Arizona football: A look at Wildcats’ wide receivers entering 2026 training camp

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Training camp for the 2026 season is set to begin Aug. 5, when Brent Brennan and his staff will try to build upon last year’s 9-4 record with a roster that combines plenty of top returners with talented newcomers. The season opener is Sept. 5 at Casino Del Sol Stadium against NAU.

To get you primed for camp, we’re breaking down each position group on the roster. Up next we focus on the wide receiver room.

Players on roster: 13

Projected starters: Chris Hunter (R-Sr.), Giovanni Richardson (Soph.), Tre Spivey (R-Jr.)

Arizona has to replace its top two pass catchers from a year ago, Kris Hutson and Javin Whatley, who combined for 101 receptions, 1,254 yards and nine touchdowns. But there’s plenty of returning experience for quarterback Noah Fifita to work with. Hunter, Spivey and Richardson combined for 71 catches, 1,052 yards and 11 scores.

Spivey was a scoring machine, finding the end zone seven times on just 23 receptions (and also scored once on a run play). That was on only 40 targets, a number that’s sure to go up with another year under his belt getting acclimated to Seth Doege’s offense.

Hunter, who has played in 30 games for the Wildcats, has 62 career receptions while Richardson had a promising freshman season to build off.

Top backups: Rodney Gallagher III (Sr.), DJ Jordan (R-Soph.), Isaiah Mizell (Soph.), RJ Mosley (Fr.), Brandon Phelps (R-Soph.), Jordan Ross (Jr.)

Arizona’s receiver rotation could be as deep as eight on a regular basis, and there’s no shortage for who will be the second and third waves of pass catchers coming in for routes. That’s where the Wildcats’ transfer portal pickups will come into play.

Gallagher played in 38 games at West Virginia from 2023-25, starting 22 times including in the Mountaineers’ win at Arizona in 2024. Ross made five starts at Colorado State in two years and Jordan is a former 4-star prospect from the 2024 recruiting class whom the UA offered during the Jedd Fisch era.

Throw in returners Mizell and Phelps, both of whom showed glimpses of their potential last season, and Mosley, the top-rated member of the Wildcats’ incoming freshman class, and training camp will see some fierce competition for the receiver pecking order.

Newcomer most likely to make instant impact: Gallagher

With 64 receptions, 605 yards and three TDs in his career, Gallagher brings starting experience to Tucson and will compete for the starting job in the slot. He also ran 45 times at West Virginia and could be used like Whatley was in 2026 as someone you want to get the ball to in whatever way possible.

Coaching outlook

Alum Bobby Wade enters his third season coaching receivers and has his work cut out for him during camp to figure out how to best allocate snaps. There’s no go-to guy, like in his first year with future NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan, but that didn’t stop him in 2025 when he got Fifita to trust a multitude of options.

Next up: Tight ends

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