Arizona Football Top Five All-Time Receivers

Throughout its history, Arizona football has seen many ups and downs with the program making 22 bowl games and recording four 10-win seasons. In 1998, the Wildcats finished with a school-record 12 wins capped off with a 23-20 win over Nebraska.

As the program gears up for its 122nd season with head coach Brent Brennan entering his second season at the helm, we will be ranking the top five players at each position to get you ready for the 2025 season.

As we continue throughout this position process of breaking down the top five players of all-time, we have arrived at the receiver unit, which has grown stronger over the last 20 years in Tucson.

5. Theopolis Bell (1972-75)

One of the first star receivers in program history was Theopolis “T” Bell, who was a steady force with his 6-foot, 185-pound frame. He was a combination of quality size and positioning ability to get open in an era where passing the ball all around the field was uncommon.

What really stands out about Bell is his yards per catch average, which sits at 16.4 making him a big play receiver. Also, he was a touchdown machine hauling in 30 receiving TDs with 19 of them coming in his junior and senior seasons.

4. Dennis Northcutt (1996-99)

During the 1998 season, Arizona’s offense was in its prime for the Dick Tomey era, which wasn’t known for strong offensive units. However that season, the Wildcats had a great running game and a solid air attack led by Dennis Northcutt in the receiving room.

Although Northcutt was a monster during his junior year, it was really his senior season that got him on this list where he recorded 1,422 yards on 88 receptions averaging 16.2 yards per catch and hauling in eight touchdowns. 

3. Juron Criner (2008-11)

If you grew up watching Arizona football in the 2000’s and had to suffer through the John Mackovic, you know the darkest times in program history. However, by the mid-2000’s it became all worth it as the program started turning things around and set up a memorable 2009 season.

By the end of that year, Criner became the top receiver on the roster and had his coming out party against Oregon during the game of the week with College Gameday in town. That night he went off scoring three touchdowns while racking up 93 yards on five catches.

Similar to Bell, Criner was a touchdown machine totaling 32 for his career and became the No. 1 option for Arizona legend Nick Foles. It is arguably the best QB-WR duo in program history.

2. Bobby Wade (1999-02)

The gold standard for a number of years when it comes to receivers for Arizona had been Bobby Wade, who was the all-time leading receiver with his career 3,351 yards on 230 receptions for 22 years.

Wade’s best season came during his senior season where he hauled in 1,389 yards on 93 receptions. After Arizona, he had a solid six-year career at the NFL level playing for the Vikings, Bears, Titans and Chiefs. Now, he is the WR coach for Brent Brennan trying to turn around the program and get it in the right direction.

1. Tetairoa McMillan (2022-24)

Wade’s record stood for 22 years but then a five-star recruit by the name of Tetairoa McMilan came to Arizona and from the first season you could tell that he was different and could do amazing things.

During McMillan’s freshman year, he totaled 702 yards on just 39 receptions to go along with his eight touchdowns.

From the first spring practice, McMillan was turning heads and leaving coaches, players, fans and media members in awe of his superstar talent.

McMillan by the time he was done helped get the program to the Alamo Bowl finishing 10-3 on the season and broke the all-time receiving yards record by posting 3,423 yards on 213 receptions to go with his 26 touchdowns.

Records may and will be broken eventually especially in an offensive minded era of college football. Yet, there will never be another McMillan, who has Larry Fitzgerald-like skill sets and might be the most talented player in the history of the program.

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