The Mystery of Scooby Wright III: Scouting Report and Analysis
While he isn’t jumping in the Mystery Machine anytime soon, fans sure are jumping on the Scooby Wright bandwagon. It’s all for good reason too. The Arizona middle linebacker won the Chuck Bednarik and Bronko Nagurski awards last season, which are awarded to the best defensive player in college football by the Maxwell Football Club and the FWAA respectively. He also won the Vince Lombardi Award, presented by the Rotary Club to the best college lineman/linebacker.
His stats are crazy looking; 163 total tackles, 29 TFL, and 14.5 sacks. The Junior is sure to get his fair share of NFL scouts watching him in 2015, and rightfully so. But will those scouts see the complete player the stats show? Lets take a look at my scouting notes from Wright’s games versus UCLA and Arizona State in 2014.
UCLA Game Stats – 19 tackles, three sacks
Arizona State Game Stats – 13 tackles, two sacks
While Wright had 32 tackles in these two games, his tape made it look like he missed just as many. Wright attempts too many diving tackles and doesn’t stay on his feet enough. In the first two minutes of the UCLA tape, I had big questions regarding how successful Wright could be in the NFL.
On this play against UCLA, he does a good job covering the receiver, but when he goes for the tackle on a running quarterback he miss reads him and makes a wild dive. It resembles a flop in either the NBA or NHL.
Here’s a close-up look on Wright’s attempt.
Ok, maybe Wright got faked out by a quarterback. Here’s another example of him bursting through the line, which he does exceptionally well, and missing a running back.
Ok, enough with the negatives on Wright. Lets get to what everyone talks about when it comes to his game. He has incredible athleticism and quickness in his game. His incredibly high motor is unmatched by anyone on the field. Those traits help him burst through the line and get to the passer. When I see Wright, the phrase I think of is that Wright “smells the ball.” While his angles aren’t great, he is always in the play and keeps his eyes on the ball holder.
Arizona probably doesn’t use him enough as a blitzer, but he still gets the sack when plays break down. I love his man coverage abilities as well. As a middle linebacker, I love seeing that combination of rushing and coverage ability. Watch his high motor against Oregon result in a strip sack of Marcus Mariota.
Wright enters the 2015 season with some scouts putting a first round grade on his name. With the amount of missed tackles I see, I’m somewhat hesitant to do so. I’m afraid some team with a high draft pick will take him to be the general of their front seven and end up with an inconsistent middle linebacker. That’s never a good situation, for either side. When I see better angles and less missed tackles from Wright, I’ll happily give him the top 15 grade hidden behind that #33.