Going into this week’s NFL Draft, ZonaZealots thought they would take a stab at comparing two Pac-12 superstars to understand why the draft boards have Jack in the top 5 and Wright in the third to fourth round. It made no sense to us.
Myles Jack, UCLA vs. Scooby Wright III Arizona
NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah ranked the top 50 draft prospects; he has Myles Jack as the No. 3 overall draft pick, while he has Scooby Wright nowhere on that list. Let’s check out another experts list, how about CBS Sports? CBS Sports has Jack at No. 4 overall, and Wright at No. 127. ESPN also has Jack at No. 4. Wright is not listed in the top 30.
What’s going on here?
We found a couple of ESPN writers comparing the two in 2015 before last season’s injuries to both athletes:
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‘I’d give the overall nod to Wright because of production: 14 sacks, a nation-leading 29 tackles for a loss, six forced fumbles and 11.6 tackles per game, the last two numbers ranking No. 1 in the conference.’
‘Wright is a physical presence with great instincts who also is an underrated athlete. He’s honed his craft, too, adding an understanding of sophisticated concepts to one of the best motors in the nation.’
‘The only plausible argument to take is that Jack and Wright are two very different players — linked only by the title of the position they play. I believe if Jack was plugged into the position that Wright was in and asked to do the same things, I’m confident he would have similar success. I’m not sure I could say the same thing about Wright in Jack’s position.’
‘If you’re looking for just a pure run-stopping/QB sacking linebacker, Wright is your guy. But if you’re looking for diversity in a player … a guy with tremendous athleticism who can do beyond what’s typically asked of a linebacker, then it’s hard not to pick Jack.’
Still a little perplexed?
Let’s compare the two, measurements, stats and awards and rankings:
Scooby’s measurements: 6’1″ 246
VS.
Myles Measurements: 6’1″ 245
Almost exactly the same, wow!
Scooby’s awards and rankings:
- Awards and Honors: 2014 Bronko Nagurski Award; 2014 Chuck Bednarik Award; 2014 Consensus All-America; 2014 Pac-12; Defensive Player of the Year; 2014 Vince Lombardi Award
- Heisman Voting: 2014 21 Points (9th)
- Consensus All-American: 2014
- Total Tackles: 2014 NCAA 164 (1st); 2014 Pac-12 164 (1st)
- Tackles for Loss: 2014 NCAA 31 (1st); 2014 Pac-12 31 (1st); Career Pac-12** 44 (10th)
- Fumbles Forced: 2014 NCAA 5 (1st); 2014 Pac-12 5 (1st); Career Pac-12** 5 (21st)
- Assisted Tackles: 2014 Pac-12 64 (1st)
- Solo Tackles: 2014 NCAA 100 (2nd); 2014 Pac-12 100 (2nd)
- Sacks: 2014 NCAA 15 (3rd); 2014 Pac-12 15 (3rd)
VS.
Myles awards and rankings:
No competition here, Wright definitely has a huge edge.
Scooby’s stats:
Provided by Sports-Reference.com/CFB: View Original Table
Generated 4/25/2016.
VS.
Myles Jack’s stats:
Provided by Sports-Reference.com/CFB: View Original Table
Generated 4/25/2016.
These two players played in almost exactly the same number of games which makes the comparison a little more valid. Jack has the edge in Interceptions with four for 111 yards vs. one for 13 yards for Scooby, but Scooby’s job wasn’t necessarily interceptions.
Scooby made 17 sacks vs. one for Jack and outmanned Jack by about 100 tackles. Although both athletes were injured last season, Wright was able to shine in the New Mexico Bowl to prove he still had ‘it’ and more.
Wright also took part in the combine and ran the 40 which hurt him, but he put himself out there, Jack did not include himself which is another reason he may have the edge, it’s a gamble, no one really knows if he’s back until his pro day.
Stats, the edge, goes to Wright.
We posed the question this morning to The Playbook on Sirius XM Channel 84 host Jack Arute (@JackOnSports) and Pac-12 Network Analyst and former Oregon Ducks Defensive Coordinator Nick Aliotti.
Both analysts had great things to say about Scooby’s heart and tenacity; they feel he would do best in Bill Belichick’s New England Patriot 4-3 or 3-4 defense. The reason they both gave for Myles Jack being ranked much higher is purely based on athleticism and versatility. He can play more defensive positions. They did not refer to Jack’s heart on the field, but they thought highly of both players. They spoke a lot about Scooby’s grit and heart.
Arizona Head Coach Rich Rodriguez:
We also posed the question to Arizona Head Coach Rich Rodriguez, here is what he had to say:
“I don’t exactly know what all the projected rankings are, I know I’ve seen a couple of mock drafts where they have Myles Jack projected to go very high, and understandably so, he’s a great athlete and he certainly has the size and speed combination that a lot of teams would be interested in.
And I personally think Scooby, where ever he’s projected, I think he’s better than that. I think there’s maybe some questions because he didn’t play as much last year, but Myles Jack had some injuries too.
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But that being said, I think Scooby, where ever he gets drafted, I think he will make a roster and I think he’ll wind up being a starter and have a long and good NLF Career, they’ll see that. I think there’s going to be a lot of value wherever they take him: early or late or mid-round, or something, they are going to get a lot of value if they take Scooby Wright.”
UCLA Head Coach Jim Mora:
We didn’t ask Coach Mora this question; he sometimes is a little cranky on these Pac-12 teleconference calls (our opinion), but he did give some insight on the NFL Draft and the folks projecting draft spots.
Mora feels that the pundits and media are not necessarily the NFL Team draft decision makers, so they shouldn’t be concentrating on the schemes played by the players college team, they should be looking at the overall athlete. He was asked about athletes leaving college early, “It’s kind of a new phenomenon. We have six guys here in the Draft that are three and out — it sounds like all are going to be drafted,” Mora continued, “Every recruit that comes in has that dream of playing in the NFL — I think it says a lot about the quality of athletes that we do recruit and the quality of coaching — these guys are ready to play.”
Conclusion
It seems to us there are some schools whose players are ranked high in mock rankings, take Ohio State who has a bunch in the top 20, and USC, and UCLA for instance. Athletes from those schools are always in the discussion. Arizona is getting there, and these athletes coming out of Arizona are now coming from the Rodriguez era, and the future is looking brighter for Arizona.
Next: NFL Draft: Where there’s a Will there’s a way
Whatever happens, both athletes are exceptional and represent the Pac-12 well. ZonaZealots wishes them both an enjoyable draft experience, honestly. We hope that Scooby goes higher than expected because he should be ranked higher just look at his stats and honors, but more importantly, we hope he goes the right team who will appreciate him as much as Wildcats fans do. NFL Scouts may have no idea just how valuable it will be to have Scooby in their lineup will be, but some team is going to find out here soon, and they are going to thank their lucky stars they drafted Scooby Wright III.