After holding it down in the middle as a leader of the defense for the past three seasons, the last member the UA’s three-headed monster has found his home in the NFL. Arizona defensive back Dalton Johnson is heading to the Las Vegas Raiders after being taken in the 5th round with the 150th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
With Johnson joining Treydan Stukes and the Las Vegas Raiders and Genesis Smith going to the Los Angeles Chargers, the Wildcats have now had three defensive backs taken in the same draft for the first time in program history.
Johnson is another player that continued to choose Arizona through plenty of ups and downs in Tucson. He originally committed to Kevin Sumlin, but remained loyal to the Wildcats when Jedd Fisch took over at the helm. When Fisch departed for Washington following the 2023 season, Johnson once again chose the UA.
That decision to spend his career in Tucson proved to be a wise one. Johnson led the Wildcats in tackles in back-to-back seasons, finishing with 94 tackles in 2024 and 97 tackles in 2025. He played his most complete season as a senior in 2025, where he was one a three players with a team-high four interceptions, and also finished with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, earning First Team All-Big 12 honors.
During his five-year career wearing the Red and Blue, Johnson finished with 286 tackles, five interceptions, 15 pass deflections, seven forced fumbles, and the lone fumble recovery.
Dalton Johnson joins a Las Vegas Raiders team that features defensive standout Maxx Crosby, as well as premier linebacker Nakobe Dean. He’s also now part of a draft class for the Silver and Black that includes No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, as well as defensive backs Stukes and Jermond McCoy.