Arizona football: Could ex-Oregon receiver Darren Carrington join the Wildcats?

Should Rich Rodriguez take a flyer on the exiled receiver?

The Arizona Wildcats could be in play for ex-Oregon Ducks wide receiver Darren Carrington, who was recently dismissed from the team after being charged with a DUI.

John Canzano of the Oregonian reported Wednesday that “more than one Pac-12 coach” is interested in the exiled receiver.

More than one Pac 12 coach told me today he was interested in Darren Carrington... the ex-Ducks receiver spent the day at Utah.

— John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) July 19, 2017

The 6-foot-2, 200 pound San Diego, Calif. native was a big time contributor at Oregon. Carrington led the Ducks in receiving yards in 2016, and hauled in 112 passes for 1,919 yards and 15 touchdowns in his career.

He has already graduated and is free to transfer to any school, including those in the Pac-12. He has one year of eligibility left and can play immediately.

Arizona wasn’t specifically mentioned by Canzano, but it could be a landing spot for Carrington for multiple reasons.

One, Arizona has a dire need for size at the wide receiver position. Aside from Shawn Poindexter (6-foot-5) and Zach Benjamin (6-foot-4), no scholarship receiver is taller than 5-foot-11 — and Poindexter and Benjamin are mostly unproven players.

Secondly, Carrington, a former four-star recruit and top 200 player in the 2013 class, was previously recruited by Arizona.

UA was the first major program to offer him a scholarship and while still committed to Oregon, he took an official visit to Tucson just two weeks before National Signing Day.

Not only that, but it appears as if he was considering flipping his commitment.

“I’m trying to look at all my options right now,” Carrington told Scout after his Arizona visit. “I don’t really know what direction I'm going to take, so right now I'm looking at what's out there."

Carrington has already visited with the Utah Utes since being dismissed from Oregon, and is looking to field more offers.

According to NFL Draft Diamonds, over 15 big time schools have reached out to him.

Schools I could see landing Darren Carrington are Arizona State, Utah, Oregon State, Washington State, San Diego State & Uni. Of Arizona

— NFL Draft Diamonds (@DraftDiamonds) July 19, 2017

It is an interesting situation for Arizona. It needs talent on the outside and Carrington was a big time playmaker at Oregon. Not to mention Rich Rodriguez is on the hot seat and may not have much to lose from adding Carrington.

However, Carrington’s off-the-field issues could outweigh any possible benefits of adding him, and his most recent incident wasn’t his first.

In 2015, he failed a drug test and was suspended for the National Championship game.

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