Arizona receivers Caleb ‘Jet’ Smith, R.J. Mosley making their mark as freshmen

Smith and Mosley, “those two are both professionals,” said Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita. And that’s coming from someone who is consistently lauded as a professional.

At the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility, Arizona has an “accountability board.” If you’re late to a team or position meeting, your name goes on the board. If you miss a team meal at Bear Down Kitchen, your name goes on the board. If you miss a class at the UA, your name goes on the board.

Mosley and Smith’s names have yet to show up on the board.

“Those guys have never been an issue,” Fifita said. “You talk about the way they work, they’re guys that put their heads down and work. That’s how you want to be, especially as a freshman. You’re coming in to earn your stripes and that’s exactly what they did. They didn’t talk; they just came in and went about their business and got through their work. … Both of those guys are extremely special and they’re special people.”

Arizona second-year offensive coordinator Seth Doege said “Both of those guys have tremendous skill sets.” Both Smith and Mosley have bolstered an Arizona wide receiver corps that already has eight players expected to rotate this season.

“They’re both very talented, and that was the reason we were excited when they chose to come to the University of Arizona,” head coach Brent Brennan said earlier in training camp. “That will play out more and more as we get going. … Are they making the most out of the opportunities they get? I tell players that all the time, especially young players, the fastest way to get on the field is to know what to do. It’s amazing how many times they struggle with that or know what that is until someone else is playing in front of them, because they consistently know what to do and can perform at a high level.

“I think for those young players, it’s important that they know what to do and they can play with toughness and full speed.”

‘Jet’ clear for takeoff

When Smith was about 7 or 8 years old, his father nicknamed him “Jet,” because “I was faster than everybody growing up. I was always the fastest.”

Smith grew up in Allen, Texas, near Dallas and went to Allen High School, one of the top 6A programs in the state of Texas and the alma mater of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray, who went 42-0 and won three state championships at Allen.

Just before his junior season at Allen, Smith suffered a season-ending ACL injury and missed the 2024 season. As a senior in 2025, Smith had 91 catches for 947 yards and eight touchdowns. Smith was the second-leading receiver for an Allen team that went 14-1 and lost to Duncanville in the state semifinals.

Smith “is very, very fast and he’s very smooth,” Doege said.

Arizona wide receivers coach Bobby Wade’s evaluation of the 5-8, 167-pound Smith was “he’s a little guy, but he’s a little guy with tremendous ball skills,” recalled Doege.

“He has tremendous body control,” Doege added. “He can turn 180 (degrees) and still catch the ball clean and stay on his feet. He’s got a natural feel for space and he’s obviously very fast. The other thing, he tracks the ball extremely well. That’s why he has the opportunity to be a returner for us as a freshman. He’s fearless and he catches the football. … The Jet gives you a dynamic that others don’t in the slot.”

Slot receivers “have to have a fearlessness about them going across the middle and digging out linebackers that are bigger than them and knowing you’re going to get hit at times on crossing routes and things of that nature,” Doege said.

“The Jet never shies away,” said Arizona’s offensive coordinator. “He’s progressing well. You never saw him hit a freshman wall. He pushed through all that stuff, so that showed me he’s tougher than most (players) at his age.”

Smith envisions his role being “a little bit the same as high school,” when he was “a short-yardage (receiver), third-down (receiver), bubbles, all of that,” he said.

“Here (at Arizona), they let me go deep a little using my speed,” Smith said. “That’s the difference. I view myself as a receiver going deep and short routes as well.”

Smith is learning from two players at the slot position: Giovanni Richardson, who’s one of the three starters in Arizona’s receiving trio, and West Virginia transfer Rodney Gallagher III, “especially Gio, because he was in my spot last year. He has taught me a lot of things about college, practice, everything. I listen to him a lot.”

“Rod, he’s been in college for a while now,” Smith said. “He has helped me a lot with how college is and how to attack meetings.”

It’s a strong possibility Smith is the starting punt returner for the Wildcats.

“He is very steady back there,” said Arizona special teams coordinator Craig Naivar. “He doesn’t panic. If the ball drifts on him, if he didn’t read it off the foot correctly, he doesn’t panic and make rapid adjustments that cause problems. He’s really smooth at catching the football and he believes. That’s a big piece of it, catching everything.”

Returning punts at the Power 4 level for a freshman can be intimidating. It’s one thing to return punts on the practice field as a true freshman, but what about live action in front of 50,000-plus people? The Arizona coaches aren’t reluctant to put Smith at punt returner because of his confidence and consistency.

