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Your humble #4Pac welcomes you to another installment of what will be a regular feature on the Pac-12 blog. Here's how it works: We take one question or one topic, or maybe it's some other really cool format that we haven't even thought of yet, and all contribute our thoughts. Have a suggestion for something we should address in a future #4Pac roundtable? Go ahead and send it to our mailbag. Today, we're asking who has been the Pac-12's best defensive player thus far?  David Lombardi/@LombardiESPN
A quick look at the Pac-12’s defensive statistical leaders should seal the case for Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III. If numbers mean anything, Wright has clearly been the most productive defensive player in the conference. His 12.1 tackles per game top the conference by a clear margin. (UCLA's Eric Kendricks is in second place with 10.8.) His 1.5 sacks per game trail only Hau’oli Kikaha’s 1.72, and Kikaha happens to be the national leader in that category. Wright manages to gobble up ball carriers at league-best clip, but he’s also racked up 18.5 tackles for loss, an average of 2.31 per game, just 0.08 off the conference lead. Simply put, this Wildcat can be anywhere and everywhere on the football field at one time. He’s been the definition of a “one-man wrecking crew” in Tucson. Icing on the cake: Wright has forced five fumbles. No other Pac-12 player has more than three. And there’s been a clutch factor here, too: One of those strips victimized Marcus Mariota late to seal Oregon’s only loss of the season. Oh, and there’s no better name in this mix than Scooby Wright III. Case closed.  Chantel Jennings/@ChantelJennings
I have no idea how any of my colleagues will argue for anyone other than Washington's Hau'oli Kikaha. He’s leading the nation in sacks (15.5) in a league that’s supposed to be all about the quarterback, and he’s a constant reminder that the pretty boys don’t always get to be pretty. Props should be given to Scooby Wright III (12) and Nate Orchard (12), who are tied for second on that list, but Kikaha is No. 1. He is a human third-and-long-creating machine. He also has accounted for 21.5 tackles for a loss, an average of 2.4 per game, which also leads the country. We were supposed to spend this season talking all about the quarterbacks (which I think we have), but I would guess if you ask those quarterbacks what they are most afraid of on the field, Kikaha would rank pretty high on that list.  Kevin Gemmell/@Kevin_Gemmell
Utah’s Nate Orchard doesn’t lead the Pac-12 in anything, other than probably fear factor. Ask any offensive tackle which defensive end they fear the most, I promise you Orchard’s name is at the top of a lot of lists. Rightfully so, you’ll hear the names Kikaha and USC's Leonard Williams as well. This isn’t a claim that Orchard is better than those guys. More of an argument that you shouldn’t leave him out of the discussion. He’s got better numbers than Williams and his per-game average on sacks and TFLs are comparable to Kikaha -- who has played one extra game. He’s the best defender on the best statistical defense in the Pac-12 South, which also happens to be the second-best defense in the conference. The thing I like about Utah’s defense is that it hasn’t let a game get away from it this season. The Utes have held every opponent to fewer than 30 points and UCLA was the highest scoring team with 28. Maybe that changes this weekend against Oregon. Maybe not. But every offensive coordinator on Utah’s schedule schemes away from Orchard, and yet he’s still putting up huge numbers. And further, the guys around him (Hunter Dimick, Jared Norris, etc.) also have big numbers because Orchard makes those guys that much better. There are plenty of great individual defenders in the league. But Orchard makes an outfit that's already very good that much better.  Kyle Bonagura/@BonaguraESPN
The biggest thing going against linebacker Shaq Thompson as a defensive player of the year candidate right now is that coach Chris Petersen decided Washington’s offense needed to borrow him. He’s become without question the best tackling running back in the country. The bottom line is that he’s a rare talent and his foray into running back shouldn’t diminish what Thompson has done defensively for the Huskies. His four defensive touchdowns are absurd. He plays the run, he covers the pass and he’s as versatile -- on defense alone -- a player as there is in the country. If Thompson was having the season he’s having for a top-five team, he’d be firmly in the Heisman discussion. “Hey, I don’t get a chance to watch everybody around the country,” Petersen told local reporters. “But I do see a lot. And I haven’t seen a better football player out there than that guy. A better, flat-out football player -- in your words, ‘best football player’ in college football.'” No argument here.
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