Wohl: Arizona RB Group Talented, Versatile & Deep

Wildcats to replace J.J. Taylor with trio of Gary Brightwell, Michael Wiley, and Nathan Tilford

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Posted on October 31, 2020


  By Ryan Wohl of Dash Sports TV for SuperWest Sports

Often when a team loses its best offensive player, it’s difficult—if not impossible—to replace his production. That shouldn’t be the case for the Wildcats this season after the departure of J.J. Taylor.

Arizona will field a talented, versatile, and deep young group of running backs with a high upside this season.

Taylor led the Wildcats in 2019 with 721 rushing yards, scoring five touchdowns, and catching 32 balls for nearly 300 yards. He was the workhorse and heart of Arizona’s offense the last four seasons. Most importantly, Taylor could be counted on to provide a much-needed spark on offense when things got rough.

Now that he’s gone, having graduated and signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent, it’s time for his potential replacements to step up and show us what they’ve got.

The next three guys in line to fill his shoes are senior Gary Brightwell, sophomore Michael Wiley and redshirt junior Nathan Tilford. Let’s take a look at what each player brings to the running game equation.

Gary Brightwell

Going into his fourth and final season in Tucson, Brightwell has had his ups and downs with the team, but more touches could lead to a breakout season for him.

As a junior in 2018, he carried the ball 91 times for 525 yards and three touchdowns. But then his touches decreased by 23 the following season, though his touchdown count increased to five. The good news is last year he had a career high 5.9 average yards per attempt, impressive at any level.

Coming into the 2020 season, many have high expectations for Brightwell. Quarterback Grant Gunnell and Wildcat coaches say he has been a leader for the younger players while also performing well on the practice field.

I would like to see him catch more balls out of the backfield, having only hauled in six in three years. That’s just crazy for a guy at his level of athleticism and ability. He needs to be used more in the passing game.

It is hard to predict how many carries and yards Brightwell will have in a shortened seven game season, but I fully expect him to be the team’s lead running back.

Michael Wiley

Wiley is the wildcard in this new Wildcats running back group.

He has that change-of-direction type shiftiness and speed. Whenever he finds an open hole on the line, it can be a rapid-change disaster for the defense. And for a guy only 5-foot-11, he breaks tackles left and right, making him difficult to take down.

This is Wiley’s second season playing under Coach Kevin Sumlin, after a first season in which he impressed despite limited touches. He finished with 271 total yards—165 of them through the air, as he was being used frequently as a receiver out of the backfield.

Wiley is still a young player, and I believe that he is destined to be the Arizona’s featured back for the next few years, after Gary Brightwell’s departure.

Nathan Tilford

Nathan Tilford was the most highly touted guy coming out of high school of the group, ranked the 17th best running back in the country, and the 24th best overall player in the state of California by 247Sports composite. He had four other big-time Division 1 offers out of high school, including ASU, Michigan, Nebraska, and Tennessee but still ended up choosing Arizona.

His touches have been limited throughout his first three seasons in the system, only carrying the ball 51 times for 350 yards and six touchdowns in that span.

Nonetheless, this is the guy I have been keeping my eye on for this upcoming season. He seems like a star just waiting to get his chance, and could break out at any time.

At 6-2, Tilford is the tallest running back on the team, and Sumlin needs to start using him near the goal line and on third downs when looking to pick up a few yards.

I believe Sumlin will use a running back-by-committee approach when choosing plays for his backs this year. There are just too many mouths to feed with such a short season.

Overall, it was sad to see Taylor go, but with these three players in line to fill Taylor’s shoes, they should generate plenty of excitement in the next few seasons.

You can watch Wohl’s related Wildcat Dash Sports Talk Show on Dash Sports TV, and read his other sports articles at the Daily Wildcat.