Plus, the Allen product played in a stadium that holds 18,000 people — the eighth-largest high school football stadium in the U.S. Allen spent $60 million to build its home stadium. The experience at Allen “helped me a lot,” Smith said.

“There’s a lot of fans in Texas and every game is packed,” said Smith. “That has helped me a lot. Playing around a lot of people is going to help me at the college level.”

Smith’s position coach on offense and special teams is Wade, who was an NFL returner and receiver from 2003-10.

“In high school, I didn’t know much about punt return; I just caught the ball and ran,” Smith said. “Coach Bob has taught me about returning, looking where the punter is going to punt the ball and reading how it goes off his foot — and what to do when the ball is in my hands. … It’s been good so far. From the spring to fall camp, I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable and it’s been a lot easier for me. In high school, the punts were high, but college is really high. Getting adapted to that has helped me.”

At the start of the year, when Smith and Mosley were early enrollees, the receivers met at Brennan’s house for a gathering. Smith picked up Mosley to give him a ride to Brennan’s house, “and we bonded from there. It’s been a strong relationship between me and him and we teach each other all the time,” Smith said.

“R.J. is probably my best friend on the team,” Smith said.

Mosley ‘is going to be one of the best receivers to ever play here’

Mosley and Smith have similar personalities, but they both play different positions and have different body frames and skillsets. While Smith plays slot receiver, Mosley could be a potential backup to Tre Spivey and Brandon Phelps at “X” receiver.

The four-star Mosley, a 6-3, 199-pound Pittsburg, California, product, was Arizona’s highest-rated signee for 2026 — the highest-rated receiver to sign with the Wildcats since Tetairoa McMillan in 2022, according to 247Sports.com’s ranking system.

Mosley “has a natural instinct for catching the ball and he’s a great route runner,” said Fifita, who also noted Mosley caught most of the 50-50 balls thrown his way during Arizona’s player-run practices this summer.

In fall training camp, Mosley has continued to improve his ability to high-point passes over defensive backs who are potential starters in the UA defense. Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales, who has seen Mosley make acrobatic catches against the UA defense for the last three-plus weeks, thinks Mosley "is going to be one of the best receivers to ever play here. If he continues with his process, he's going to make a ton of plays this year." 

Mosley “is one of the best jump-ball receivers I’ve ever seen in person,” Smith said.

“He can get any ball that’s in the air,” Smith said of Mosley. “When I see the ball in the air going to him, I’m really confident he can catch the ball.”

Ditto for Smith.

“That’s the mindset I have all the time,” said Smith. “I feel like every time the ball is in the air, I’m going to get the ball. I’m going to score. Every time.”

Compared to his productivity in the spring, Mosley “has gotten comfortable in the scheme,” Doege said.

“All that is starting to slow down for him, so you’re starting to see him be more consistent,” Doege said. “His ability to go get a 50-50 ball is unmatched. That’s obviously been proven through camp. He has some growth yet for us to count on him as an everyday receiver. … He’ll play for us. It’s up to him how much.”

Smith and Mosley joined Gallagher, USC transfer DJ Jordan, Colorado State transfer Jordan Ross, sophomore Isaiah Mizell and junior Brandon Phelps. Coupled with Arizona’s starting trio of Richardson, Spivey and Chris Hunter, along with mature returners and promising transfers with game experience, it’s an uphill battle for the freshmen to get playing time.

Doege said “it’s tough to say” when he was asked about how many receivers Arizona could realistically rotate this year.

“I think we have eight or nine guys you feel really confident they can go out and execute,” Doege said. “If they’re on the field, you don’t blink an eye. … We have a healthy group there. If they all stay healthy, that’s going to be a challenge to make sure they all have somewhat of an opportunity to help us. At the same time, what gives us the best chance to win that day? What does that rotation look like? I think it’s week-by-week.”

Extra points

— Doege, Arizona’s offensive playbook expanding this season: “Our baseline stuff is still there. We’re able to get out of things a little bit quicker because of Noah’s mastery of it. We can call two plays, and he can identify what we’re looking for and go after one or the other. We have a lot of motions and sets that are different than last year. It has expanded.

“I don’t think it has expanded too much, but it has definitely expanded. The reason it expanded is because of Noah. Noah is allowing us to do a lot of different things because of his ability to process and get us in and out quickly. … I’m excited to showcase some of the stuff that nobody has seen yet.”

— Arizona offered a scholarship to Salpointe Catholic sophomore offensive lineman Esteban Molina, who’s listed at 6-5, 275 pounds. Molina is a part of the 2029 recruiting class.