Chicago Bears select Darnell Wright with the 10th pick. Grade: A+
(Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports)
Yes, Darnell Wright is a right tackle. But in today’s quick-game NFL, your right tackle is just as important as your left tackles, and the Bears now have a right tackle who beat up on Will Anderson Jr. Bryan Bresee, and BJ Ojulari last season. Chicago had all kinds of needs along its offensive line, and getting the best tackle in this class while trading down to do so? Not bad at all.
Height: 6′ 5⅛” (44th percentile) Weight: 333 (89th)
40-Yard Dash: 5.01 (90th)
10-Yard Split: 1.81 (32nd)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 29″ (61st)
Broad Jump: 114″ (94th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 33 3/4″ (33rd)
Hand Size: 9″ (1st)
Bio: A five-star recruit out of Huntington High in Huntington, West Virginia, Wright was the No. 2 offensive tackle prospect in his 2019 class, behind only Evan Neal, who went to Alabama and was selected by the Giants with the seventh pick in the 2022 NFL draft. He made the SEC All-Freshman team in 2019 with 11 games and seven starts at right tackle and right guard, expanded that to 10 games and nine starts at right tackle in 2020, flipped to the left tackle position in 2021, and moved back to the right side in 2022. Last season, he allowed no sacks, two quarterback hits, and six quarterback hurries in 507 pass-blocking reps.
Stat to Know: Wright had the lowest blown block rate (0.0%) on run plays of any player on this list, and the lowest in the nation versus his high run play rate (45.9%). Wright also had the highest Points Above Average (15.34) overall among all blockers in the nation, minimum 500 snaps. (Per Sports Info Solutions, Points Above Average is the total of a player’s EPA responsibility while blocking using the Total Points system that distributes credit among all players on the field for a given play. For blockers, this includes accounting for blown blocks, yards before contact on running plays, and performance given the defenders in the box).
Strengths: NFL teams will obviously look at strength of opponent when evaluating players at any position, and Wright’s 2022 tape allows him to brag about quite a bit in that regard. He has multiple and consistent examples in which he just buries Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr., Clemson’s Bryan Bresee, and LSU’s BJ Ojulari, which is nice work if you can get it.
Bresee was the third-ranked interior defensive lineman on our list, he reminds me of Darnell Dockett, and not a lot of dudes just walked him back like this. Wright gets his hands on you and starts walking you back… well, it’s not going to be nice.
At the scouting combine, Wright went into chapter and verse when I asked him how he dealt with Anderson, the top edge defender on our board (and most others).
Anderson is a speed-to-power end, which made Wright’s game plan pretty clear. At first, he didn’t want to reveal how that worked (“I might have to face him again”), but he eventually warmed up to the idea.
“During the week, I was just breaking him down, and I picked up on some things I might be able to do on each play. Pretty standard, like an inside-out set. I knew I could take it very simple. When you break down a guy like Anderson, you know he’s mostly going to be… so, you have categories [for edge-rushers]. You have speed, you have power, and you have finesse. Very rarely do you have someone who’s going to hit all of those categories. So Anderson, he’s speed and power. With him, it’s just different.”
Anderson tried more than speed-to-power against Wright — there was this euro-step early in the first quarter — and Wright countered it with a quick set, his own quick feet, and his long arms. Eventually, Anderson was going to have to rush, and that’s where Wright had him.
There were also instances in which Wright had to deal with more than just Anderson — on this play, it was Anderson at first, and then, edge-rusher Dallas Turner. Either way, neither guy was getting near Hendon Hooker.
As for the speed-to-power stuff, those inside-out moves prevented Anderson from getting into the pocket.
Ojulari, with his speed and bend to the pocket, required different techniques, and Wright was up to the challenge.
“Ojulari, you give him speed and finesse. Going into [the game against] BJ. like in practice, it wasn’t a good thing to do, but I would over-set — we don’t have a BJ Ojulari on scout team, obviously — but I would over-set just because I know that BJ Ojulari makes all his money on the edge. That’s mostly what he’s good at. His counter move isn’t as effective. So, going into it, when you’re setting, you want to stay inside-out. But for this game specifically, in practice and leading up to it, I would go inside, but I was baiting him into [the outside].
This rep with 23 seconds left in the first half showed how Wright would feign vulnerability to Ohulari’s inside counter, and then move outside to manhandle him before Ojulari could start pressing the edge.
And here, you can see Wright appearing to over-step as he said to keep Ojulari from beating him with his quickness.
By the way, if you’re a lighter edge-rusher, and you don’t give Wright enough power, he’ll just throw you aside and sit on you. That seems like an unpleasant experience.
Weaknesses: Bresee was able to get back at Wright on this rep with a nice inside counter, and Wright will need to work on his mirror and recovery skills at the next level. Wright’s playing weight was probably 20 pounds more than what he showed at the combine, so keeping that weight down will be important.
Wright will also need to work on picking up stunts and games, especially when he hits an NFL that has been doing more of that in more ways of late.
Conclusion: I would probably keep Wright on the right side of the offensive line were I in charge of his NFL team based on his 2021 reps on the left side, but Wright is also coming into a league in which the different in importance between left and right tackles have bridged to a pretty decent degree. Wright played in a spread/Air Raid/veer offense, but he’s all about pure power and setting the tone for his offense, and given his ability to take tape study to the field at a very high level already, his prospects for NFL success seem high.
NFL Comparison: Kareem McKenzie. Selected in the third round of the 2001 draft out of Penn State by the Jets, the 6-foot-6, 330-pound McKenzie brought serious run-blocking attitude and eventually elevated technique to the right tackle position for the Jets and Giants through the 2011 season. Wright may not be your top choice if you’re into athletic, graceful blockers, but if you want a true earthdog who can announce his presence with authority, he’s the best offensive lineman in this class.
