If Arizona is looking for immediate contributors on defense amongst its new incoming talent, going the graduate transfer route is a good place to start.
Friday, California linebacker Michael Barton tweeted that he was in en route to Tucson from San Francisco. Barton announced in December that he'd be transferring from the Golden Bears for his final year of eligibility as a graduate transfer. Barton will be eligible to officially transfer once he earns his degree from Cal this spring.
SF-Tuscon 🛫
— Michael Barton (@michaelbarton08) January 29, 2016
Barton was an honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection as a sophomore in 2014 after he finished with 80 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and two pass deflections, but lost his starting position in training camp this past season and only had 24 tackles in eight games.
For Arizona, the Wildcats lost Scooby Wright to the NFL and might lose Derrick Turituri for the season due to injuries, so a potential immediate contributor at linebacker would be a welcome addition. Plus, linebackers Cody Ippolito and Jake Matthews will likely miss the entirety of spring drills as they recover from last year's season-ending injuries.
Otherwise, Arizona's other linebacker options are largely unproven outside of junior DeAndre' Miller and senior Paul Magloire. The rest of the bunch includes incoming freshmen Kahi Neves and Jacob Colacion, former Iowa transfer John Kenny, redshirt freshman Kendal Franklin and redshirt sophomore Marquis Ware. Arizona is also after a couple more linebackers for its 2016 class — Kaelin Himphill, Jalen Cochran and Troy Cassidy.
