ESPN: Arizona’s Scooby Wright tied for second-best player in NCAA

Scooby Wright is so good that he came in tied for second in ESPN's list of the top 100 players in all of college football.

BY ADAM GREEN

Aug 7, 2015, 9:49 AM Updated: 10:07 am

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Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III, right, sacks Arizona State quarterback Mike Bercovici (2) during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Nov. 28, 2014, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Throughout his entire coaching career, the University of Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez has been known for producing stars on the offensive side of the ball.

However, in Tucson, he has one on defense.

That guy is linebacker Scooby Wright, a junior who is coming off one of the best seasons in school history.

He was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and was also the winner of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Rotary Lombardi Award, Chuck Bednarik Award and the Jack Lambert Award.

So yeah, he’s good. Really good.

He’s so good, in fact, that he came in tied for second in ESPN’s list of the top 100 players in all of college football.

Wright trails only Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa, and is on par with Buckeyes running back Ezekiel Elliott.

The winner of almost every major defensive award last season, Wright redefined the middle linebacker position by tallying huge sack and tackles for loss numbers, which are usually reserved for outside linebackers and edge rushers. Besides leading the nation with 163 total stops (11.6 per game), he also notched 14 solo sacks and led the country with 29 tackles for a loss while helping Arizona to the Pac-12 South title and a spot in the Fiesta Bowl. He also showed his nose for the ball by leading the league with six fumbles recovered.

Impressive, no?

That Wright landed so high on the list is really no surprise, as last season’s performance for the Pac-12 South champions put him in the national spotlight. The tough part, in theory, will be following up his historic campaign with something equally good — or maybe even better.

But that is the goal, and as Wright told TucsonNewsNow.com’s Anthony Gimino, 2014 is in the past.

“Nobody cares what you did last year,” he said. “It’s what you do from here. That’s the way I look at it.”