10 Arizona Wildcats named to preseason East-West Shrine Bowl watchlist

Arizona Wildcats football is well represented on the East-West Shrine Bowl preseason watchlist.

10 UA players have been named to the East-West Shrine Bowl 1000, a list of 1,000 players eligible to play in the annual postseason all-star game that serves as a showcase in front of NFL scouts.

Kyon Barrs, Jacob Cowing, Josh Donovan, Paiton Fears, Jalen Harris, Jordan Morgan, Kyle Ostendorp, Christian Roland-Wallace, Christian Young and Michael Wiley were named to the list.

“This list was extremely difficult for our team to put together, scouring players from all four levels of football and speaking with NFL and college personnel to ensure we put together the best 1000 players for the NFL level,” said a statement on the East-West Shrine Bowl website.

Among Pac-12 programs, only UCLA, Utah and Washington had more than 10 players on the list.

Six of the 10 Arizona players named to the list are rising juniors, while Young, Fears, Donovan and Harris are entering their senior or redshirt senior years.

Barrs may have the most NFL potential of any Arizona player on this year’s roster. The 6-foot-3 junior defensive lineman was named All-Pac-12 Second Team in 2021 after recording 33 tackles including eight for loss as well as a team-high five sacks.

Young, a 6-foot-3 redshirt senior safety, could also draw some NFL buzz this year. He had a career-high 68 tackles a year ago, including five or more tackles in seven games.

Arizona is no stranger to the East-West Shrine Bowl. Last season former Wildcats receiver Stanley Berryhill III competed in the game. Berryhill went undrafted but signed with the Atlanta Falcons as a free agent.