Two Wide Receivers Emerged as Stand Outs During Arizona's Preseason Camp
Coming into the year, all the conversation surrounding the Arizona Wildcats' wide receiver unit is centered around what their future first round pick Tetairoa McMillan can accomplish this season.
The projected All-American should be able to put up good numbers with star quarterback Noah Fifita back and offensive coordinator Dino Babers teasing some new wrinkles being added to this side of the ball.
However, it has to be pointed out that McMillan was able to go over 1,400 yards in 2023 with Jacob Cowing on the other side. The fourth round pick in the 2024 NFL draft was able to take some attention off the superstar by catching 90 balls of his own.
For Arizona to have a successful offense, someone will have to replace Cowing's production.
It wasn't known who might step into that role despite there being some intriguing internal candidates, so preseason camp was a great opportunity for the other wide receivers on this roster to showcase what they could do and earn themselves a larger role this year.
According to Jason Scheer of 247Sports, two players stood out during this period.
The first is junior college transfer Jeremiah Patterson, who was generating a lot of buzz early on that suggested he might even be named a starter.
"It took about one practice to see how good Patterson is and by the end of camp, it became clear that he is in line for a starting role ... Towards the end of camp, Patterson was a bit quieter, but that does not diminish the fact that at one point there wasn't really anybody that could cover him in open space," he wrote.
Scheer noted Patterson's blazing speed, something that was on display with the City College of San Mateo when he had 328 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
While those numbers don't exactly jump off the page, it does suggest he could be productive for Arizona, something they need from their various receivers.
The other one who stood out was Devin Hyatt.
When McMillan was sidelined recovering from his injury that held him out of the spring game, that gave other players reps with the first unit to see how they might look.
Scheer said he took advantage of that situation.
"Devin Hyatt was given an opportunity to emerge and he did just that. Hyatt is closer to the top of the receiver rotation than he is to the bottom and has made both the simple plays and the fantastic ones as well," he wrote.
All of this is a great sign for the Wildcats.
Again, they need other players to step up so defenses can't just double team McMillan all game.
If these two are able to provide some productivity, that will allow their superstar to produce and give this offense a great chance of being one of the top units in the country.
BRAD WAKAI