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PFF Stat Chat: Browns LB Scooby Wright

Browns rookie Scooby Wright III (Arizona) was one of PFF's highest-graded college linebackers in 2014. An injury saw him miss most of the 2015 season, and Cleveland wound up selecting him in the seventh-round of the 2016 draft. With practice moved indoors on Saturday due to bad weather, we caught up with Wright after practice inside the field house to see how well he knew his own data.

[More: Check out our Stat Chats with Lions CB Darius Slay, Bears RB Jordan Howard, and Colts DE Henry Anderson.]

Gordon McGuinness: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us after practice. I spoke with you at the combine, so I know media isn't your favorite thing in the world—you just prefer to play football.

Scooby Wright III: [Laughing] Not at all. I definitely enjoy playing football more, and I don't love stuff like this, but I don't mind talking to you guys.

GM: Great, let's get started. At Pro Football Focus, we grade every player on every play. Looking back at the 2014 season [at Arizona] when you were healthy, where do you think you ranked, in terms of overall grade, among all inside linebackers in the nation?

SW: I think probably top two or three—I think I had a pretty good year.

GM: Top two is spot on, actually. Paul Dawson from TCU, now with the Bengals, was the only guy who graded higher than you in 2014. Even then, it was only by a small margin. Moving onto pass-rush, where do you think you ranked in terms of pass-rushing grade that season among inside linebackers?

SW: First, I think—I rushed the passer quite a lot.

GM: Close! You actually came in second to Utah State's Zach Vigil. Again, not by much, and you did actually have more total pressures than Vigil. Any idea how many pressures you registered in 2014?

SW: I don't think I could even guess, I know it was quite a lot though.

GM: It definitely was a lot—37 actually. Vigil had 34, but he got them on fewer pass-rushing attempts than you, which helped him have a higher grade. You were the only two inside linebackers with more than 30, though—nobody else had more than 28. Finally, one of our signature stats at PFF is called run-stop percentage. This is basically just looking at the percentage of plays in run defense a player recorded a defensive stop. Of all the linebackers in your draft class, where do you think your run-stop percentage ranked in 2014?

SW: That includes tackles for a loss, right?

GM: Yep, tackles for loss, and any tackle for a gain, but one that is considered a defensive stop.

SW: I think that's got to be pretty high, too. Definitely top three.

GM: First again. At least you know how good you were in 2014!

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