Rob Gronkowski running after the catch was one of the best parts of the Mike Stoops era. Tucson Citizen photo

Mike Stoops was the football coach of the Arizona Wildcats for 7 1/2 seasons, during which time he brought in some of the program’s all-time brightest stars.

Cornerback Antoine Cason won the 2007 Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back and was a late first-round pick in 2008.

Wide receiver Mike Thomas is the Pac-12 career leader in receptions.

Tight end Rob Gronkowski was a beast — albeit, all too briefly at Arizona — before quickly becoming a star with the New England Patriots.

Senior quarterback Nick Foles is on pace to rewrite several school season and career passing records in the next six week.

There definitely were some high notes, but in putting together an All-Stoops team, a couple of issues emerge — the dearth of standouts on the offensive line and a lack of explosive playmakers at linebacker.

Here is a look at the best who played for Stoops — the All-Stoops team:

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Rob Gronkowski celebrates his 10th touchdown of his rookie season, which came against Miami on Jan. 2. Photo by Stew Milne-US PRESSWIRE

Updates with the Vikings waiving OL Conan Amituanai, and the Lions waiving RB Mike Bell and S Michael Johnson on Monday. The Bengals, according to a report, reached an injury settlement with DT Lolomana Mikele before releasing him.

As of Monday night there were 19 former Arizona Wildcats football players on NFL rosters; teams have to cut to 80 by Tuesday and then to 53 by Sept. 3.

Several ex-Cats won’t survive those cuts but could end up on practice squads or hook on with other teams.

Since camps began, seven former Arizona players have been waived — rookie free agent OL Conan Amituanai (Minnesota), rookie free agent receiver Travis Cobb (Chicago), rookie free agent DT Lolomana Mikaele (Cincinnati), running back Chris Henry (Seattle), running back Mike Bell (Lions), defensive back Michael Johnson (Lions) and veteran tight end Brandon Manumaleuna, who failed his physical in Chicago.

Here is a breakdown of who is still standing, for now:

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Arizona's Nic Grigsby makes a move against Cal last season. Photo by Chris Morrison, US PRESSWIRE

Former Arizona running back Nic Grigsby was set to sign as a free agent with the Miami Dolphins, according to various reports Monday night.

Grigsby, who was not drafted in April, couldn’t talk to teams until the NFL lockout ended — which happened Monday — and now he will have to try to make up for lost time.

He should be one of the more intriguing signings among the undrafted free agents because, after battling injuries in his final two seasons at Arizona, he wowed NFL scouts at the Wildcats’ Pro Day in March. He posted a vertical jump of 45 inches and ran a sub 4.4-second 40-yard dash.

After a big sophomore season, Grigsby was on pace to become the school’s career leading rusher, but the nagging injuries left him well short. He still finished with 2,957 career yards and 28 rushing touchdowns.

Grigsby recently talked to KOLD Channel 13 about the lockout, his offseason workouts and his injuries (you can see the interview on KOLD.com.)

Grigsby stunned NFL scouts with his vertical jump at Saturday's pro day on the Arizona campus. Photo by Channel 13's Damien Alameda, via Twitter

NFL scouts couldn’t believe it. They had arrived in Tucson for Saturday morning’s pro day on campus with preconceived ideas about most of the Arizona Wildcats prospects.

So when running back Nic Grigsby — generally considered a late-round possibility — went up, up, up for a vertical jump of 45 inches, scouts figured something must be wrong.

“They said it was bent. They said it was on a hill. They said it was the wind,” Grigsby said. “I don’t care. They said they had never seen it before.”

Scouts re-measured the bar and made Grigsby do it over again.

He jumped 43.5 inches.

Even going with that number, that was better than anybody who participated in the NFL scouting combine last month.

“You’ve got to make a statement,” Grigsby said.

And then Grigsby made scouts rub their eyes again.

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Nic Grigsby runs against Toledo in the 2010 season opener.
Photo by Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Neither of running back Nic Grigsby‘s final two seasons at Arizona went as planned. A shoulder injury in 2009. Ankle problems in 2010.

Nothing he can do about that now.

For Grigsby, it is all about looking forward, trying to show the pro scouts the promise of his earlier years as an Arizona Wildcat, which included a 1,153-yard sophomore season.

