LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The consensus entering the 2023 NFL Draft was that there were four top-tier offensive tackles in the class, with a large gap between them and the next batch of prospects.
Ohio State left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. was the top tackle on many draft boards. Georgia's Broderick Jones got some early pre-draft steam but petered out over the last month. Northwestern's Peter Skoronski is perhaps the best tactician of the bunch, but he might have to kick inside due to short arms.
But for the Bears, Option 1 was behind Door Number Four.
General manager Ryan Poles traded down one spot, sending the No. 9 pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for the No. 10 pick and a 2024 fourth-round pick to select Darnell Wright out of Tennessee.
At 6-foot-5, 330 pounds, with great athleticism, Wright has the look and tape of a future All-Pro tackle. He's big, strong, powerful, gritty, and just scratching the surface of his vast potential. So while the draftniks and other teams might have debated who OT1 was in this class, the Bears had no doubt.
"The one thing that stands out with him is he's a tone-setter," Poles said Thursday night. "He plays with an edge to him, which we love. We want more of."
Poles, offensive line coach Chris Morgan and the Bears' staff spent months evaluating the top tackles in the class. They liked Wright. With what he did during his senior season at Tennessee, how could they not?
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Finding the best offensive linemen, the true foundational pieces, is about more than tape. It's an exploration into the recesses of their mind and soul. What are you made of? How hard will you fight? What's your drive to push a rock uphill over and over again?
Poles and Morgan found their answer when they put Wright through a brutal private workout in Tennessee. The Bears' brass demanded more and more of Wright during a non-stop, no-holds-barred sweat session that revealed the heart of the man they would tab as their first-round pick.
"There's an attitude. There's a mental toughness that you have to have to play this game," Poles said. "With him, I kind of joked around, we brought him in deep water to see if he could swim or not, and he accepted the challenge, and he showed us the grit and the mental toughness to be able to fight through fatigue and all of those things that we look for. So it was a really good experience from start to finish, a guy that we were comfortable with as being the top tackle in the draft, so we're pumped about that.
"We got him exhausted, and the kid had no fight in him. His body language was excellent. He stayed aggressive, finished. Again, that attitude we're looking for upfront. Good experience. Hands-on. You're always looking to be convicted about things, and that was the final box we were able to check and feel good about it."
The Bears probably liked Johnson, who went No. 6 overall to the Arizona Cardinals. Jones has incredibly high upside. Skoronski's fundamentals are a work of art.
But Wright is the entire package.
Last season at Tennessee, Wright gave up just eight pressures and zero sacks. According to Pro Football Focus, his 1.7 percent pressure rate allowed ranked third among all FBS tackles.
In a marquee matchup with Alabama star and No. 3 overall pick Will Anderson, Wright allowed just one pressure in that game. He had clean sheets against LSU and Georgia. He even played 2022 No. 1 pick Travon Walker to a virtual draw at left tackle during his junior season.
All that work put Wright on the Bears' radar. The rest? That put him over the top.
"I mentioned the tone setting, the nasty mentality that you look for," Poles said when asked why he had Wright as the top tackle. "That probably set him apart. I think, like I talked about, the anchor was a big one. That’s critical. The combination of size and athleticism together was another part that made us feel really good about him.
"He’s a nasty dude who when you watch the tape and are like, alright, we’ve got to play the Bears next week, you go – OK, this is going to be a long day."
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Poles noted that Wright playing in the SEC against future NFL players on a weekly basis buoyed the Bears' belief that he was the top tackle in the class and a guy they couldn't pass on drafting.
"So that always helps because it’s hard," Poles said of transitioning from college to the pros at tackle. "You’ve got to make that jump, and it’s a big jump. And you’re going to get combinations of length, size, speed, guys who have studied the little details and find your weaknesses. But this kid’s ability to win against really high-end players again made us feel even more convicted about him."
A lightbulb went on for Wright last offseason. He discovered the film-study habits that work best for him. That includes breaking down opposing edge rushers into three categories -- power, speed, finesse -- and making them "dance with their C game."
He believes he "hasn't even scratched the surface," and plans to reach the pinnacle of powers in Chicago with Morgan's help.
You could have made the case for Johnson, Skoronski, or Jones. But the Bears had conviction in their evaluation and their board.
Darnell Wright was the top tackle. There was no doubt.