Breaking Down Arizona's All-Quarter-Century Team Linebackers

Welcome! To another edition of the Arizona Wildcats Insiders Podcast featuring your host Troy Hutchison, who will be delivering a daily podcast discussing everything happening surrounding Arizona athletics giving you an inside look at all the programs on campus.

Hutchison has been covering Arizona for the last seven years with his coverage spanning all-across UA’s campus from football and men’s basketball to Title IX sports. Plus, with so many former Wildcats playing at the next level in their prospective sports there will be moments where he will take a deep dive into the Cats excelling outside of Tucson.

So far in the Brent Brennan era of Arizona football, the Wildcats have had their struggles on the road with four-straight losses dating back to last year. UA has lost those games by an average of 28 points and has fallen behind by double-digits in all four games.

Oct 18, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Tre Spivey (12) runs the ball in for a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Houston Cougars at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Arizona (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) was able to get things going early by striking quickly as quarterback Noah Fifita hit receiver Tre Spivey for a 70-yard touchdown pass, which seemed to set the tone early for the offense.

Despite the fast start, Arizona found itself trailing 21-14 to Houston (6-1-,3-1) at the half, thanks to defensive struggles in the second quarter. And once again, the Wildcats lost the middle eight of the game, which resulted in a Cougars 31-28 win over the Wildcats.

Although Arizona fell on Saturday against Houston and has lost two straight games, the program is clearly moving in the right direction and has improved drastically from a season ago.

Dec 19, 2015; Albuquerque, NM, USA; Arizona Wildcats linebacker Scooby Wright III (33) reacts during the first half against the New Mexico Lobos in the 2015 New Mexico Bowl at University Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

Now with the Wildcats in the bye-week, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI have decided to roll out our All-Quarter-Century Team breaking down the top players at every position over the last 25 years of Arizona football.

Today we are taking a look at the linebacker position and naming our top four players over the last 25 years.

Top Four Linebackers

4. Marquis Flowers (2010-13)

In the era where the Wildcats were transitioning from Mike Stoops to Rich Rodriguez and looking for consistent defensive play, Marquis Flowers was moved from defensive back to linebacker and became one of the better players at his position during the Rodriguez tenure in Tucson.

November 10, 2012; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats safety Marquis Flowers (2) in the first half against the Colorado Buffaloes at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Flowers was one of the top defensive players on the roster, totaling 273 combined tackles, 170 solo tackles, 27 ½ tackles for loss, 7 ½ sacks, and five interceptions. His biggest pick came in the 2012 New Mexico Bowl against Nevada to seal the 49-48 win for the Wildcats.

3. Spencer Larsen (2005-07)

As the Wildcats were trying to rebuild after the disaster that the John Mackovic era turned out to be, Stoops slowly built the program back up to respectability and turned UA into a tough, defensive-minded team.

A linebacker that became one of the better defensive players not only on Arizona’s roster but in the Pac-10 was Spencer Larsen, who played three seasons with the Wildcats. In three seasons, Larsen played in 39 games, totaling 271 tackles, 179 solo tackles, 28 ½ tackles for loss, seven sacks, and two interceptions.

Larsen’s best season came in 2007 when he was named a first-team All-Pac-10 player, where he racked up 131 tackles, 87 solo tackles, four sacks, an interception, and forced three fumbles.

2. Scooby Wright (2013-15)

Nov 28, 2014; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats linebacker Scooby Wright III (33) walks on the field during the third quarter of the territorial cup against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats won 42-35. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-Imagn Images | Casey Sapio-Imagn Images

It is hard to put a player on a list like this that truly had one amazing season and was plagued by an injury his junior season. However, that year might be the greatest season by a linebacker in program history and the linebacker to deliver it was Scooby Wright.

During his sophomore season, Wright was the best linebacker in the Pac-12 winning the Defensive Player of the Year award while being named first team All-Pac-12, first team All-American. He hauled in the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Lombardi Award, the Chuck Bednark Award and the Jack Lambert Award all in the same season.

Sep 26, 2015; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats linebacker Scooby Wright III (33) during the fourth quarter against the UCLA Bruins at Arizona Stadium. UCLA won 56-30. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-Imagn Images | Casey Sapio-Imagn Images

In that season, Wright recorded 99 total tackles, 163 combined tackles, 29 tackles for loss and 14 sacks as the heart and soul of the Wildcats defensive unit. That helped the team reach the Fiesta Bowl and finish with a 10-4 record and finish No. 19 in the final AP Poll.

1. Lance Briggs (1999-02)

In 33 career games, linebacker Lance Briggs was a tackling machine by racking up 208 tackles while collecting 10 ½ sacks to go along with 36 tackles for loss, three interceptions, 10 pass breakups and five forced fumbles.

Former Arizona Wildcat Lance Briggs after the unveiling of the Dick Tomey Football Practice Fields: pic.twitter.com/uQySw20fBk
— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) November 1, 2019

In four seasons, Briggs was named All-Pac-10 three times making him one of the better linebackers in a conference that was loaded with talent at the time. He was one of five Wildcats to be named to the All-Conference team at that time.

Please be sure to share your thoughts on our All-Quarter-Century Team linebacker rankings. To do so, follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.