True Wildcats for Life lead Arizona contingent into 2025 NFL Draft | Michael Lev

This week’s NFL Draft will be a one-of-a-kind experience for the Arizona football program in more ways than one.

For starters, the Wildcats could have two first-round selections — receiver Tetairoa McMillan and offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea. That hasn’t happened in 35 years.

At worst, Arizona will have two players picked within the first three rounds. That hasn’t happened in 15 years.

What makes this particular UA draft class unique — and maybe the last of its kind — is that the three prospects deemed the UA’s best by the NFL spent the entirety of their college careers at the same school. Combine invitees McMillan, Savaiinaea and kicker Tyler Loop are true Wildcats for Life.

As players enter the transfer portal by the thousands annually, that possibility becomes less and less likely.

The projected top two picks in this year’s draft, which begins Thursday, are transfers. Quarterback Cam Ward went from Incarnate Word to Washington State to Miami. Two-way star Travis Hunter went from Jackson State to Colorado.

Four of the six quarterbacks taken in the first round last year — Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix — were transfers. Two of the three Wildcats selected last year — Jacob Cowing and Tanner McLachlan — were transfers.

In every one of those cases, the players improved their draft stock by switching schools and entering into new situations. NFL front offices don’t begrudge players for transferring anymore, either. It’s just an accepted part of the student-athlete experience.

But I believe McMillan and Savaiinaea, in particular, deserve credit for staying true to their school. Because they easily could have hit the portal and gotten paid last offseason. They chose loyalty over money, which says a lot about their character.

Of course, this assumes that McMillan would get credit for anything during the pre-draft process. Alas, it’s been a nonstop teardown of the player the draft community has decided to dub “Tet” — even though no one’s ever called him that.

I’ve heard draft analysts praise other prospects for valuing “we” above “me.” Didn’t McMillan do that very thing by deciding to stay at Arizona when he could have made literally millions of dollars elsewhere?

Former ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay, who’s now with The Ringer, ranked McMillan 50th in his final top 300. I’ve always been a fan of McShay’s work and was baffled when ESPN let him go. But 50th? Seriously?

McShay also mocked McMillan to the Dallas Cowboys with the No. 12 overall pick. That’s been a popular landing spot for Arizona’s all-time leader in receiving yards. Jacksonville, at No. 5, is the ceiling; Seattle, at No. 18, is the floor. At least that’s my opinion; I actually like McMillan’s game and don’t knock him for having a personality that’s a little different.

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Savaiinaea could sneak into the end of the first round, although the second round, on Friday, seems more likely. He’s just rock solid in every way — big, strong, mobile, durable and unselfish. He just isn’t a tackle, despite playing there the past two seasons. But if you want a 10-year starter at guard who’ll be an asset for your organization on the field and off it, Savaiinaea is your guy.

Loop — another high-character person — could be drafted, too. The odds are against him, through no fault of his own. Only about two placekickers are drafted, on average, every year. It’s an elite club.

It doesn’t really matter where they go, though; the point is whom they’re representing. Just imagine the pride you’ll feel as a UA fan when McMillan and Savaiinaea’s names are called and that Block A flashes on the screen. And then imagine what it would have felt like if they were representing someone else. Empty is the word that springs to mind.

Further illustrating the transient nature of college athletics, McMillan and Savaiinaea were members of Arizona’s vaunted recruiting class of 2022 — only three of whom are still Wildcats. That class had 23 high school players. Noah Fifita, Tyler Powell and Grayson Stovall are the only ones left.

The potential fourth member of Arizona’s 2025 draft class, tailback Jacory Croskey-Merritt, is in a category all his own. Croskey-Merritt transferred multiple times and ran out of eligibility — although no one realized it in time to prevent him from enrolling at Arizona last year and appearing in one game.

As odd as his situation turned out, Croskey-Merritt’s path isn’t atypical. Max Harris, a probable starter at linebacker for the ’25 Wildcats, is suiting up for his fourth school in as many years — Incarnate Word, Louisiana-Monroe, Texas State and now Arizona. There are countless examples like him across the college sports landscape.

No judgment here. It’s just the way it is. In Harris’ specific case, he’s at a much bigger, better program than where he started.

Whether you love or hate the portal and NIL, you have to admit: They open up a world of possibilities for college athletes. Here are some of the historical possibilities in play for Arizona this week:

– If McMillan and Savaiinaea both go in the first round, it’d be the first time Arizona has had two first-rounders since 1990 (Chris Singleton, Anthony Smith).

– If McMillan and Savaiinaea come off the board in the first three rounds — a 99.9% probability — they’d be the first pair of Wildcats to go in the top three rounds since 2010 (Rob Gronkowski, Earl Mitchell).

– Assuming at least McMillan goes in Round 1, Arizona will have had first-rounders in consecutive years for the first time since 1999-2000 (Chris McAlister, Trung Canidate). Jordan Morgan was Green Bay’s first-round pick last year.

– If all four Wildcats get picked — McMillan, Savaiinaea, Loop and Croskey-Merritt — they’ll represent the first UA quartet to go in the same draft since 2008 (Antoine Cason, Spencer Larsen, Wilrey Fontenot, Lionel Dotson). Only four Wildcats were drafted, total, from 2017-23.