Scooby Wright Scouting Report: Arizona Wildcat Could be Draft Wildcard

[Da-news-now]

Scooby Wright has a wide range of projections early on in this draft process. Pre-Combine he was projected anywhere from first round to fourth. While his Combine results were damaging, his game tape shows the talent and athleticism that could improve the Green Bay defense.

Scooby Wright III has quickly built himself from a two-star linebacker recruit to a household name. Wright earned his way into the Arizona starting lineup as a freshman in 2013. Starting in 12 of 13 games that season, Wright managed 43 solo tackles (83 combined tackles) and 9.5 TFL. Wright then put up one of the best sophomore seasons in memory, tallying 99 solo tackles (164 combined tackles), 31 TFL, and 15 sacks. This outstanding year earned Wright the Lombardi, Bednarik and Nagurski awards. Wright was also the first ever true sophomore ever named PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Year. On top of all this, he garnered enough respect to finish ninth in the Heisman voting.

However, all hero stories need to travel through the darkness, and Wright's darkness was the 2015 season. He only played in two games through the regular season with a meniscus tear and then a foot injury. He made his triumphant return by appearing, and starring in, the New Mexico Bowl. In his last chance before declaring for the NFL Draft, Wright impressed with 15 total tackles, including two sacks and 2.5 TFL. Wright was able to get through the injury and show that he was still a disruptive force.

Still, his NFL projection has been hard to figure. ESPN and others have projected Wright in the third round at best. On the other hand, some raters have placed him at the back part of the first round. Wright was a monster in 2014 and was not on the field enough in 2015 to get a fair idea of where he should stand.

On the positive side, Scooby Wright is a sure tackler. He has that high motor and chip on the shoulder so common in two-star athletes. As a demonstration of how much he has internalized his underdog role, he has a tattoo of David and Goliath on his left arm. However, despite his lack of recruiting interest, Scooby is an athlete. Wright participated in the SPARQ testing in high school and earned a 103.98 overall score. That score was good enough for 124th overall (and was higher than Tebow or Reggie Bush in previous years). At the time, Wright ran a 4.88-second 40-yard dash (though he claims to have been clocked at 4.65), a 4.36 second 20 yard shuttle, a 37.4 inch vertical jump and a Kneeling Power Ball Toss of 37.0 feet. At this year's NFL Scouting Combine, Wright did himself no favors, placing the slowest 40 time among inside linebackers (4.90 seconds). He had a 31 inch vertical jump (placing him just a half inch below Reggie Ragland) and showed good upper body strength with 22 bench reps.

Beyond the pure numbers, however, Wright has great play recognition and great power. Additionally, Wright has great hand work and pass rushing skills. If drafted by the Packers, his ability to beat blocks could give him an advantage over Jake Ryan.

For the downside, Wright is hardly the fastest linebacker. For comparison to Wright's 4.90 second 40 time, Joshua Perry has a 4.68 and Reggie Ragland put up a 4.72. For an inside linebacker in a 3-4 defense, his speed is not ideal. The only hope is that he can show a better time at his pro day on March 24th. The other problem is the injury problems from the 2015 season. There is almost no tape for Wright from this season. The return from injury could explain some of Wright's poor Combine. Yet, he complained he was playing heavy after returning from injury for the New Mexico Bowl and was in at a light 239 pounds at the Combine.

Scooby Wright will be a name to watch in the draft. He could go anywhere from the second to the fourth round. He is clearly a talented player, but it never helps to miss a full season of football. The Packers have been fairly willing to draft players who fall based on injury fears in the past (to varied degrees of success and failure). Wright could be the next pick to bolster the center of the Packers defense.

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[DenverPackFan]

I was very interested in him since he seems to be a tackling machine and has a cool name. But I saw a couple of scouting reports that suggested that he was making a lot of those tackles after the runner had already gained 5 or 6 yards. I'd consider him starting in the 4th, but I just don't think that he is athletic enough to go much higher.

 

[57packer]

I know the 40-time isn't the be-all-end-all in terms of judging players, but sometimes the numbers are far enough off the mark to make you pause. A 4.9 40-yd dash causes some concern if you plan on using him in coverage at all. Who can he cover? Heck some folks are worried about Ragland at 4.72.

I suppose it depends on what you want to do with him. If you have a defense where he mostly just has to drop into a zone then he might be fine. He seems instinctive enough and is a sure tackler so in zone he'd maybe do well. If you plan on having him cover TEs and WRs man to man you might be disappointed.

I agree that I don't look at him until day 3.