Arizona needed to fortify its linebacker position after losing Scooby Wright to the NFL and dealing with all the injuries it did in 2015.
Well, help is on the way — former California linebacker Michael Barton announced on Sunday that he'd be playing out his final year of eligibility with the Wildcats as a graduate transfer.
#Beardown pic.twitter.com/K66oVVxzsT
— Michael Barton (@michaelbarton08) January 31, 2016Barton played the last three years for the Golden Bears and was a All-Pac-12 honorable mention as a sophomore in 2014 when he finished with 80 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. As a junior, he dealt with injuries and lost his starting spot and finished with 24 tackles in 2015.
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As a graduate transfer — Barton will graduate from Cal this semester — Barton is eligible to play immediately, and is an early candidate to be in the starting line-up from the get-go. He will count toward Arizona's 25-scholarship limit in its 2016 recruiting class, so with his addition the UA now has 15 commitments for 2016 and six open spots available.
At linebacker for Arizona, Wright is off to the NFL, Derrick Turituri is possibly lost for the season with an injury and both Cody Ippolito and Jake Matthews are coming off season-ending injuries from last season.
Otherwise, Arizona's other linebacker options are largely unproven outside of junior DeAndre' Miller and senior Paul Magloire. The rest of the bunch includes incoming freshmen Kahi Nevesand Jacob Colacion, former Iowa transfer John Kenny, redshirt freshman Kendal Franklin and redshirt sophomore Marquis Ware.
Arizona was in pursuit of a few other linebackers for the 2016 class, but it's unclear how Barton's addition effects that.
