Analyzing new Arizona commit Tayvian Cunningham

We take a look at the JuCo wide receiver

The Arizona Wildcats added another late addition to the 2019 recruiting class in Sacramento City College (Calif.) wide receiver Tayvian Cunningham.

Cunningham made it to campus for an official visit this week and committed while still in Tucson. Read on for a more in-depth look and our thoughts on UA’s newest member of the 2019 class.

Height/Weight: 6-foot, 188 pounds

School/Hometown: Will C. Wood High School (Vacaville, Calif.)

Junior College: Sacramento City College

Offers: None

2018 Stats: 30 rec, 486 yds, 1 TD; KR/PR: 20 ret, 666 yds, 2 TD

Career Stats: 46 rec, 674 yds, 2 TD; KR/PR: 36 ret, 1,233 yds, 6 TD

Rankings: N/A

Analysis

Brandon Combs: The name of the game for Cunningham is speed. He is one of the fastest humans I’ve seen on a football field. Besides it being a natural gift, his speed also comes from his running track during the offseason.

Flipping on the film you see him use a huge burst of speed to blast past the secondary to get behind him and gain huge chunks of yards at a time. This also allows him to turn short passes or bubble screens into chunk plays.

He also has really good vision which allows him to find running lanes with ease.

All those things are impressive but I’m really impressed with his fluidity. His hips are nowhere near stiff and are incredibly smooth. He is able to change direction effortlessly at full speed or wiggle just enough to throw off the defender to get wide open.

And for good measure....he returned six, SIX, kickoffs for touchdowns while at SCC.

All of these weapons in his arsenal make him not only a dangerous slot receiver but also a dangerous return man. Nice little gem tucked away in Northern California for Arizona.

Gabe Encinas: Another late add for the 2019 class here as the staff tries to finalize the roster and I’m curious as to whether they went out and pursued a speedy threat or if Cunningham fell into their laps through connections and took a chance.

He’s incredibly fast and looks like a smooth runner. Even with his track background it doesn’t look like his speed is straight line. He maintains his speed while changing direction and looks fluid while weaving down the field. He’s not exactly shifty, but he can easily add a cutback into his move set.

His film is all about special team and it’s a unit that has greatly suffered at Arizona and where he’ll be able to help immediately. I feel like I was deep into his film and still watching kick returns for touchdowns.

I think he can play outside or in the slot and given the inexperience at the position there’s definitely a shot he cracks the rotation if he can pick up the plays and develop a little more.

He gets great separation on his routes and was used in the flats a good amount. His routes could use some touch up but he doesn’t appear to be a one dimensional route runner. Throws didn’t have great placement but he did tend to catch with his body so I’ll be interested to see how he improves there.

I see him used as a Stanley Berryhill III/Devaughn Cooper hybrid.

He’s definitely the fastest guy on the roster now and if nothing else I think he’s an immediate impact guy on special teams and that’s well worth a scholarship to have such a playmaker back there if this pans out. He is potentially Arizona’s spark plug that fans desperately wanted consistency out of over the last six years.

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