It took until the final snap of the final game of the regular season for the NFL playoffs to be finalized. And unfortunately, that last play involved a former Arizona Wildcat becoming a scapegoat for an entire fanbase.
Kicker Tyler Loop missed a 44-yard field goal on Sunday night that would have given the Baltimore Ravens the AFC North Division title and a playoff home game this weekend. Instead, it was a painful end to an otherwise stellar rookie season for Loop, whom Baltimore drafted in the 6th
round in April as a replacement for Justin Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history.
Loop, one of three ex-UA kickers to play in the NFL this season, had been 29 for 29 on field goals inside of 50 yards before his missing. He finished the season 30 of 34 while making 44 of 46 PATs, his 134 points ranking 7th-best in the league and his 30 field goals tied for 10th-most in NFL history by a rookie.
Sadly, that one miss drew a ton of rancor from Ravens fans, who in addition to attack Loop on social media went after his fiancee.
Loop’s rookie season compares favorably to that of fellow ex-UA kicker Nick Folk, who in 2007 with the Dallas Cowboys was 26 of 31 on field goals during the regular season. Folk just completed his 18th NFL season, going 28 for 29 with the New York Jets, and his 431 field goals are the most among active kickers and 12th in NFL history.
Here’s how Arizona’s three other rookies fared during the 2025 season:
Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Carolina Panthers
The No. 9 pick in the 2025 draft, McMillan more than lived up to the hype he’d brought with him from college. He broke the Panthers’ rookie receiving record with 1,014 yards, doing so on 70 catches with seven touchdowns.
The top rookie in yards and TDs, T-Mac is the 35th to reach 1,000 yards in his first season. He’s considered the favorite to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, with FanDuel Sportsbook putting his odds at -1500 with New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart next at +950.
Those numbers are far and away better than any other ex-UA receiver in their rookie season, and he’s the first former Wildcat with 1,000 receiving yards since Rob Gronkowski had the last of his four 1,000-yard seasons in 2007. You have to go back to 1989 to find an ex-Wildcat receiver to get to 1K, when Vance Johnson did it with the Denver Broncos.
T-Mac’s seven TDs are already tied for 7th-most by a former Arizona player in NFL history. He’ll get to add to his resume on Saturday when the Panthers, despite going 8-9, host the Los Angeles Rams as NFC South Division champs.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Washington Commanders
Though he only played one game for the UA in 2024, before held out the rest of the season over eligibility concerns, Croskey-Merritt is still a Wildcat. And he did some things as a rookie that no other ex-Arizona ball carrier had done.
A 7th-round pick, Croskey-Merritt was so impress early in training camp he prompted Washington to trade its leading rusher from the previous season. He ended up starting seven games for the Commanders, finishing the season as their top run producer with 805 yards and eight TDs.
Croskey-Merritt had a pair of 100-yard games, both of which saw him also score twice. He finished fourth among rookie RBs in yards and second in TDs.
The only ex-Wildcat to run for more yards as a rookie with Paul Robinson, who had 1,023 for the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968. Robinson’s the uncle of Bijan Robinson and is the all-time UA rushing leader in the NFL with 2,947 yards.
Jonah Savaiinaea, OL, Miami Dolphins
Taken in the 2nd round by Miami, Savaiinaea started every game at left guard and never left the field, playing all 982 snaps. That was eighth-most among rookie offensive linemen.
From a grading standpoint, though, Savaiinaea struggled. Pro Football Focus gave him a season grade of 28.4, last among rookies who played at least 20 percent of a team’s offensive snaps. He allowed 45 pressures including eight sacks, his pass blocking grade 14.1
Savaiinaea was the second UA lineman in as many years to get drafted, following Jordan Morgan who was a 1st-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2024. Morgan only played in six games as a rookie, with one start, before starting 12 games this season at three different positions on the Packers’ line.