He is training in Scottsdale at ZONE Athletic Performance and will play Sunday in the Eastham Energy College All-Star Game at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. Fox Sports Arizona will carry the game starting at 5:30 p.m.

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Arizona's Nic Grigsby has 82 carries for 423 yards this season. Photo by Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats running back Nic Grigsby has only six carries in the past two games, and it’s starting to look like 2009 all over again.

Grigsby, after a sophomore season in which he rushed for 1,153 yards and 13 touchdowns, had the bulk of his 2009 season wiped out with a lingering shoulder injury.

He rushed for 400 yards in the three non-conference games last season but then suffered the shoulder injury on the first carry of the first Pac-10 game.

Grigsby was never healthy after that, carrying just 26 times in the conference season. Thankfully for the Wildcats, one of those was a brilliant 57-yard game-winning touchdown late in the comeback over Stanford.

Now, he’s at a moment of frustration again.

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Arizona's NIc Grigsby is averaging 8.4 yards on 19 carries this season/Photo by Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

(NOTE: We bring you an Iowa view from our Gannett sister paper in Des Moines. For more, visit Hawk Central, a collaboration of Gannett’s Des Moines Register and Iowa City Press-Citizen).

By Andrew Logue

IOWA CITY — Glimpses.

That’s all Christian Ballard and his Iowa defensive teammates saw of Arizona’s three-pronged offense.

The Wildcats were still in the tinkering stages last September when they lost 27-17 at Kinnick Stadium.

When the Hawkeyes travel west for Saturday’s rematch, they’ll encounter a unit that prides itself on precision.

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Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz had all nice things to say about Arizona, which he beat 27-17 last season/2009 photo by Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE

Lucky for us, Iowa is one of those schools that provides a full, court-reporter-like transcript of its football coach’s weekly news conference. You can read more than 4,500 words of Q&A here.

Or you can have someone parse the parts really relevant to an Arizona fan. You’re welcome.

One note: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said it was doubtful that defensive coordinator Norm Parker would make the trip to Tucson. Parker, 68, is a diabetic and has been hospitalized recently.

On to the quotes from Tuesday (interesting stuff, I thought, about Nic Grigsby below):

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QB Nick Foles is showing complete command of the UA offense/Photo by Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

NOTE: This part of the weekly “Nothin’ But The Notes” column at WildcatSportsReport.com, written by me and Javier Morales. Follow the link for more football and loads of basketball recruiting.

One of the many encouraging things about Arizona’s opening game against the Toledo was the absolute control, the calmness, that quarterback Nick Foles showed.

Even when the offense sputtered in the first half, there was absolutely no panic, and first-year quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo said that comes from Foles being a dedicated student of he game in the offseason.

“The thing with Nick is that he’s knowledgeable,” Scelfo said. “He knew what he was doing. He felt comfortable with the game plan. It’s like taking a test and knowing the answers. He had a great offseason.”

One thing Scelfo and head coach Mike Stoops mentioned as an area of improvement is getting to the line and getting the ball snapped fast.

“We have a chance to put the defense at a little bit of a disadvantage is we can pick up the tempo a little bit more,” Scelfo said.

Trivia question
Did you know that there are seven former Arizona football assistants who are now head coaches at some level of college football? Probably not. Question is, how many can you name? Answer below.

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Juron Criner is off to a fast start with 10 catches against Toledo/Rick Osentoski/US PRESSWIRE

I can imagine it’s a daunting task to rank all the senior wide receivers in high school, but it’s nearly impossible to fathom that Juron Criner was rated the nation’s 167th-best wideout after the 2007 season.

Yep. That was the judgment of Scout.com, which gave him a two-star rating, which is pretty much the basement-level rating for any recruit that signs with a major-college team.

You know who else was once a two-star recruit? Arizona junior cornerback Trevin Wade (by Rivals.com) in the 2007 class.

I was thinking about all this while contributing a story on Criner for FoxSportsArizona.com — Criner making the leap to elite receiver. There are some kids the recruiting services just miss on, for whatever reason.

But I think it’s worth noting that while fans cheer, puff out their chests and mock their rivals when their team signs four- and five-star recruits, a good eye for talent and player development is an acceptable substitute.

This is where Arizona coach Mike Stoops and his staff come in.

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