Arizona safety Dalton Johnson earns Big 12 Player of the Week honors

Without the play of Arizona’s defense, Arizona isn’t likely to be sitting with eight wins heading into the Territorial Cup. The collective effort of Danny Gonzales’ squad has kept the Wildcats in some games and been the deciding factor in others.

And now it finally has an individual honoree from the Big 12 Conference.

Dalton Johnson has been recognized as one of the league’s two defensive players of the week following his tremendous performance in the win over Baylor. The senior safety had 18 tackles, the most by a UA player since Scooby Wright in 2014.

Johnson is Arizona’s first defensive player to get a weekly conference honor since defensive lineman Jalen Harris in 2022. This season the Wildcats have been recognized four times on offense, with Noah Fifita being honored twice along with running backs Quincy Craig and Ismail Mahdi once each.

Johnson, one of 28 seniors who played their last home game for the Wildcats on Saturday, leading the UA with 94 tackles. That matches his 2024 and would make him the first UA safety to lead the team in tackles in consecutive seasons since Darrell Brooks in 2004-05.

For the season Johnson has 94 tackles, two for loss including a sack, as well as three interceptions and five pass breakups. For his career he has 283 tackles, 13 for loss, and four picks over 51 games.