Jacob Cowing, Arizona Football News: Draft Scout Player News

08/14/22 - WR Jacob Cowing, rSr/2024, Arizona

Asked whether he expected to touch the ball a certain number of times per game in his first season as an Arizona Wildcat, Jacob Cowing said exactly what you'd expect him to say: "Not at all. I'm a team-first guy. As long as us as a team are getting the job done and we get the win (that's) what matters to me. I don't really care about personal stats. I just want to get the win and turn this program around." Cowing's sincerity about winning games and turning UA football around can't be questioned. The other part, though? "He's lying to you," receivers coach Kevin Cummings said, laughing. "He wants the ball every play. He's a competitor that way." Cowing didn't come to Arizona to be a decoy, although he could be an effective one at times. He came, at least in part, because he knows Jedd Fisch can help elevate his game and boost his NFL draft stock. Just ask Stanley Berryhill III, Cowing's predecessor as a slot receiver and all-around weapon in Fisch's offense. Berryhill caught 83 passes for 744 yards last year, becoming just the sixth player in school history to have 80-plus receptions in a season.

Berryhill also had 19 rushes and 18 punt returns. All told, that's 120 touches, or 10 per game. Cowing is expected to be Arizona's primary punt returner. He's also in the mix to return kickoffs. Fisch wants to get him the ball as much as possible in as many ways as possible. The transfer from UTEP will line up in the slot, on the outside, maybe even in the backfield at times. He'll go deep, catch bubble screens and run fly sweeps. "There are not many limitations to his game," Cummings said. "He can go vertical. He can win man on man. And he's got the smarts and the savviness to adjust to some of that stuff in the slot, some of those zone coverages, slip defenders. "It's on us as a staff to put him in as many different spots as we can to use those skill sets. For him, he's just going out there playing, and wherever we line him up, he's done a great job of figuring out where he needs to be and how to run it." - Arizona Star News

rSr/2024