OT: Congrats to RRod for Finding The Gem Of All Gems
Arizona's Scooby Wright won the Nagurski Award for the nation's best defensive player. It's crazy he's only a true sophomoe. Past winners include our own Charles Woodson. Many of you have probably seen him and play and would agree he has the best linebacker in a very long time. Would've been interesting to see him paired with RRod recruited Butkas Finalist Jake Ryan. 140+ tackles (89 solo), 27 tackles for loss and 14 sacks. He had no other offers. For a guy not known for defense, seems to be able to find linebackers.
December 9th, 2014 at 6:00 PM ^
He's a defensive game-changer on a par with Denard as on offensive game-changer.
December 9th, 2014 at 5:34 PM ^
He is Zona's best defender since Bruschi-McAlister. He is what makes college football so damn great.
Honestly, I enjoy watching Zona more for Wright than their offense.(!)
December 9th, 2014 at 6:23 PM ^
Watching that kid find the hole seemingly ever time for tackles in the backfield was impressive. It also seemed like he was in on every play that wasn't a deep pass.
December 9th, 2014 at 5:34 PM ^
He impressed me the couple of different times I watched 'Zona. Except in that 'ship game against Oregon. Nobody from 'Zona looked good in that game. Not even Rich Rod
December 9th, 2014 at 6:51 PM ^
You guys were all richrod this and richrod that, I thought the guy at Az was a different coach.
December 9th, 2014 at 5:34 PM ^
if it weren't for that meddling Dave Brandon.
December 9th, 2014 at 5:49 PM ^
Just looked him up on Rivals: 2 star recruit in 2013 with only an Arizona offer.
edit: I should have read the link.
December 9th, 2014 at 6:21 PM ^
December 9th, 2014 at 5:44 PM ^
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December 9th, 2014 at 6:05 PM ^
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December 9th, 2014 at 10:13 PM ^
His ability to read a defense went downhill this season, significantly so. The bit about reading defenses was trumpeted preseason here after Nussmeier taught him a different way than Borges had. The assumption here was that just showed how incompetent Borges was as a QB coach. The evidence is that Gardner went sharply backwards.
December 9th, 2014 at 5:57 PM ^
December 9th, 2014 at 5:58 PM ^
a sweet youtube esque video?
Here is one from Nov 6th (I believe):
December 9th, 2014 at 6:29 PM ^
Very skilled kid. He's not very big.. but neither is Chris Borland who is going to be a doozy for San Fran.
December 9th, 2014 at 6:31 PM ^
This is the definition of "high motor". In a lot of those tackles you can see that he wraps the ball carrier up and then tries for the strip. Rodriguez was raving about how coachable he is as well which I think is important and probably easier to do with a 2 or 3 star recruit.
December 9th, 2014 at 6:25 PM ^
RichRod has a nack for picking really good 2 and 3 star talent and taking them to levels way beyond what their expected ability was, there is no doubting that.
I even think that the sugar bowl year with RR + Casteel could have been magical for michigan
The one thing he really still sucks ass at is special teams.... just terrible. Still using a walk on kicker. (though he did lose them a game, he also did decent otherwise)
If that guy could put a good special teams package together with a great punter (i think he overlooks the spot due to their tempo of play) they'd be something special... they already were this year..
Good for Scooby, that dude is a BEAST. Good on RR for giving him a shot.
Can we get our harbaugh now and stop thinking about RR? I like the dude, i just don't want to have to think about how the past couple years could have been way better anymore.
December 9th, 2014 at 7:21 PM ^
and fumbled inside their 20 against Oregon and the week before against ASU. Nothing new
December 9th, 2014 at 8:05 PM ^
Eh...Arizona's punter is third in the nation currently and Will Hagerup, who committed to RR, was an Army All-American. Of course RR doesn't "overlook the spot."
December 9th, 2014 at 6:31 PM ^
"Several winners of the Nagurski award have gone on to play at a high level in the NFL, including Luke Kuechly, the reigning defensive player of the year, Champ Bailey, Terrell Suggs, Derrick Johnson and Charles Woodson."
As a minor note, Warren Sapp, Pat Fitzgerald and even the Lions' Ndamukong Suh have one this as well, so some interesting company indeed. Congratulations to him.
December 10th, 2014 at 6:50 AM ^
December 9th, 2014 at 7:02 PM ^
I wonder how many stars his nephew, Scrappy Wright, will get...
December 9th, 2014 at 7:28 PM ^
He was arrested and so he probably would play for the Buckeyes.
December 9th, 2014 at 7:19 PM ^
with offers from
Boise St, Cal-Poly, Cal, Nevade, Sacramento St., San Diego St.
December 9th, 2014 at 8:02 PM ^
He didn't receive offers from any of those schools.
December 9th, 2014 at 7:44 PM ^
Should have a noticeable benefit from all the positive press this season. Anyone know how many openings are available ?
December 9th, 2014 at 8:00 PM ^
He is the #1 reason to watch Arizona play. He shows up every single game and makes big plays. His sack, TFL, and forced fumble totals would be in the top three nationally in any of the past seven years, and he does it playing behind a 250 pound walk-on nose tackle. He has a crazy motor and is damned near unblockable. He's really fun to watch.
December 9th, 2014 at 8:04 PM ^
December 9th, 2014 at 8:25 PM ^
Truly is kind to those that get fired from Michigan.
December 9th, 2014 at 8:33 PM ^
December 9th, 2014 at 8:50 PM ^
December 9th, 2014 at 9:36 PM ^
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December 9th, 2014 at 11:58 PM ^
Arizona 2014: DFEI rank 33, S&P+ rank 43
December 10th, 2014 at 8:59 AM ^
thought this was going to be about Gardner and his character
December 10th, 2014 at 9:27 AM ^
Congrats to Rich Rod, he did his job as a coach and recruited a good player.
I remember back to 2008, when Rich Rod had 6 NFL players on his defense (Jamison, Graham, Martin, Mouton, Trent, Brown), four of which have started in the NFL, and they were awful.
Glad he is having success in Zona, but unlike some here, I remember the Rich Rod who only beat Purdue and Illinois his final season here as we struggles to get to 7 wins. Anyone with a pulse beat us like a drum.
December 10th, 2014 at 6:50 PM ^
This is a saucy subject, but I can't resist!
Scooby should have had more offers and I'd bet he was overlooked because he's white. I always thought RR was "fair" in terms of evaluating talent, as opposed to Hoke who pretty much told incumbent starting safety Ray Vinopal to beat it.
Wisconsin football isn't quite "elite" but they are regularly ranked and start 15 or 16 whites, some even at "skill positions" that aren't usually reserved for "lunch pail" type players. It's such a stark anomaly and yet it can absolutely never be discussed. I am inclined to believe that there are a few more Scooby Wrights out there for the plucking in every recruiting class.