Feeling '22: Second-year Wildcats profoundly impacting Arizona this season

Taylor Swift and football, the unexpected crossover that budded from the pop star’s relationship with future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce.

Apologies to the football fans and non-Swifties that are exhausted with the Swift coverage, but we had to follow the trend considering one of the themes to the Arizona Wildcats’ success this season.

One of Swift’s popular songs, “Feeling 22,” sums the current rendition of the Wildcats. Fourteen players from Arizona’s 2022 recruiting class have logged at least 100 snaps on offense and defense this season — and that doesn’t include the transfer portal additions in wide receiver Jacob Cowing, quarterback Jayden de Laura and running back DJ Williams.

Greg Biggins, national recruiting analyst for 247Sports.com, said, “With Arizona, what we found out is they’re really good at evaluating.”

“I was looking at their 2022 recruiting class just yesterday and there’s like 17 or 18 guys from that class that are already making plays and being impact guys,” Biggins said. “It’s unbelievable.”

We narrowed the list down of impactful list to 15 players. Here’s who they are, along with their Pro Football Focus grade through seven games:

Keyan Burnett

Position: Tight end

The rundown: Burnett, a former four-star tight end and son of “Desert Swarm” linebacker Chester Burnett, has one catch for 17 yards this season. Burnett is one of four players from Servite High School (Anaheim, California) on Arizona’s roster, along with quarterback Noah Fifita, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and linebacker Jacob Manu.

PFF grade: 65.7

Jonah Coleman

Position: Running back

The rundown: Multi-year starter Michael Wiley has been sidelined with an ankle injury since Arizona’s win over Stanford to begin Pac-12 play, but Coleman has been productive in his elevated role, averaging 5.08 yards after contact per rush, which ranks fifth nationally among running backs with at least 50 snaps, according to PFF. Coleman has a balanced 433 rushing yards and 289 receiving yards along with four touchdowns this year.

PFF grade: 90.7 (highest-graded Wildcat)

Russell Davis II

Position: Defensive end

The rundown: Davis has 11 tackles, 3.5 stops for loss and 1.5 sacks (which happened in Arizona’s triple-overtime loss to ninth-ranked USC).

PFF grade: 69

Tacario Davis

Position: Cornerback

The rundown: Davis picked up his first interception as a Wildcat in the 38-point win over Washington State in Pullman. The 6-4, 195-pound Davis leads the Wildcats with seven pass breakups — next closest is Treydan Stukes with three.

PFF grade: 75.6

Noah Fifita

Position: Quarterback

The rundown: In place of the injured de Laura dating back to the fourth quarter of Arizona’s win over Stanford, Fifita completed 90 of 121 passes (74%) for 924 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions. In that stretch, Arizona faced three Top-20 teams — two of them on the road. The two-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week has positioned himself as the likely starter for the remainder of the season.

PFF grade: 72.4

Kevin Green Jr.

Position: Wide receiver

The rundown: In 45 offensive snaps, Green, the first Wildcat since running back Gary Brightwell to don No. 0 as a jersey number, has five catches for 47 yards. AJ Jones, another highly-ranked wide receiver in Arizona’s ’22 class, has two catches for 17 yards this season.

PFF grade: 62

Jacob Kongaika

Position: Defensive tackle

The rundown: Kongaika has played 137 snaps this season in Arizona’s second defensive line unit that shuttles in the game frequently as part of the bolstered defensive line rotation. The former Mater Dei star has nine tackles and logged his first sack of the season at Washington State.

PFF grade: 66

Rayshon Luke

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Position: Running back

The rundown: Luke passed his season total of rushing yards at Washington State, when the speedster ran for 71 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries. Luke went 40 yards untouched for his first-ever touchdown as a Wildcat in the win over WSU.

PFF grade: 79.1

Jacob Manu

Position: Linebacker

The rundown: Manu is third in the Pac-12 with 58 tackles and leads the Wildcats in that department by a significant margin; Arizona’s second-leading tackler is safety Dalton Johnson (38). Manu could become the first Arizona linebacker to make one of the All-Pac-12 teams since Scooby Wright in 2014.

PFF grade: 68.7

Tetairoa McMillan

Position: Wide receiver

The rundown: “T-Mac” leads Arizona with 592 receiving yards, which ranks sixth in the Pac-12, and is averaging 14.8 yards per catch. The 13 touchdowns combined between McMillan and Cowing ranks first among receiving tandems in the Pac-12. McMillan has also become arguably Arizona’s top playmaker in crunch time, with a critical second-half touchdown at Mississippi State and a 2-point conversion in the fourth quarter at USC.

PFF grade: 73.2

Wendell Moe

Position: Left guard

The rundown: Moe, who started three games last season, is one of the most improved Wildcats this season. Moe has a 85.8 pass-blocking grade from PFF. He was recently named to the midseason Freshman All-American team by Football Writer’s Association of America.

PFF grade: 70.5

Ephesians Prysock

Position: Cornerback

The rundown: Prysock also snagged his first interception against Washington State. According to PFF, Prysock hasn’t surrendered a touchdown in pass coverage this season. He’s allowed 18 catches on 30 targets.

PFF grade: 59.7

Jonah Savaiinaea

Position: Offensive line

The rundown: In 826 pass-blocking snaps, Savaiinaea has only allowed two sacks, per PFF. Savaiinaea has allowed Arizona’s quarterbacks to get hit once this season and has a 85.1 pass-blocking grade on PFF. He’s had 94 and 91.8 pass-blocking grades this season at right tackle and right guard.

PFF grade: 74.4

Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei

Position: Defensive line

The rundown: Uiagalelei has the second-most snaps (162) among Arizona’s reserve defensive linemen and is one of the Wildcats’ most versatile defensive linemen as an interior player and edge rusher. Uiagalelei has 13 tackles, a sack and a blocked field goal in the season-opening win over Northern Arizona.

PFF grade: 74.1

Isaiah Ward

Position: Defensive end

The rundown: Arguably the most surprising development in Arizona’s offseason was the rise of Ward, who went from scout-team player to a mainstay in the UA defense. His 225-pound frame is undersized by normal Power 5 standards, but his length at 6-5 and speed off the edge has been effective. Ward has 13 tackles, three stops for loss and a forced fumble. He’s tied with Manu for a team-high quarterback hurries (12), per PFF.

PFF grade: 67

Extra points

Arizona enters its upcoming home matchup with No. 11 Oregon State on Saturday as five-point underdogs, according to Action Sports Network on Sunday. Fan Duel has OSU as a 5.5-point favorite, while Caesar’s Sportsbook put the Beavers as a four-point favorite to beat the Wildcats in Tucson. Through seven games, Arizona is 6-1 against the spread this season, which is among the best in college football this season. The Wildcats are 3-0 against the spread at home this season.

Both teams are coming off bye weeks — and wins. Oregon State (6-1) has won three straight games, which includes victories over Utah and UCLA. The Wildcats (4-3) recently beat No. 19 Washington State 44-6 in Pullman.