Arizona
Breakout Arizona RB Set for Bigger Role in 2026
The weather in Tucson has gotten warmer, and the days are getting longer, meaning one thing: football season has returned to the delight of Arizona fans everywhere.
Spring football practice began a little over a week ago, and the Wildcats are looking to build off of an impressive season that saw them go 9-4, finish as the 21st-ranked team in the NCAA, and earn an appearance in the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl.
Although it is just spring practice and full pads haven’t been worn yet, Arizona is looking like a strong team, and as teammates continue to gel over the months, it will only get better.
The running back position group is greatly benefiting from having four returning players and a new coach in Lyle Moevao, who is already familiar with the Wildcats and how head coach Brent Brennan and offensive coordinator Seth Doege like to run things.
Quincy Craig was a part of a three-running back committee that had all the makings of an elite-level backfield. Now that Ismail Mahdi is gone and preparing for the NFL Draft, he and Kedrick Reescano are the team’s veterans and will see a lot more carries throughout the season.
Craig’s Initial Growing Pains in First Year With Arizona
In his first season with the Wildcats, Craig established himself as an all-purpose back who can scorch a defense, both on the ground and through the air. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Sacramento State missed just one game and racked up 364 yards on 65 carries (5.6 yards) while also snagging 14 receptions for 114 yards,
Although transferring to a new team and getting acclimated to another offense may seem like a huge burden, Craig actually got used to it quickly, and it showed on the field. Now that he is in his second year, he is fully used to the ‘RedLine’ ways and credits the coaching staff and players for the smooth transition.
“I think the coaching staff does a really good job at keeping everybody together, and the team also does a good job at accepting everybody,” Craig said. “I actually do think that we have the potential to be another really close team, and I think that’s going to benefit us in the fall.”
Craig Taking Time To Get Back to Full Health
The 2025 season took a toll on Craig’s body. An undisclosed injury even sidelined him in Arizona’s week 11 game against Baylor. Craig is listed as limited in spring practice, meaning he is taking all the necessary steps to rehab any lingering injuries so he will be 100% by the time summer camp rolls around.
“It’s definitely been a grind,” Craig said. “We each have our ups and downs, and I think this is something to where, how can we be of value for the team through our own injury or through our own circumstances right now?”
Craig Accepting Leadership Role
Now that Craig is considered one of the veterans of the running back room, Moevao challenged him and Reecano to take on more of a leadership role with the second-year players Wesley Yarbrough and Cornelius Warren.
Craig feels that the coaches have done an exceptional job in letting him speak and share advice with the younger players, which allows him to be a role model on the field.
“I think our coaching staff does a really good job at letting us have the opportunity to talk and speak out about it,” Craig said. “I’m definitely taking this role of trying to, ‘how can I be of value?’ That’s the main thing that I’m really trying to step up… As of right now, it’s me trying to vocalize and become more of a leader into the situation. Just trying to take it day by day.”
Arizona’s spring practice will run through April 22, giving Craig about a month to fully rehab any lingering injuries. Until then, he will continue to be a vocal leader and help the running back room improve.
Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Druw Jones needed a home run to complete the cycle when he dug into the batter’s box in the eighth inning of a Double-A game on Wednesday night.
Jones, playing for Double-A Amarillo, stayed behind the baseball and drove an inside pitch to right-center field for his first home run of the season, earning the first cycle in Sod Poodles history.
🚨 DRUW JONES CYCLE 🚨
The @Dbacks prospect becomes the first @sodpoodles player to notch the milestone! pic.twitter.com/5U9ubTtIga
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 30, 2026
The 22-year-old knocked out the toughest leg first with a triple to right field in the third inning against the Midland Rockhounds (Athletics). Jones zoomed from home to third base in 11 seconds, Corbin Carroll-esque speed, for his first triple of the season.
Jones singled in the fifth on a ground ball that skipped under shortstop Joshua Kuroda-Grauer’s glove on what would have been a tight play at first base, and in the sixth, he doubled to right field.
His home run came off right-handed pitcher Mitch Myers to give Amarillo a 9-2 lead in a 10-2 win — infield prospect Cristofer Torin went back-to-back with Jones.
The last Diamondbacks major leaguer to hit for the cycle was Aaron Hill, who did so twice within 11 days of each other in 2012. The most recent cycle in Major League Baseball came from Minnesota’s Byron Buxton on July 12.
Jones is the No. 16 prospect in Arizona’s system as ranked by MLB Pipeline and No. 17 by Baseball America.
Known for his defense, the outfielder has gotten off to a slow start statistically with a .229/.345/.343 slash line in his first 19 games playing Double-A baseball. He hit .286 in Cactus League this past spring and performed well in the World Baseball Classic for Team Netherlands.
PHOENIX — Chandler residents may be one step closer to ending about $1.7 million a year in property taxes paid to the Roosevelt Water Conservation District after the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the city’s water agreement.
The court ruled that Chandler’s water agreement with the Roosevelt Water Conservation District remains enforceable through 2086, ending a yearslong dispute over water deliveries and taxes paid by thousands of property owners.
“Nearly 27,000 Chandler households have paid Roosevelt Water Conservation District property taxes for years without water benefits. That ends with this ruling,” Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke said in a Wednesday announcement.
Why were Chandler and RWCD in court over a water agreement?
City officials said the dispute began when the district, known as RWCD, stopped honoring its agreement to provide water to Chandler. The most recent version of that deal was signed in 2002.
Last year, Hartke told KTAR News 92.3 FM that RWCD would sometimes let water go to waste rather than sell it to the city.
RWCD was formed more than a century ago to irrigate about 40,000 acres of farmland in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and southeastern Maricopa County. As those lands urbanized, Chandler continued purchasing water through the district’s water rights.
The court rejected RWCD’s argument that Chandler waited too long to sue.
“Water is a critical public resource, and this ruling restores a key component of Chandler’s 100-year assured water supply,” Hartke said.
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Two months since the war in Iran began, the conflict shows no clear ending in sight.
President Donald Trump posted on social media that Iran is in a “state of collapse” but offered no additional context for what that means. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
The ripple effects of the war are felt around the world, with changes in gas and fuel prices impacting consumers.
Gas prices climb
In the days before the war began, the average price for a gallon of gas in Arizona was $3.59. On Tuesday, April 28, the average is $4.63. That price is even higher in Maricopa County, sitting at $4.76.
“My husband has a diesel truck, and that’s just outrageous right now. I put premium in my car, so it’s very expensive, too,” said Kathie Nunn, who lives in Phoenix.
Airline costs soar
It’s not just drivers feeling the pinch. Flyers are too.
“I would say roughly 15 or 20 percent more is what I’ve noticed that I have to pay more,” one traveler said.
The week before the war started, the price of jet fuel was $2.50 a gallon. On Tuesday, April 28, the price is $4.26, according to Airlines for America.
“I fly Southwest mostly. I was able to get a straight flight home and two from here. It was higher than normal, for sure,” said Patrick Foy, who was flying from Phoenix to Louisiana.
Major airliners have already raised checked baggage fees because of the rising fuel prices, while some of the smaller, budget airlines are asking the federal government for billions of dollars in assistance.
“It’s obviously frustrating. It affects our family’s budget,” Foy said.
Gas experts have said even when the war in Iran ends, the full relief people see at the pump or when buying a plane ticket will most likely not be immediate.
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