2016 NFL Draft: Early Look at Inside Linebackers

Most Difficult to Project?

Finally, I’d like to end with my take on popular linebacker prospect Scooby Wright. Fans seem to love Wright, and glancing through his college production, it’s easy to see why.

In 2014, the former Arizona linebacker lit up the college world by posting 163 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, and a whopping 14 sacks. These are incredible numbers for any college defender, let alone a guy in only his second season as a starter.

Following the 2014 college season, like many, I regarded Wright as one of the elite linebacker prospects for the 2016 draft. However, after reviewing several of his games in the summer prior to the 2015 season, I saw a lot of “red flags.”

Wright’s knock is that he’s a limited athlete and may struggle in space at the next level. His aggressive playing style, which is one of more his admirable traits at times, can also get him in trouble, and often, makes him appear reckless and just out of control on the field.

He misses just as many plays as he makes, and as a highly regarded prospect, that has to be a concern. Take his UCLA game this past season, for example. When I evalutated this game, I was surprised just how many times Wright either whiffed on a tackle, was outmatched when taking on blocks, or was a step slow in coverage. Of a possible 55 snaps, I only counted five plays that he actually made an impact on, while 20 snaps I scored with a negative grade–meaning a missed tackle, washed out of position, or blown coverage.

Now, Wright still has the ability to make plenty of plays on the field and his 2014 numbers show that–his 2014 UCLA game showed playmaking ability. However, once you consider his entire game as a whole, there are still plenty of major areas of concern, and the biggest one I haven’t even mentioned yet, which is his extensive injury history.

Honestly, I just don’t see him as that great of an inside linebacker prospect, which has caused me to place his ceiling as a third or fourth round prospect.

Draft experts also run hot and cold on him. NFL.com’s Lane Zierlein believes Wright is a late-first round prospect, while draft guru Tony Pauline listed Wright as a 6th-round pick, even prior to Wright’s 2015 injuries. Both analysts are credentialed and trustworthy, but as you can see, have completely different takes on Wright as a pro prospect.

Simply put, it seems everyone is struggling to project Wright at the next level. When should he go? Where is his best fit? What position should he play at the next level?

I guess we’ll find out soon enough.