Arizona returning players 2025: Top 5 players who will return to Brent Brennan's squad

After a disappointing 2024 season, the Arizona Wildcats will have several personnel changes coming into the 2025 college football season. Brent Brennan’s team will have 33 newcomers for the 2025 season, 27 of whom are transfers.

The Wildcats, who finished 4-8 last year, also lost a bunch of starters from 2024 either to the NFL, graduation, or the transfer portal. Among them are first-round prospect Tetaioroa McMillan, Jonah Savaiinaea, Gunner Maldonado and Tacario Davis.

As expected by the sheer number of newcomers, that also means there will be several new starters, especially on offense, where six newcomers are expected to take the top spot at their respective positions. But amid those changes, there will also be a few key holdovers. Here are some of their top returning players for the 2025 season.

Top five players returning to the Arizona Wildcats in the 2025 season

Genesis Smith (12) decided to go back to Arizona after entering the transfer portal. - Source: Imagn

#5. Dalton Johnson, Safety

The Arizona Wildcats' leading tackler will be at it again next season. Dalton Johnson finished the year with an impressive 94 tackles, two forced fumbles and a pair of pass deflections. Johnson’s most impressive games were against TCU (15 tackles) and West Virginia (13 tackles). He will try to bring veteran leadership to a unit that ranked 114th in points allowed in 2024.

#4. Chris Hunter, Wide Receiver

Chris Hunter was the second-leading receiver for the Wildcats and is the only returning wideout expected to start in 2025. As a sophomore, the New Orleans, Louisiana native caught 35 balls for 323 yards and three touchdowns. With Tetaioroa McMillan catching passes on Sundays this fall, Hunter should see a larger share of the targets.

#3. Taye Brown, Linebacker

Second on the team with 68 tackles, this past season. Taye Brown added 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He also had at least 10 tackles three times this season. Arizona has room to improve on both sides of the ball, but the junior linebacker is a strong player who should contribute even more next season.

#2. Genesis Smith, Safety

Genesis Smith had entered the transfer portal, but he eventually withdrew his name from the portal and decided to stay one more season in the desert. Smith had 64 tackles, three interceptions, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and six pass breakups in 2024. He was one of the leaders of the Wildcats defense.

Just like Smith, cornerback Marquis Groves-Killebrew decided to drop out of the portal and make his way back to Tucson. Both players will give the Wildcats an experienced secondary. The safety from Chandler, Arizona is expected to have a leadership role for the team in 2025.

#1. Noah Fifita, Quarterback

Entering his junior season, Noah Fifita has been a two-year starter at Arizona. While he has shown traits of a solid starting quarterback, the Wildcats offense has struggled. In 2024, their 21.8 points per game were second to last in the Big 12. The offense only scored over 30 points once in the entire season, and it was in the season opener against New Mexico.

Fifita struggled along with the offense, completing just over 60% of his passes for 2,958 yards, 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The Huntington Beach, California native needs to cut down on mistakes, but has the tools to turn Arizona into a bowl team and a Big 12 contender.