Arizona’s cornerback competition heating up in training camp

In the last year, Arizona has produced five NFL defensive backs — four of which were drafted, tying the NFL Draft record for the most defensive backs from a school in a single draft; it was also a program record.

The only one of the bunch to go undrafted was cornerback Ayden Garnes, who had a pick-six in his unofficial debut with the Tampa Bay Buccanneers.

Arizona had one of the best passing defenses in college football and produced more takeaways than touchdowns allowed in 2025. The turnover sword was unsheathed often last season — and the defensive backs were a key reason why.

It’s what made Arizona enticing for transfer cornerback Dwight Bootle, who said Arizona’s coaching staff, “not only can they talk it, but they can back it up.”

“We just put five DBs in the league,” Bootle added. “There’s not really a place doing it like Arizona. We have a standard. It’s set. I want to come in here and up the standard and be the next great thing out of Arizona.”

Added Bootle: “Who don’t want to be at at ‘Block A?’ I love this place. They brought me over here and told me the culture was going to be different and something I gotta get used to. At first, I didn’t really understand everything they were talking about until I got here. … I realized this place is different. You have to want to be at this place and that’s what I love out here.”

Bootle is one of the few in contention for the second starting cornerback, along with Wyoming transfer Tyrese Boss and Howard transfer Zuri Watson, with starter Jay’Vion Cole on the other side.

“They’re all in attack mode,” said Arizona cornerbacks coach Chip Viney. “I really like where they are at this point in camp. … It’s a healthy and deep group and guys are really competing for that spot.”

Bootle grew up in Miami, Florida, and is the younger brother of NFL defensive back Dicaprio Bootle, who is named after actor Leonardo Dicaprio. Dicaprio Bootle has played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers and the Detroit Lions following his career at Nebraska.

“I don’t like to admit that he mentors me and paves the way, because I always feel like I’m better than him as a sibling,” Dwight Bootle said. “It’s our little rivalry. People don’t understand how much of a blessing it is to have somebody who has been there and did it. All the nuggets he gave me, it’s stuff he has already been through.”

When Bootle first started playing football, his father, Dwight, took him to join a youth football organization at a nearby park.

“They made me hit the hardest hitter on the team,” Bootle said. “I hit him and I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is what I want to do. This is real.’ When you stick around the game, you learn to love it. There’s nothing like finding out when you’re actually good at doing what you do. When I found out, I realized I could take this somewhere. My upbringing was me finding myself. … When I realized I was good at football, I took off with it.”

Bootle played football at Palmetto High School, the alma mater of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and NBA guard Tim Hardaway Jr.

Bootle followed his older brother’s path to Lincoln, Nebraska, to play two seasons for the Cornhuskers before transferring to Charlotte, where he was a starter in 2025. Bootle had 38 tackles and a pass deflection for the 49ers last season. Bootle and Malcolm Hartzog, the likely successor to former Arizona star slot cornerback Treydan Stukes, were teammates at Nebraska for two years.

A seamless transition

Bootle’s experience at Nebraksa played a “really pivotal” role in Bootle coming to Arizona, “because the scheme is very, very similar.” Former Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White, like Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales, is a Rocky Long disciple. White and Gonzales coached together at San Diego State, New Mexico and Arizona State together.

“We knew he’d be familiar to the system, and that matters,” Viney said.

Plus, Arizona linebackers coach Josh Bringuel and defensive assistant Tariq Thompson coached at Nebraska when Bootle was a Cornhusker, so they were aware of Bootle’s character and personality prior to Arizona recruiting the cornerback out of the transfer portal.

“It expedited his process versus a young man you didn’t have any previous relationship with,” Viney said.

Bootle said coming to Arizona was a “seamless transition.”

“It’s just different terminology (compared to Nebraska), but it was seamless,” he added.

Viney lauded the 5-9, 171-pound Bootle for his ability to play press defense, off-man coverage “and make plays on the ball.”

“He’s hungry and he’s willing and ready to come in and work,” Viney said. “That was important to me in replacing some of the pieces we’re placing this season. … He’s a young man that’s eager to get the season going, his fresh new start. I’m really proud of who he has become from the spring to now.

“Dwight is just scratching the surface of who he could be. We’re really pleased with what he has done thus far in camp, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. I commend the young man in who he has become and accepting us and allowing us to coach him and develop him that way. I’m really excited for him and the things that could be this fall.”

The biggest lesson Bootle has picked up since playing for Viney is “you gotta be a different type of player to play this position,” Bootle said.

