Darnell Wright

Pos: OT

School: Tennessee

Ht. 6’5″ 

Wt. 333

Games Watched: Alabama, Kentucky, Florida

One Liner: Big offensive tackle who wins with functional strength + power, stout frame and footwork

Strengths: 

  • Elite strength. Wright has a well built frame for an offensive lineman, and can absorb bull rushing blows and maintain great positioning in his blocking stance. He possesses a great anchor that helps him hold up against power rushers, and has upper body strength to take blows to his chest if he is late to bring his arms up.
  • Elite power. Wright packs a phenomenal punch at the POA, and when his arms do get up and into the chest of pass rushers, it is a stifling move that essentially ends any hope pass rushers have of getting to the QB. Wright’s arm strength and force generates great shock at the point of attack and will help him win a lot of battles against short armed speed rushers at the next level.
  • Very good frame. Wright is built extremely well, and has consistent mass throughout his frame that allows him to be an immovable force as a pass protector. This allows him to be versatile enough to block out of a variety of pass sets.
  • Good footwork. Wright has definitely improved upon his footwork coming off the snap as a pass blocker and moves much more smoothly throughout his pass set than most players his size. This was a crucial trait he needed to develop for 2022, and he did exactly that. 

Weaknesses:

  • Marginal athleticism.While Wright has improved upon his footwork in his pass sets, he still cannot be relied upon as a fluid mover in space. He struggles with finding blocks on time at the second level, and will often be a step slow to reach defenders in a timely manner. He looks stiff off the line as a run blocker and will work best as a man blocker moving forward.
  • Marginal hand technique. Wright is often late to bring his arms up, which really hurts him at times as it lets opposing rushers get their hands in his chest, creating room for counters and finesse moves to beat Wright and get to the QB. On top of this, Wright needs to improve his hand placement and control his arms from getting too high or too wide when blocking against the run or pass. 
  • Adequate positioning. Wright lacks ideal leverage and knee bend from an offensive tackle, and should look to fix this in order to maximize his anchor at the next level. He will also overcommit and lose balance when blocking in space.

Overall Assessment: Darnell Wright is a powerful right tackle who’s functional strength and power are among the best in the class. Wright’s selling point will be that he is simply an immovable force and really just has some technical things to fix before becoming a great tackle at the next level. He may be limited to the right side at first, but I could see him moving over to left tackle if he corrects some of his arm technique issues. He won’t be a great athlete, but it looks like Wright will be a reliable staple on any offensive line that he joins, and has the upside to be a Pro Bowler with some technical fixes.

Scheme Fit: Right tackle in a gap scheme that utilizes vertical and diagonal sets; could be versatile enough to switch to left tackle with technical fixes.

Pick Projection: Top 25

Grade: 6.52