Riley Wilson, who played three seasons at Hawaii and two at Montana before transferring to Arizona during the offseason, has the second-highest Pro Football Focus grade among returning linebackers in the Big XII. Wilson was a Football Championship Subdivision All-American at Montana in 2024.
Wilson received an 86.7 grade from Pro Football Focus during the 2024 season. Austin Romaine of Kansas State is the only returning Big XII LB in 2025 who received a higher PFF grade. Wilson had 83 tackles, 11.5 for loss, 4.5 sacks and two passes defended for Montana in 2024.
At Hawaii, Wilson was a wide receiver in his first season before being used seldomly as a LB in 2021 and 2022. Wilson had five tackles in 11 games in 2021. In four games in 2022, Wilson had one tackle and one fumble recovery. Wilson should compete to be a starter for Arizona in 2025.
In the Arizona 4-2-5 defense under new coordinator Danny Gonzalez, Wilson projects to play edge rusher or outside LB. The 247Sports profile page for Wilson lists him as an edge rusher. Wilson joins what will be a mostly rebuilt Arizona front seven entering the 2025 season.
Highest Graded Returning Big 12 Linebackers🔥 pic.twitter.com/eGrJh0l0UZ
— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 18, 2025
Arizona will play against three of the top six LBs returning Big XII LBs. Romaine and Kansas State are at Arizona in a non-conference game on September 12. Arizona will play at Cincinnati on November 15 against Jake Golday, who is the fourth-ranked returning Big XII LB and host Travion Barnes from Baylor on November 29.
Wilson was an impact player for Montana in 2024. The next question will be how well Wilson can elevate his play moving up from FCS to a power conference in 2024. Arizona needs far more production from its front seven in 2025. Arizona was 90th, averaging 5.08 TFL per game and 98th, posting 1.68 sacks per game in 2024.