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Arizona football recruiting SitRep: Defensive line targets, possible commits, and more

Taking a look at Arizona’s top defensive tackle priorities

USC v Arizona Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images

Recruiting has slowed down for the Arizona Wildcats.

With a dead period going on this month along with fall camp, the coaching staff’s time is pretty much all eaten up.

However, there are prospects making their decisions during this timeframe and there is a California-based player who is making his decision soon.

Let’s dive into it in this week’s SitRep.


Defensive Tackle Priorities

We will start off this week with priorities along the interior defensive line.

Tyler Manoa/St. Francis High School (Mountain View, CA)

The Bay Area defensive lineman visited Tucson back in the spring. Since then, the Wildcats have been in a good spot with the big defensive tackle. As the second ranked d-tackle in California and the third in the West, there’s going to be a lot of competition for Manoa’s services. There is a lot of buzz around the hometown Golden Bears but, Arizona seems to be sitting well right now.

Jackson Cravens/Timpview High School (Provo, UT)

Cravens has become a major priority for the Wildcats this cycle. He is the cousin of former USC Trojan and current Washington Redskin Su’a Cravens. For the most part, Cravens doesn't talk about his recruitment too much, but in-state schools such as BYU and Utah get a lot of attention as potential landing spots. Cravens recently picked up an offer from Georgia, so it’ll be interesting to see where his recruitment goes.

Paul Maile/East High School (Salt Lake City, UT)

Maile is another Utah defensive tackle who Arizona is sitting well with. He, too, is pretty quiet about his recruitment overall, but it is surrounded by a lot of Utah buzz. Arizona could make up some major ground with a visit and it’s possible that he will take one out to Tucson during the season.

Caleb Tremblay/American River C.C. (Sacramento, CA)

Tremblay, originally from Napa, Calif., is a big JUCO d-tackle who could add immediate help for the Wildcats. He has offers from Washington, Oregon, and Alabama as well, so his recruitment could go in 15 different ways. He is a priority for the ‘Cats but the staff will need to get him on campus for an official visit to have a chance.


Josh Walker

The ‘Cats added another member to its class this past week in three-star defensive lineman Josh Walker, and it’s an important pickup. Most everyone figured Walker was headed to ASU. As a matter of fact, Arizona wasn’t even in his top three. And there was a reason for that.

Walker told Rivals.com that he wanted to surprise everyone, hence why he didn’t mention the ‘Cats.

Walker is a really nice get for Arizona and Vince Amey. He has a real nasty streak to his game and has an aggressive playing style. Arizona will have to work to keep him, though, as there is always the possibility of other schools trying to poach him.


McKenzie Barnes

I caught up with the Fresno, Calif. cornerback after he released a top 3 of Arizona, Oregon, and Washington State. He made it out to Tucson for a visit last weekend and came away impressed. He liked the time he got to spend with the coaches and players. Barnes has a solid relationship with his lead recruiter Vince Amey and established good rapport with Marcel Yates and Chris Singletary while on campus.

Barnes is set to choose between Arizona, Oregon, and WSU on Aug. 12 and likes all three of his options. This is a recruitment that Arizona fans should keep a close eye on.

We will have more from Barnes later this week.


Recruiting notes

  • One target off of the board that had Arizona high on his list is Dominique Hampton. The Centennial High School (Peoria, Ariz.) corner chose the Washington Huskies on Monday and it isn’t much of a surprise. He made it pretty clear that the Huskies were his leader after he took a visit up to Seattle.

2018 Arizona football commits

Name Position Position Ranking Rating Height Weight High School City
Name Position Position Ranking Rating Height Weight High School City
Armani Adams S 117 *** 6-0 190 Lakewood St. Petersburg, FL
Tre Adams WR 182 *** 6-3 190 Wakeland Frisco, TX
McKenzie Barnes CB 123 *** 6-2 170 Edison Fresno, CA
Jailen Bailey WR 278 *** 5-10 180 Lincoln San Diego, CA
Steven Bailey OG 39 *** 6-3 290 Centennial (Glendale CC) Peoria, AZ
Jaiden Dockery S 95 *** 6-0 195 Lancaster Lancaster, TX
Jhevon Hill ATH 66 *** 6-3 185 Cajon San Bernardino, CA
Martell Irby RB 101 *** 5-10 200 Morse San Diego, CA
Mykee Irving DT 42 *** 6-4 330 Calabasas Calabasas, CA
Issaiah Johnson ILB 36 *** 6-3 220 Los Alamitos Los Alamitos, CA
Jamarye Joiner QB (Dual Threat) 24 *** 6-3 205 Cienega Vail, AZ
Donovan Laie OT 102 *** 6-6 315 Oceanside Oceanside, CA
Thomas Marcus WR 171 *** 6-4 185 San Diego San Diego, CA
Jaden Mitchell WR 193 *** 6-0 180 Desert Pines Las Vegas, NV
Jake Peters TE 62 *** 6-5 240 Santa Margarita Catholic Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
Adam Plant WDE 48 *** 6-5 245 Bishop Gorman Las Vegas, NV
Darrius Smith RB 119 *** 5-10 175 Dawson Pearland, TX
David Watson OT 117 *** 6-6 300 Amphitheater Tucson, AZ
Zach Williams WR 211 *** 6-3 205 Jones Creek Alpharetta, GA
Christian Young S 60 *** 6-1 201 Foster Richmond, TX