Treydan Stukes is the Arizona Wildcats’ “Star.” But he doesn’t get the shine that he deserves.
“Star” is the position that Stukes plays — well, most of the time, anyway. It’s what Duane Akina calls the nickel back in his defense.
Michael Lev is a senior writer/columnist for the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson.com and The Wildcaster.
It’s ironic, because Stukes is Arizona’s most underrated player. He isn’t a star in the traditional sense. At least not yet.
“I don’t think too many people know about Treydan Stukes,” fellow UA defensive back Dalton Johnson said. “But they’ll wake up this season.”
“He’s one of the best-kept secrets in college football right now,” Akina said.
Right now is the operative phrase here. Stukes won’t be anonymous for long.
Welcome to the second edition of “Most Underrated Wildcat.” We took it to the extreme a year ago by naming tailback Michael Wiley the most underrated player in the entire Pac-12 Conference. We’re not ready to go that far with Stukes in the still-unfamiliar Big 12. But the case for Stukes being the most overlooked player on his own team is strong. It’s an open-and-shutdown case, one might say.
Defensive backs Treydan Stukes (2), Jai-Ayviauynn Celestine (24) and Tacario Davis (1) celebrate during Arizona’s 2024 spring game in late April at Arizona Stadium.
Let’s start with this: Akina thinks Stukes is a stud. The fifth-year senior from Litchfield Park is “as good of a player as I’ve had,” Akina said.
Who are some of the players Akina has had? Chris McAlister. Darryll Lewis. Michael Huff. Aaron Ross. Justin Reid. Earl Thomas.
Akina has coached Thorpe Award winners, All-Americans and NFL All-Pros. He puts Stukes in that same class. And yet ...
Stukes has yet to appear on a single preseason award watch list. He’s tied for 12th among Wildcats in individual player ratings in EA Sports College Football 25. Athlon Sports and Phil Steele named him third-team preseason All-Big 12 — at safety, a position he doesn’t even play (although, if asked, he could; more on this later).
Arizona cornerback Treydan Stukes, right, makes a sprawling interception on a pass intended for Utah wide receiver Mikey Matthews in fourth quarter of the Wildcats' dominant Pac-12 win at Arizona Stadium on Nov. 18, 2023.
That’s one of the reasons Stukes doesn’t get the credit he deserves despite production that suggests he should: Those who don’t follow UA football on a daily basis aren’t sure what he is.
The “Star” is a nickel back, but the physical profile is a cross between cornerback and safety. Akina has said Stukes is capable of playing any of eight positions in the secondary. His versatility is a rare and invaluable asset — except when it comes to external recognition.
Quantifying Stukes’ value does take a little work. He tied for fourth in the Pac-12 with 10 passes defensed last season (nine breakups, one interception), but that barely tells the story.
Quarterbacks posted a 66.9 NFL passer rating when targeting Stukes last year, according to Pro Football Focus. That was the fifth-best mark for Pac-12 cornerbacks (minimum 303 coverage snaps).
To put that figure into additional perspective, teammate Tacario Davis — who, deservingly, has made multiple preseason watch lists and all-league teams — had a passer rating against of 76.9. Former Wildcat Ephesians Prysock, who transferred to Washington, had a 91.4.
Arizona defensive back Treydan Stukes suffered an ACL injury in the win at Utah and will miss the rest of the 2024 season.
In that same subset of Pac-12 cornerbacks, Stukes allowed the second-lowest yards per reception at 8.4. That figure tied him for seventh nationally.
Focusing exclusively on the slot, where Stukes played the majority of his snaps, his NFL passer rating against was 67.8 — No. 2 in the Pac-12 and No. 18 nationally (minimum 191 coverage snaps, including both cornerbacks and safeties).
Per PFF’s tracking, Stukes lined up as a slot defender on 534 of 754 snaps. He played traditional corner on 61 snaps — with nearly half of those (27) coming in the Alamo Bowl. That was the night Stukes went from respected to revered among his coaches and teammates.
Davis got hurt in the first half and played only 12 defensive snaps. Oklahoma seized control of the game in the second and third quarters. The UA defense got its groove back after Stukes moved from nickel to the outside — a different position requiring a different skill set. (Gunner Maldonado’s 87-yard fumble return for a touchdown at the end of the third quarter — featuring blocks from Stukes, among others — helped a bit too.)
Arizona cornerback Treydan Stukes, right, can’t come up with the interception but keeps Oklahoma wide receiver Jalil Farooq from making a catch in the third quarter of the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio on Dec. 28, 2023.
The Sooners completed 6 of 8 passes into Stukes’ coverage area overall. But he did not surrender a touchdown in that game or over the course of the season — a vast improvement from the six he yielded in 2022.
“He doesn’t necessarily get a lot of reps at corner, but he gets mental reps and then he can just go out and do it,” Maldonado said. “That’s a big thing. He never makes a mistake twice.”
Akina praised the football IQ of his four main “inside” players: linebacker Jacob Manu, safeties Johnson and Maldonado, and Stukes. Their collective intelligence — the ability to quickly absorb concepts and translate them onto the field — enabled the defense “to do so much more” last season, Akina said.
Expect even more wrinkles in 2024. Stukes has lined up inside and outside during Arizona’s training camp, which continues Thursday morning. He likely will end up playing both spots, especially with Davis being a bit dinged up.
“Wherever Coach Akina wants me,” Stukes said, “that’s where I’m gonna go.”
Arizona defensive back Treydan Stukes, left, forces UCLA wide receiver Logan Loya to lose his grip on a catch, stopping a Bruin drive in the third quarter of the Wildcats’ third consecutive win over a ranked opponent on Nov. 4, 2023, at Arizona Stadium.
Like Wiley, Stukes is humble yet confident. He comes from even humbler beginnings — another reason he’s so underappreciated.
Stukes arrived in Tucson as a walk-on from Millennium High School, where he was known as much, if not more, for his track exploits. Stukes was a state champion in the triple jump and a finalist in the long jump. He did not have a star rating or any Division I football offers — aside from a walk-on spot with the Wildcats.
Stukes made his biggest impact as a freshman in the 2020 Territorial Cup — a game UA fans would love to purge from their memory banks. But by the following season, then-defensive coordinator Don Brown had dubbed Stukes a “dude” — the highest compliment one can receive from “Dr. Blitz” — and the staff put him on scholarship.
“He wasn’t a star, not a lot of hype around him,” said Brett Arce, who coaches the “Star” position. “But if you turn the tape on, he’s special.”
Arizona cornerback Treydan Stukes (2) and the Wildcat defense celebrate after forcing a turnover during the Wildcats’ win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio on Dec. 28, 2023. Arizona had six takeaways.
It’s hard to project statistics for a defensive back. But I fully expect Stukes to have a standout season — and to rise up NFL Draft boards in the process.
He’s listed at 6-2, 198 pounds. Akina says Stukes can run the 40-yard dash in the low 4.4s. With his track background, he’s sure to excel in combine testing.
Stukes is also an adept team spokesman and an esteemed locker-room leader. In short, he has it all — except acclaim.
“Why he isn’t garnering more attention, I don’t know,” Arce said. “But I’m OK with it because he’s gonna go shock a lot of people this upcoming season.”
