Darnell Wright was so shocked, he wasn’t positive he would have the ability to reply questions Thursday night time.
The Tennessee offensive deal with was at a celebration with household, coaches and associates at a Knoxville, Tenn., Hyatt when the Bears known as to let him know they had been taking him with the No. 10 choose within the NFL draft.
On a video name with Chicago reporters a short while later, Wright mentioned his head was “racing 1,000 mph.”
“I knew as far as my talent and what I can do — I knew I could go this high,” Wright mentioned. “But it just took the right team to just see that, the right coaches who know what they’re looking at. They know what I can be. I haven’t even reached my (potential). I’m just scratching the surface of what I can be. I think they know that. And I know that. It’s going to be fun.”
Before the Bears took Wright, basic supervisor Ryan Poles traded again one spot with the Philadelphia Eagles, who chosen Georgia defensive deal with Jalen Carter at No. 9. The Bears gained a 2024 fourth-round choose within the deal.
The Bears wanted an offensive deal with to play reverse Braxton Jones, who began each sport at left deal with as a rookie final season. Quarterback Justin Fields was sacked 55 instances in 2022, and a part of constructing a roster that may assist Fields elevate his sport is shoring up the safety for him.
In the 6-foot-5, 333-pound Wright, the Bears have a participant who has prototypical dimension, an aggressive type and a number of expertise. He began 42 video games over 4 seasons at Tennessee and was a first-team All-SEC choice in 2022. Some draft analysts imagine he’s a plug-and-play starter at proper deal with.
Wright, 21, of Huntington, W.Va., described himself as versatile due to his skill to play on the suitable or left aspect and as being massive and powerful. He thinks he can present his athleticism to those that may not be aware of him.
NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger known as Wright “a mauler.”
”Watch him towards the elite gamers in faculty soccer and watch him get rid of them and shut them out,” Baldinger mentioned. “Then you just watch how he moves bodies. His power is real. His base is good. Everybody needs to be coached in this business. It’s a different game in the NFL than it is in college. But there’s an awful lot to like about his size, about his movement, about his power, about his mentality, about his experience.”
The Bears picked Wright over different extremely rated offensive tackles — Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski and Georgia’s Broderick Jones. The Arizona Cardinals picked Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr. at No. 6. Skoronski, who performed at Maine South, went to the Tennessee Titans at No. 11, and the Pittsburgh Steelers took Jones at No. 14.
Wright received to know Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy on the Senior Bowl and he developed a stable relationship with offensive line coach Chris Morgan throughout their pre-draft visits. Wright mentioned he went to Halas Hall and Morgan additionally “kicked my (butt)” throughout a exercise at Tennessee.
“He put me through the ringer,” Wright mentioned. “He just wanted to see if I’d quit, and I wouldn’t quit.”
Morgan advised Wright on Thursday night time that it was laborious to not name him and let him know the transfer was coming.
“It’s rare that you get to go somewhere where you really get to get coached by someone you really like and you feel like can take your game to the next level,” Wright mentioned. “That’s what I feel like C-Mo can do for me. He already told me it’s going to be hard, but I’ve never shied away from hard. I just want to get the best out of myself, and I think Coach C-Mo is going to be perfect for me.”
ESPN’s Louis Riddick mentioned on Thursday night time’s broadcast that Wright “has the ability to be the best player in this draft.” Riddick famous that Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. — the primary defensive participant taken within the draft by the Houston Texans at No. 3 — mentioned Wright was the very best participant he performed towards.
“He is big, mean, nasty,” Riddick mentioned. “He has nice ft. He has punch. He has good lateral agility. He can completely knock you off the soccer. … And so far as being a mauler? Ooh, he’s going to complete it, even in go professional. If you let up in any respect and also you don’t get off, he’s going to place you on the bottom after which he’s going to place his helmet proper in your chest.
“If you’re rushing against this guy, you’re sitting there going: ‘Where should I go? What can I do? I can’t run down the middle. I can’t get on his edge.’ And if I get out in space and I’m a second-level player? Make sure your chin strap is buckled.”
Fifteen months into rebuilding the Bears roster, Poles entered this draft with a number of main roster wants.
The Bears additionally need assistance at edge rusher after totaling a league-low 20 sacks in 2022. And they want a three-technique defensive deal with, a key place in coach Matt Eberflus’ protection.
Carter may need match that position and was a well-liked matter of draft hypothesis surrounding the Bears.
Carter was ranked by many as one of many prime defensive prospects on this draft, however character considerations precipitated him to drop. Last month, Carter pleaded no contest to misdemeanor expenses of reckless driving and racing in a automobile crash that killed a Georgia teammate and staffer. Carter was not driving the automobile that crashed.
At his professional day, Carter additionally had gained weight and struggled to make it by his drills, calling into query his preparedness.
Poles made clear final month that the Bears would do their due diligence to verify they had been snug with Carter. He additionally mentioned he would discuss with Chairman George McCaskey and President Kevin Warren about making such a choose. The Bears met with Carter on the NFL mix, went to his professional day after which hosted him at Halas Hall for a go to.
Now the Bears will look to fill their defensive holes Friday and Saturday.
The Bears have three Day 2 picks —Nos. 53 and 61 within the second spherical and No. 64 within the third spherical, however there’s a 43-pick hole between their choose Thursday night time and their first second-round choose. Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham mentioned Tuesday that the group would regroup after the primary spherical to debate whether or not they needed to maneuver up within the second spherical to go after a higher-rated crop of gamers.
The Bears began down the street to this draft on Jan. 8, 2023, after they misplaced their franchise-record 14th sport of the season to the Minnesota Vikings. When the Houston Texans beat the Indianapolis Colts of their season finale the identical afternoon, that gave the Bears the No. 1 draft choose.
Poles spent greater than two months figuring out what to do with that choose. One of the primary steps was figuring out if Fields would stay the Bears beginning quarterback, which means Poles wouldn’t choose one among a quartet of extremely ranked prospects — Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson.
Instead, Poles turned his consideration to fielding commerce provides from different basic managers and finally landed a take care of the Carolina Panthers that gave the Bears the Nos. 9 and 61 picks this yr, a 2024 first-rounder, a 2025 second-rounder and huge receiver DJ Moore.
The Panthers used the No. 1 choose to take Young, one among three quarterbacks taken earlier than the Bears picked at No 10.
Young, the Heisman Trophy winner in 2021, threw for 8,200 yards and 79 touchdowns with 12 interceptions over the past two seasons for Alabama. The largest query with Young, who has elite-level processing expertise and nice instincts and poise, is whether or not his dimension — 5-foot-10 and 204 kilos — will have an effect on his skill to have success and maintain up on the NFL degree.
The Texans took Stroud at No. 2 after which traded up with the Arizona Cardinals to take Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. at No. 3. The Colts picked Richardson at No. 4.
Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon grew to become the primary Illini participant chosen within the first spherical since 2012 when the Seattle Seahawks picked him at No. 5. Witherspoon is the primary top-five choose from Illinois since Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice went second and third in 1996.
Iowa edge rusher Lukas Van Ness, who’s from Barrington, went to the Green Bay Packers at No. 13.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com