“You can have a perfect game and then give a game-winning touchdown and the whole world will crash on you. You gotta be different mentally,” Bootle said. “Technique, alignment assignment, all of that is going to come with football. That’s a part of your job. The biggest thing he brought to the table for me is the mental aspect. You gotta be really tough up here (points to head).”

Brotherly love

Boss, who was the first defensive back to sign with Arizona out of the transfer portal this year, signed with Wyoming's 2024 recruiting class as a two-star recruit out of Chino Hills High School (California). The 5-11, 179-pound Boss played in two games as a freshman in 2024 and appeared in 12 games in 2025, recording 39 tackles and no interceptions.

The 5-10, 185-pound Watson signed with Howard in 2024 following his standout career at Northside Christian School in St. Petersburg, Florida. Watson redshirted his freshman season in 2024 and played in 15 games in 2025, recording 34 tackles, nine pass deflections and an interception. 

“For him, this is the big stage,” Viney said of Watson. “But this is a guy who has not shied away from the competition and the standard that’s in the room.”

Bootle and Boss are conceivable options for the second cornerback spot in Arizona’s secondary. Arizona’s cornerbacks have found the balance in competing against each other, while celebrating each other’s success. A high tide raises all ships.

“We’re brothers at the end of the day,” Bootle said. “We got an understanding, ‘If you’re my brother and you love me as much as you say you love, you’re going to be push me as hard as I push you.’ At the end of the day, it’s no hard feelings when we’re on the field. … We know there’s a time and place for everything, but at the end of the day, when it comes down to it, we’re going to love each other no matter what.”

Added Boss: “Having teammates like that and people who want good for you and want the best for you, it’s the best thing you can have on a team. It’s not just our room, it’s the whole team. The whole team is like that. I don’t want to go anywhere else, to be honest. I love this team. I want to do it for these guys, because I know they really care about how we perform and want to take it to the next level with our team.”

Viney hasn’t made a decision on Arizona’s second starting cornerback yet and said “there’s a lot of camp left.”

“I do know there are more than a few options that we have for the position,” Viney said. “There’s guys that can play all five spots, which we like. … The more you can do, the better. I really like where we are in terms of what we have. Those guys can step in and play opposite of Jay’Vion.”

As a whole, Arizona’s defensive secondary is “not where we want to be.”

“The standard is really high in the room and the guys know that,” Viney said. “We’re in the middle of our process. The positive thing is we’re healthy. Some guys are taking all the reps. The next day, they might not be taking those reps for a reason. We may see more of a rotation in the secondary this year than we’ve seen in year’s past; we may not. It’s still way too early to tell.

“I’m really happy and pleased with the progress of this unit as a whole. We have more guys in this secondary that can do more for this team than what we had a year ago and that’s exciting.”

Extra points

– Bootle, on Cole: “Jay’Vion, that’s like a big brother to me. He makes sure I do everything right. He sets the standard by example. He’s not really the most vocal, but he’s a leader in what he does. When you see a guy like that, a guy that always does it right, you gravitate towards that guy.”

– Boss, on Cole: “When you watch him play inside and outside the facility, it makes you want to be a better player all-around. He’s really good at bringing players together and making us into one and not making us feel a play below the standard. Having him as the leader in the room, it’s a good thing for our room, having someone to rely on.”

– Viney said second-year cornerback Swayde Griffin has been the most improved player in his unit since the spring. The Austin, Texas-area product is the son of former Texas star defensive back Cedric Griffin, who played under former UA defensive backs coach Duane Akina at UT. The younger Griffin has “fully leaned into his process and what he needs to do to contribute to this team.” Added Viney: “I’m excited about what he can do, because the kid can go.” Griffin has taken second-team reps at cornerback this training camp.

– Viney, on former UA cornerback Michael Dansby getting drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round: “Couldn’t be more proud of him and what he’s been able to accomplish thus far. … I really owe a lot to him for what we were able to do last year as a unit. Very proud of the young man.”

– Viney, on Hartzog, who’s been one of the Wildcats’ top-performing defensive backs in training camp: “It’s awesome. It’s not an easy feat replacing Treydan Stukes. I’ll say I’m pretty excited about the guy we have in that spot this year. That is all respect to Treydan Stukes and the standard that he set. You got a guy in Malcolm Hartzog who has played a ton of ball and is looking to bounce back and make his own statement. I couldn’t be more excited about some of the things he’s going to bring to our defense and secondary this year.”