Arizona football burning questions: How will the defensive secondary look in the fall?

Four Arizona defensive backs were drafted, which ties an NFL record for most in a single draft: Treydan Stukes (Raiders), Genesis Smith (Chargers), Dalton Johnson (Raiders) and Michael Dansby (Seahawks).

Former UA cornerback Ayden Garnes signed with the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent. 

The Wildcats had the most defensive backs drafted out of any school this year. Arizona had four defensive backs in the same draft class for the first time in program history.

The last time Arizona had multiple defensive backs taken in the NFL Draft was in 2008. Stukes became the highest-drafted UA defensive back since Antoine Cason in '08. 

The aforementioned players led one of the best defenses in college football in 2025 and finished seventh in college football in passing defense and first in turnover margin. The Wildcats had more takeaways (31) than touchdowns allowed (28) and led the Big 12 in interceptions (22), which ranked second nationally. Arizona led college football in takeaways per game (2.5) last season. 

"Those are big shoes to fill, a lot of production, but these guys have been doing a great job," said Arizona safeties coach Brett Arce. "We've got a lot of depth in there right now. It's a heck of a competition."  

Between the transfer portal and the high school recruiting trail, Arizona added 10 defensive backs this spring, including eight from the transfer portal. The Wildcats' early enrollees this spring were cornerback Xaier Hiler and safety Hannibal Navies. Arizona cornerbacks coach Chip Viney compared Hiler to former Wildcat Tacario Davis, who was drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft on Friday and said the freshman is "long and tall and can sink his hips and move direction." 

Arizona's eight additions via the transfer portal are safety Daylen Austin (Oregon), nickel back and safety Malcolm Hartzog (Nebraska), cornerback Tyrese Boss (Wyoming), safety Cam Chapa (Northern Colorado), safety Lee Molette (UConn), cornerback Dwight Bootle (Charlotte), cornerback Zuri Watson (Howard) and safety Matai Tagoa'i (USC). 

Between Hartzog (1,700 defensive snaps), Chapa (1,495), Molette (1,354), Boss (643), Watson (598), Bootle (461), Austin (248) and Tagoa'i (35), Arizona is adding a combined 6,534 defensive snaps of experience to its defensive secondary via the transfer portal, according to Pro Football Focus.

However, not everyone was available this spring due to injury rehab, including Austin and Chapa. Austin had shoulder surgery after the first week of spring practices. 

"The small glimpses in what he did those two days and through the walk-throughs, he's going to be a major piece," Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said of Austin.  

Additionally, returning cornerback Jay'Vion Cole, who Gonzales said "is the best corner in this league," was limited this spring. Cole had the second-most interceptions (four) in the Big 12 last season.  

"When you look at it, you know there are a couple guys that are in recovery from postseason surgeries and are established, good football players," said Arizona head coach Brent Brennan. "That's going to be exciting when we get the full force of that group on that field. What we saw from the guys we added in the offseason, I'm encouraged. When you think about the pieces that we put there, those guys have played a lot of football and that part is exciting." 

Some of the newcomers who could conceivably start this fall include Hartzog and Boss. Gonzales said Boss, Bootle and Watson "have slowly progressed every single day. There are some frustrating parts and there are some great parts. ... We can be elite on the outside."

Viney said Bootle "is a young man that brings a lot of energy to the room. The guys love him and take to him. He's a guy that I think is going to make a lot of plays this year." 

Arizona's cornerbacks spent parts of the spring performing drills with boxing gloves to prevent jersey-grabbing in coverage, along with specialized goggles to cut off peripheral vision to train cornerbacks to keep their eyes ahead. 

Hartzog could be the successor to Stukes at slot cornerback, especially with his experience playing both cornerback and safety. Hartzog played 909 snaps at cornerback, 474 snaps at slot cornerback, 237 snaps at strong safety and 67 at free safety.

Hartzog was often in the defensive secondary with Boss, Bootle, redshirt junior safety Gavin Hunter and free safety Quinn Olson, a redshirt sophomore from Sioux City, Iowa. The 5-8, 184-pound Hartzog, "even though he might be small height-wise, he's a pit bull," Arce said. 

"Even though he might not have the height, his quickness and strength can get under people's pads, and he can avoid them; that's a problem," Arce added. "His corner skills from when he was at Nebraska, he can cover anybody, similarly to Stukes. Those attributes, along with him just being a pit bull and a tough guy with strength, size doesn't matter in this case." 

Even though Hartzog was limited for Arizona's last four practices of the spring, "he proved that he can be a big asset to replace the three-headed monster (of Stukes, Smith and Johnson)," Gonzales said.

"We don't want to replace those guys, we want to be somewhat close to those (guys) and we'll be really, really good," Gonzales said. 

Arizona experimented with a position change in the secondary, moving Tagoa'i from linebacker to safety. Tagoa'i had a sack on a safety blitz in Arizona's spring showcase on Saturday. Tagoa'i, who was a highly touted recruit and played one season at USC, "is really talented and hasn't played a ton of football, but his talent shows up every practice," Brennan said. 

Olson and Tagoa'i were among the UA players taking reps at free safety this spring. Molette is another option at safety and nickel back for the Wildcats this season. 

The additions of Austin and Chapa, who was one of the top defensive backs at the FCS level the last two years, in the summer will bolster Arizona's secondary. Regardless of how Austin and Chapa are implemented in the secondary, Arce and Viney "have both demonstrated that they are excellent at developing players at both the corner and safety position. Combined with the scheme that Danny is running, we're excited about that," Brennan said. 

Figuring out who's going to have a role in Arizona's defensive secondary will be a "huge development process" this offseason," Gonzales said, but Arizona's defensive coordinator said the Wildcats "have more speed across the board on defense," when comparing the players' GPS speed to last spring. Reminder, one of those players (Stukes) last season ran the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in 4.3 seconds. 

"We need to continue beating into their brain what we do in coverage and how we react, the technique pieces," Gonzales said. "We're going to be good enough up front, we'll be fine in the secondary. If we can cover people, we're going to be really dangerous."