UTEP, Cowing would show out at the UA and go pro. He also had a young son to support. It just made sense.
Arizona wide receiver Jacob Cowing, right, celebrates with a gesture to the crowd after scoring against Mississippi State in the fourth quarter at Arizona Stadium on Sept. 10, 2022.
Cowing did show out. He still has a family to take care of. Yet a little past the halfway point of last season, Cowing told Fisch that he was planning to return.
“He was very confident throughout the whole time — and I still didn’t know,” Fisch said. “Because he was gonna get drafted if he left. It’s very hard to turn down the Senior Bowl. The Senior Bowl is like the greatest invitation you can get, and both of our guys got the invitation. And both of the guys felt like, ‘Hey, I’ll get it next year.’ ”
This wasn’t a situation where Fisch was trying to persuade Cowing to come back — even though his return would benefit Arizona.
“I tell all of these guys that have two years left, you need to take an approach that you have one year — that you’re going to do everything you can to get in the NFL,” Fisch said. “And then you have the ability to make a decision: Do you want to go? Do you want to stay? Do you enjoy it here? Do you want to be a part of college one more year? Do you feel like there’s more ability to grow?”
Cowing led the Pac-12 with 85 receptions, good for 1,034 yards. He scored seven touchdowns. But if you want to find holes in his NFL résumé — which is exactly what pro scouts will do — they’re evident.
Cowing didn’t score a touchdown after Week 5. He lined up in the slot over 70% of the time, per Pro Football Focus, which isn’t inherently a negative. But Cowing wisely recognized that NFL evaluators would pigeonhole him if he didn’t show more versatility — especially at his listed size of 5-11, 175. He’ll line up all over the formation this season.
Cowing also didn’t make much of an impact on special teams. Now he’s embracing that role — which is what helped Gary Brightwell get drafted and enabled Demetrious Flannigan-Fowles and Stanley Berryhill III to secure roster spots as undrafted free agents. (If there’s a comp for this year’s top UA prospect, Christian Young, it’s probably DFF.)
Cowing and Morgan aren’t the only potential future pros on the roster. Quarterback Jayden de Laura, tailback Michael Wiley and tight end Tanner McLachlan could get looks in 2024, depending on how their careers evolve. And Arizona’s pair of Freshman All-Americans, receiver Tetairoa McMillan and offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea could declare and get picked after their true junior seasons if they continue to progress.
Arizona tight end Tanner McLachlan, top, shown hurdling a defender vs. North Dakota State, emerged as a force in 2022 and has made himself an NFL Draft prospect.
Bringing in that type of talent remains Fisch’s ongoing mission and is the key to ending the cycle that has made Arizona an NFL Draft outsider every other year for a decade.
“The better players you have, the more games you win,” Fisch said. “The more games you win, the more the program can really skyrocket and attract even better players.”
It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. And it feels like more of a “when” than an “if” at this stage. It just so happens that the “when” isn’t 2023.
“Guys are gonna get drafted. I don’t know if it has to happen tomorrow or Friday or Saturday,” Fisch said Wednesday.
“What’s important is that people recognize that there’s a 100% opportunity to get players drafted here. When they get drafted is determined by when they choose to leave.
“We’re in a good spot. There’s gonna be a lot of players that are drafted from Arizona football in the years to come.”
With Alabama’s Bryce Young a virtual lock at No. 1 to the Carolina Panthers, who will go second to the Houston Texans? What about the rest of the top five?
