Nick Wilson

[Machina]

Any issues going forward with Wilson? Two concussions this year is not good.

Hopefully he can stay healthy and keep competing, but if the doctor's tell him he should hold off on playing, totally understand and respect that.

[Newportcat]

two concussions? Thought it was only the one during the Fiesta Bowl

Grigsby got the other one against USC

[Machina]

two concussions? Thought it was only the one during the Fiesta Bowl

Grigsby got the other one against USC

I believe he got one vs Nevada, or another game very early in the year

[scumdevils86]

just spewing bullshit as usual machina. don't know for sure if he actually had 2 concussions...but might as well say it anyway!

[Machina]

just spewing bullshit as usual machina. don't know for sure if he actually had 2 concussions...but might as well say it anyway!

I know it was reported he had one earlier. My friend said he was thankful that Wilson did not get one vs Oregon because it would have been two in such a short period of time. Just not sure if it was Nevada or the game before or after that one.

[azthrillhouse]

Suffered against Cal, mentioned by Scheer here:

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/09/1 ... t-arizona/

Also Jason Bartel on SB nation had it here:
http://www.azdesertswarm.com/football/2 ... egon-ducks

The hit vs. Boise looked nasty from where I sat (not motivated to re-watch the game on DVR) so it's good that he's got all off-season to recover (just put a yellow jersey on him right now for spring ball). Hopefully he's not susceptible to it in the future.

Main thing to me is that with no bye week next year (grrrr) we are going to have to figure out ways to keep him healthy. Blowing out the FCS teams will help, as well seeing some quality depth emerge - don't care if it's Baker, Bradford, a converted Randall, Green....I'm fairly certain it will not be in our best interest to grind him for 40 carries a game like we did with Ka'Deem.

[Machina]

Thank you azthrillhouse.

So yes, two concussions this year is not good. Hope this does not linger and that RR and co can get a good backup for Wilson ready to go just in case.

You can clearly tell the difference with how the offense flows when Wilson is in compared to the other backs

[ghostwhitehorse]

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id ... ick-wilson

Up next: Frosh shows up in Nick of time

Who and against whom: Arizona true freshman running back Nick Wilson slices and dices a typically stout Utah defense in a 42-10 road victory.

The numbers: Wilson rushed for a career-high 218 yards on 20 carries -- 10.9 yards per rush -- with three touchdowns.

[Merkin]

Can't they give RBs the Willie Tuitama super padded helmet?

I am amazed I still see helmets flying off players. You think with all the reports of lifelong brain damage that all players should be required to wear them.

[Dkenner]

lets hope he is alright and cleared to resume his carear at UA

[Folesfor10K]

just spewing bullshit as usual machina. don't know for sure if he actually had 2 concussions...but might as well say it anyway!

Was this post really necessary??

I am very concerned about Nick as well. Sometimes guys retire after just 2 concussions right? You'd have to worry that he's done for good if he gets another...

[MrBug708]

It probably was. Some people seem a little more concern about other people than anything else.

[Olsondogg]

Any chance that Machina has been posting after several concussions?

[ANGCatFan]

Berk with a story on Wilson.

Wilson was looking forward to giving former high school teammates Devon Brewer and Sharif Williams some grief during their first few practices as Arizona Wildcats.

There’s just one problem.

“I’m still getting called a freshman a lot,” Wilson said with a smile. “I don’t really feel like a freshman after last season. I’m more of a hardened freshman, I feel.”

“I think I did really well,” Wilson said of his freshman season. “I passed my expectations overall. But there’s still a lot of work can be done. Just some little things like vision, cuts, fundamentals, technique, that can help my game get a lot better.”

Wilson also learned college ball is a bit more physical than high school.

The running back suffered a concussion and a shoulder injury during the regular season. He was then knocked out of the Fiesta Bowl with another concussion.

“I felt fine right after, but they wouldn’t let me go back in,” Wilson said. “I was trying.”

Wilson said he’s fully recovered from the head injury. Rodriguez said Wilson won’t do any contact drills this spring in an effort to fully allow him to recover.

Wilson has spent a lot of his time since the season in the weight room, hoping to avoid nagging injuries as a sophomore.

“I wasn’t expecting to get 30 carries in a game as a freshman,” Wilson said. “That’s how it was in high school. To go straight to college and start doing that has been kind of rough on the body, but I just have to get stronger and get used to it.”

The coach is more concerned this spring with finding a reliable backup for Wilson. Rodriguez said Jared Baker, Zach Green and Jonathan Haden will all get extended reps this spring.

Freshman Orlando Bradford should also get a look when he arrives this summer.

[ANGCatFan]

Chantel Jennings covers Nick at the espn blog.

He finished as the Pac-12's fourth-leading rusher with 1,375 yards (and it would've been more if he hadn't been sidelined a bit due to injury) -- the most of any freshman last season.

Yet, in a league that had a pretty full stable of backs, his season went largely unnoticed amidst the talk of the Royce Freemans and the Devontae Bookers and the Paul Perkins of the conference.

But Wilson was the best on third downs (of backs who carried the ball at least 150 times). He was tied for the most touchdowns in conference play. He was the best back on a team that featured the most even attack of any team in the Pac-12 (49.5 percent of their plays were passing plays, 50.5 percent were rushing plays).

[azcat49]

Going to be interesting as to his improvement this year. Also how we use him. Not sure he can be the workhorse KaDeem was. Would love to see him catch a few more balls.

[azpenguin]

He doesn't have to be the workhorse Ka'Deem was. The Cats have a lot of weapons at their disposal on offense and a QB who is capable of utilizing them. They also experimented with formations where Samajie Grant is in the backfield and you know thy're probably going to try some things with TJ. If they get a defense running ragged to chase the receivers then Nick is going to have a lot of running room.

[ANGCatFan]

Bleacher Report: Ranking the College Football Players Most Likely to Score 20 Touchdowns

Nick Wilson was a major beneficiary in Rich Rodriguez's run-happy offense.

Continuing in the line of impressive freshman running backs, Wilson had 17 total touchdowns (16 of the rushing variety). The Fresno native also notched 1,375 yards on the ground in his initial campaign.

With Arizona's up-tempo offense, the Wildcats run a ton of plays. This will equal more opportunities for Wilson to get the rock. There's no doubt (barring injury) he should be able to improve upon his totals from a year ago as a sophomore.

They have Wilson as the #9 player in their ranking and the only other P12 player is Freeman at #7.

[Merkin]

[scumdevils86]

He is on pace if he plays in another 11 games this year and 13 games next year to pretty much end up with the exact same career yards and td's number as Carey. Now if we play in a couple more games or he has a senior year...well he could theoretically shatter everything Carey did.

[Chicat]

He runs like Thurman Thomas used to.