Bear Down Wildcats

7. Anu Solomon, QB, Arizona – Solomon has thrown for 3,458 yards and 27 touchdowns with a bowl game still to go. Rich Rodriguez made Pat White a legitimate Heisman candidate and he can do the same with Solomon. The Wildcats were a surprise contender in 2014. Their ascension makes them a possible preseason darling and gets Solomon the billing he deserves and needs to jump into Heisman contention.

9. Scooby Wright, LB, Arizona – Wright collected plenty of hardware this week, including the Lombardi Award and the Bronco Nagurski Award as the nation’s top defender. He didn’t really emerge nationally until about halfway through his sophomore season. Now, his profile is much higher — which can help and hurt, honestly. Wright had 28 tackles for loss, 14 sacks and forced six fumbles. He doesn’t just put up numbers; he performs well in the clutch. Wright finished ninth in voting this season, so the folks who pick the Heisman winner are very aware of him.

Scooby Wright, LB, Arizona

Aside from Mariota, the only Pac-12 player to finish in the top 10 of Heisman balloting was this dominant desert stud. Wright earned four second-place votes and 13 third-place votes, and it'd be tough to argue with either of those evaluations based on his absurd 2014 production. Wright's numbers in tackles, sacks, tackles for loss and forced fumbles were all either at or near the top of the nation -- he was the only player who averaged over two TFL per game, and that race wasn't even remotely close -- so it's clear that Arizona has an absolute machine working the middle of its defense. Yes, the Heisman Trophy has a clear bias toward the offensive side of the football, but Wright was awesome enough to earn 17 votes at linebacker -- as a sophomore.

Nick Wilson, RB, Arizona

If you enjoy watching impressive freshmen running backs, Wilson is a good player to follow. He delivered an awfully dynamic inaugural campaign in Rich Rodriguez's system, delivering 5.9 yards per carry and more than 100 ground yards per game. Wilson's 15 rushing touchdowns were the most among Pac-12 running backs, so second-year improvement would absolutely make him a contender for some major hardware in 2014.

Merkin wrote:I won't mention Ben's name, but a former writer at TOS was saying that he thinks Dawkins is going to beat out Solomon next year, and Solomon may end up transferring to UNLV.