If Scooby leaves early, he won't be overlooked
One of the subplots of Arizona’s 2015 football season is whether junior linebacker Scooby Wright plays himself high into the 2016 NFL draft and bypasses his senior season in Tucson.
Only four inside linebackers were selected during the first two days of this year’s draft (one in the first round, three in the second) and Wright projects as good or better, than them all.
The San Diego Chargers selected Miami’s Denzel Perryman with the 48th overall choice. Perryman is listed in some evaluations as small as 5-foot-11, 235 pounds. He was clocked in a relatively slow 4.78 over 40 yards. But the Chargers referred to him as a “Hammer,” a prototypical strongside inside linebacker.
If that’s not Scooby, what is?
Wright is listed at 6-1, 245 pounds. He made 163 tackles last season to Perryman’s 110. A third-round inside linebacker draftee, Texas’ Jordan Hicks, is listed at 6-1, 235. Hicks missed much of two seasons with Achilles and hip injuries. He was also suspended for disciplinary issues while at Texas.
Yet Hicks went No. 84 overall to Philadelphia. A CBS Sports review of Hicks said he is an inconsistent tackler with “only adequate stopping power.”
I’m no football scout, but based on Perryman and Hicks becoming early-round ILB choices this weekend, Scooby Wright isn’t likely to be on the board very long next year.
