Scooby Wright is determined to return for Arizona to play in the Wildcats' postseason bowl game, but the last game of the star linebacker's season could also be the last of his career.
Wright and his family have been meeting with prospective agents about the possibility of applying for early entry into the 2016 NFL Draft, according to NFL Media's Rand Getlin. Despite missing nearly all of his junior season due to a lateral meniscus tear and a foot sprain, Wright is among the top linebacker prospects in college football. He intends to put the skills that made him one of the most decorated players in the country last year back on display one more time at Arizona.
"I'm going to play in the bowl game," he said, according to the Arizona Daily Star. "Football players play football. I'm healthy."
The junior amassed 163 tackles, 29 tackles for loss and 14 sacks in a spectacular sophomore season in 2014, for which he won the Nagurski, Lombardi and Bednarik awards. NFL Media analyst Lance Zierlein ranked Wright as the No. 3 linebacker in college football before the season began.
College underclassmen have until a Jan. 18 deadline to apply for early draft eligibility, and the official list of underclassmen available in the 2016 draft will be released Jan. 22. Wright (6-1, 246) was lightly recruited out of high school, but after making 83 tackles as a true freshman in 2013, he emerged as the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year last season.
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