#16

Riley Wilson

Senior linebacker for Arizona. 2025: 51 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 3 sacks.

LB · Arizona · Sr. · #16

6′2″ · 233 lb · Prosper, TX

CFB Index 81 · #54 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Arizona for 2026

How he plays

Carries tight ends down the field in coverage.

Tackles for loss: 93rd percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

8 TFL · 3 sacks · 4 PBU

Best game: 3 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 sacks, at Iowa State

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Arizona. 2025: 51 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 3 sacks.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Hawai'i in 2020.
Transferred from Montana to Arizona in 2025.

His career, year by year

Riley Wilson

LB · Arizona · Sr · #16

Carries tight ends down the field in coverage. Three head coaches in four seasons, at two different programs. The receipt: 6 tackles against Arizona State — Week 14, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Hawai'i5-4HC: Todd Graham · Balanced, fast tempo

2021Hawai'i6-7HC: Todd Graham · Balanced

2022Hawai'i3-10HC: Timmy Chang · Pass-leaning

2025Arizona9-4HC: Brent Brennan · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

81All-Conference level #54 of 583?

High confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (93rd percentile). Strength: qb hurries (92nd percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Tackles for loss#198 / 2975 · 93rd pct

8.0

QB hurries#188 / 2975 · 92nd pct

Sacks#291 / 2975 · 89th pct

3.0

Passes defended#340 / 2975 · 86th pct

Tackles#579 / 2975 · 80th pct

Interceptions#114 / 817 · 75th pct

Solo tackles#839 / 2975 · 71st pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	5.4	0.9	0.2	0.2
Road6g	4.0	0.6	0.3	0.5

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	4.2	1.0	0.6	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	5.0	0.5	0.0	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Brent Brennan

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

81 · #54 of 583 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #54 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix for All-Big 12

Based on 2025: #10 of 73 Big 12 LBs

How the All-Big 12 estimate is computed

35% estimated, 95% confidence interval 31–38%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Arizona	51	23	8.0	3.0	4	2	--
2022	Hawai'i	1	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2021	Hawai'i	5	4	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2020	Hawai'i	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Career		57	28	8.0	3.0	4	2	--

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 2	W 48-3vs Weber State	6	3	0.5	0.0	—	0	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 5	L 14-39@ Iowa State	3	3	2.0	2.0	—	1	2 sacks
Wk 6	W 41-13vs Oklahoma State	4	1	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 27-33vs BYU	6	3	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 28-31@ Houston	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 52-17@ Colorado	4	2	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 24-20vs Kansas	5	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	W 30-24@ Cincinnati	6	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 41-17vs Baylor	6	2	1.5	0.0	—	1
Wk 14	W 23-7@ Arizona State	6	2	0.0	0.0	—	2
Bowl	L 19-24@ SMU	2	1	1.0	0.0	2	0
Total		51	23	8.0	3.0	2	4

How he plays

Play style

Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

11 games

51Tackles

23Solo

8TFL

3Sacks

4Pass def.

2INT

51 tackles. 4 passes defended. 2 interceptions. 8 TFL.

Week 12 INT
Week 52 sacks · 1 PD
Week 71 sack
Week 131 PD
Week 142 PD

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Arizona

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Arizona

Returning around him

4 Arizona players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +2 net (22 in / 20 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Arizona · Last season: 9-4 (AP #21) · Talent rank #54 · 2026 recruiting class #42

DNA match

Player DNA

Coverage 'Backer

Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Barrett Carter’s 2023 season.

Barrett Carter

73%match

Clemson · 2023

All-ACCNFL Rd 4

Mikai Gbayor

Nebraska · 2024

73%

Lance Dixon

Toledo · 2024

72%

Elijah Herring

Memphis · 2024

71%

Kenny Soares Jr.

Northwestern · 2023

70%

Matches Barrett on

Tackle volume

Weight

Class year

Differs from Barrett on

Solo tackle rate (lower)

Height (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Eric Ford's senior season at Army (2025).

Eric Ford

81%match

Army · 2025

Daniel Grzesiak

Cincinnati · 2023

All-Mountain West

81%

James Gordon Iv

South Florida · 2023

80%

Bangally Kamara

Pittsburgh · 2023

78%

Kobe Stewart

Buffalo · 2025

All-MAC

77%

Matches Eric on

Solo tackle rate

Height

Sack rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Riley Wilson

Aiden Sullivan

Oregon State · 2026

76%

Antonio Watts

Louisville · 2025

70%

Sifa Leota

Louisiana Tech · 2025

53%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

2020

2023

202511 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Coverage 'Backer

Players who play like Riley Wilson