Darnell Wright has been on an escalator ever since the pre-draft process began with his impressive showing at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
That ride reached the top floor Thursday when the Chicago Bears selected the Tennessee right tackle with the No. 10 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Wright is size, strength, athleticism, and intelligence all wrapped into one violent blocking machine. The 6-foot-5, 330-pound tackle has ideal length and power combined with the athleticism that saw him finish with the second-best athleticism score among tackles to test at the NFL Scouting Combine.
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The 21-year-old Wright is coming off a brilliant season at Tennessee in which he allowed just eight total pressures while not surrendering a sack at right tackle. Wright dominated Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson and delivered clean sheets against LSU and Georgia.
In a draft class with four elite tackles, Wright always believed that his limitless ceiling, meticulous study habits, and ability to thrive under pressure set him apart.
“The main thing I tell them is: You see what I have done in a year and a half of just really, really focusing in and really trying to be my best self. You see what I did at the combine. You see the pro day. You see Senior Bowl,” Wright told NBC Sports Chicago in an exclusive interview before the draft. “You see, like, with just a little more attention to detail and a little more focus, you can see how far I’ve gotten. I don’t even feel like I’ve scratched the surface. If this is where I’m at now, I’m excited to see where I’ll be at when I’m 25, 24.
“There’s nothing really that I can’t do. It’s just a matter of teaching it to me. Once I learn it, I steal it. It’s like, ‘Don’t teach it to me if you don’t want me to take it. It’s mine now.’ Then I just implement it into my game. I’m just, you see on tape that I have some stuff – you say it’s good or you say it’s advanced. But I don’t even know. Sometimes I feel like I’m just really out there free balling, off instincts. If that’s where I’m at right now, I don’t know. If I get around some of these NFL vets and they can really teach me, I don’t know how good I can be.”
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Wright's improved film study helped him lock up Anderson and also gave him several new tools for his pass-blocking repertoire.
“I like to watch Trent Williams a lot,” Wright said. “His snatch and trap is as good as anybody. I’ve took that. In the Alabama game, Lane Johnson, he likes to go double under a lot, so I do that. Jason Peters, he loads up really heavy on that front foot, which I don’t do as much because I think there’s a time and a place for it, he kind of does it a lot. I took that. Tristan Wirfs, his right hand is so accurate sometimes, I try to be as accurate and I just feel like I just watched him do it, and I did in practice a few times and it’s in my repertoire.”
The Bears had a chance to draft Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter at No. 9, but elected to trade the No. 9 pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for No. 10 and a 2024 fourth-round pick. The Eagles selected Carter.
That cleared the way for the Bears to select Wright, who will immediately upgrade their offensive line.
The Bears' selection of Wright is also a vote of confidence in left tackle Braxton Jones and a gift to quarterback Justin Fields.
Wright can play right or left tackle, but his sterling final season at Tennessee should allow the Bears to give Jones another season on the left side to see if he can develop into a building block. If he can't, Wright can move over in 2024.
Draft Wright also shores up what was the weakest part of the Bears' leaky offensive line in 2022.
Larry Borom opened the 2022 season as the starting right tackle. He gave up 14 pressures and five sacks in just 264 pass-blocking snaps. Veteran Riley Reiff replaced Borom but didn't fare much better, surrendering 18 pressures and three sacks in 293 pass-blocking snaps. That's 32 pressures and eight sacks for the right tackle spot.
If 2023 is going to be the year Fields takes a giant step forward as a passer, that must change. You can't get a full evaluation of a quarterback running for his life on a down-to-down basis. Fields deserves his share of criticism for some of the pressure numbers. He holds the ball too long and invites pressure while trying to make a big play out of nothing.
But there were countless instances in 2022 where Fields was under immediate pressure. That often came from the right side.
Wright should change that immediately.
He's a violent, powerful right tackle with an All-Pro ceiling. He had his way with Anderson and LSU's B.J.Ojulari. He played Clemson's Bryan Bresee to a draw.
His job now becomes simple: Keep Fields clean.
"If something goes wrong, he's out of there," Wright told NBC Sports Chicago about Fields. "And he can get out there! I appreciate that but I want to make it as smooth sailing as possible for him."