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Sep 3, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Stickers on the helmets of Arizona Wildcats platers depict depict the number 65 for deceased player Zach Hemmila (not pictured) prior to the game against the Brigham Young Cougars at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Arizona Wildcats Top Three Freshmen

Originally posted on Arizona Wildcats on SI
By Troy Hutchison | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 10:00 AM ET

Arizona football is officially BACK in action and the long offseason is finally coming to an end as the Wildcats have opened up their 2025 training camp to get things geared up for the season with the team set to face Hawaii on Aug. 30 at home at 7:30 p.m. (MST) on TNT.

After an underwhelming 2024 season under Brent Brennan where Arizona went 4-8 after starting the year in the preseason AP Poll at No. 21 and ending the year losing 7 out of its last 8 games, the Wildcats made changes to the roster and their coaching staff.

Brennan revamped his coaching staff by hiring Seth Doege as the offensive coordinator and promoting Danny Gonzales to the defensive coordinating job. Plus, he was able to bring in defensive line coach Joe Salave’a, who is regarded as one of the top recruiters in the nation and a former Wildcat as well.

“When we go through a tough season like we did a year ago, you got to find a way to fix what was broken, fix what wasn’t working and put those pieces together,” Brennan said. “And part of those pieces are how we’re going to do things in terms of how we’re going to coach, what we’re going to do schematically and the other part is who are the players that are going to play those roles.”

The energy at practice was high, loud and the pace of play was a complete 180 from the previous season and matches the mindset and mentality that the coaching staff wasn’t to bring to the 2025 season.

This offseason, Arizona added 61 new faces to its roster from the transfer portal and recruiting class. Throughout camp, we have seen many of the true freshmen standout and make an impact in 11-on-11 drills and they try to find their place on the roster.

Here we breakdown the top three freshmen performances of training camp thus far and what it could mean for the 2025 season:

Top Freshmen

Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Gio Richardson

One of the most underrated recruits of the 2025 recruiting cycle was three-star receiver Gio Richardson, who helped put Basha football on the map but suffered a serious injury his final year in high school that kept him out of spring football for Arizona.

Since recovering from the injury, Richardson has been getting better each day of training camp and has been one of the best freshmen on the Wildcats’ roster.

Richardson has torched the defensive units the last couple of days in camp and has proven to be one of the better options out in space for Doege in his offensive scheme. He has gone from seeing little time with the second unit to being a major part of the first team rotation of receivers.

Coleman Patmon

The defensive backs position is loaded in the secondary for Arizona and is the deepest position on the roster with three key veterans in Treydan Stukes, Genesis Smith and Dalton Johnson all playing a high number of snaps with each other. Plus, the staff brought in added depth through the transfer portal and recruiting class.

One of the freshmen that has been highly impressive this training camp is defensive back Coleman Patmon, who comes from Del Valle, Texas where he picked the Wildcats over offers from TCU, Northwestern, Oklahoma State and Arkansas.

In camp, Patmon has been a monster in the secondary and has been making plays left and right in the passing game and has even seen a little time with the first team defense.

Now, he still has a long way to progress but Patmon is clearly a recruiting steal for Arizona and will be a high-level player possibly this season.

Wesley Yarbrough

One of the top freshmen in the 2025 recruiting class was running back Wesley Yarbrough, who picked the Wildcats over other major offers while he was playing in Houston. In camp, Yarbrough has been a force with his elite size and quick agility giving him the ability to pick up big chunk plays in 11-on-11 drills.

Coach Carter enforces blocking with his running backs and lives by the mantra ‘no block, no rock,’ and Yarbrough has been blocking at a high-level against the first and second team units.

This article first appeared on Arizona Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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