R1 P10: Darnell Wright, OT - Tennessee

[thunderspirit]

Happy with the pick and all of the Tier 1 tackles were gone by 14, so the idea you could trade down to 19/20 and still get one was a false narrative.

Will Levis clearly had zero trade up appeal to anyone.

Some will make an argument on Harrison as worthy of that tier 1. But I'm good with Wright. We don't know how strong that other offer was (guessing it was Steelers)

I had Harrison in the same tier Wright, so more or less equal in my view.

I had Broderick Jones rated higher than both, but he's riskier — while I think Jones' upside is higher, there's a decent chance he never approaches it.

[The Marshall Plan]

I feel like people are sleeping on Wright's upside as well, at least compared to the other OT. I know he doesn't have quite the length of a Broderick Jones and is more developed (47 starts) but he's still a very young guy.

He tests well athletically at 330+. We know Poles likes his OL a little leaner so it will be interesting if he asks him to refine his body more or not, but seems like he carries it well as is.

Why can't he be a Tristan Wirfs? If people are downgrading Wright just for the RT piece I think they're missing out.

To Poles’ credit, we needed a RT so he drafts the best one in the draft. Wright is a pure RT. This isn’t a jack of all trades who they’re going to slide around everywhere or the proverbial “convert him to guard” bullshit.

The weakest link on the line was RT. Poles drafted a pure RT who is also the best one in the entire draft. Paris Johnson is a LT. Skoronski is too gator armed for tackle and he’d be a guard.

It’s a boring ass draft choice yeah. But when Wright and Jenkins open holes on that line big enough to drive a truck through for the running game or when Wright and Jenkins pancake some DE / DT into the dirt, nobody will be laughing.

[BreadNCircuses]

Thank God it wasn't Skoronski.

The draft board started to collapse in front of my very eyes.

Paris Johnson goes to the Cardinals.
Bijan Robinson goes 8th to the Falcons so my opinion on the value of a dual threat RB was validated.
Jalen Carter: I watched an interview with Poles and he was hesitant to answer questions about Carter. He did make a comment to the effect of character counting. I think that was his professional way of saying they were never going to draft him in the first place.

I do like the pick. Darnell Wright is a heck of a player. A very "eat your vegetables" kind of a draft choice which is what we needed anyway. I watched a post draft interview of his and he does seem to have a personality so hopefully this team starts to get some charisma.

If Jenkins stays healthy the right side of the line is going to be fucking good.

Now onto building an entire defensive line and finding a center to replace Whitehair who I now view as the weakest link.

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1yoJMZ ... ell-wright

If we take Poles at what he said in the presser, they had Wright as their top tackle on the board. If that's where they had him, I love getting the guy you have as the top T. Clearly a position of need.

Similarly, I think we can take the answers about Carter to be an indication that despite EVERYONE mocking Carter to the Bears for obvious reasons, the Bears decided he wasn't on their board based on their character work. They saw all the tape, which spoke for itself, so that's really the only reason I can see us not taking him. If that's the case -- then we got a future pick in exchange for swapping with the Eggles so they could pick a guy we weren't going to pick anyway. That's bonus value and I can appreciate that.

[UOK]

Thank God it wasn't Skoronski.

The draft board started to collapse in front of my very eyes.

Paris Johnson goes to the Cardinals.
Bijan Robinson goes 8th to the Falcons so my opinion on the value of a dual threat RB was validated.
Jalen Carter: I watched an interview with Poles and he was hesitant to answer questions about Carter. He did make a comment to the effect of character counting. I think that was his professional way of saying they were never going to draft him in the first place.

I do like the pick. Darnell Wright is a heck of a player. A very "eat your vegetables" kind of a draft choice which is what we needed anyway. I watched a post draft interview of his and he does seem to have a personality so hopefully this team starts to get some charisma.

If Jenkins stays healthy the right side of the line is going to be fucking good.

Now onto building an entire defensive line and finding a center to replace Whitehair who I now view as the weakest link.

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1yoJMZ ... ell-wright

If we take Poles at what he said in the presser, they had Wright as their top tackle on the board. If that's where they had him, I love getting the guy you have as the top T. Clearly a position of need.

Similarly, I think we can take the answers about Carter to be an indication that despite EVERYONE mocking Carter to the Bears for obvious reasons, the Bears decided he wasn't on their board based on their character work. They saw all the tape, which spoke for itself, so that's really the only reason I can see us not taking him. If that's the case -- then we got a future pick in exchange for swapping with the Eggles so they could pick a guy we weren't going to pick anyway. That's bonus value and I can appreciate that.

Whoever the Bears took yesterday woud've been the player at the top of their board, lol. They always say that crap.

[dplank]

I feel like people are sleeping on Wright's upside as well, at least compared to the other OT. I know he doesn't have quite the length of a Broderick Jones and is more developed (47 starts) but he's still a very young guy.

He tests well athletically at 330+. We know Poles likes his OL a little leaner so it will be interesting if he asks him to refine his body more or not, but seems like he carries it well as is.

Why can't he be a Tristan Wirfs? If people are downgrading Wright just for the RT piece I think they're missing out.

To Poles’ credit, we needed a RT so he drafts the best one in the draft. Wright is a pure RT. This isn’t a jack of all trades who they’re going to slide around everywhere or the proverbial “convert him to guard” bullshit.

The weakest link on the line was RT. Poles drafted a pure RT who is also the best one in the entire draft. Paris Johnson is a LT. Skoronski is too gator armed for tackle and he’d be a guard.

It’s a boring ass draft choice yeah. But when Wright and Jenkins open holes on that line big enough to drive a truck through for the running game or when Wright and Jenkins pancake some DE / DT into the dirt, nobody will be laughing.

Davis will play next to Wright, Jenkins to LG now

[The Marshall Plan]

Thank God it wasn't Skoronski.

The draft board started to collapse in front of my very eyes.

Paris Johnson goes to the Cardinals.
Bijan Robinson goes 8th to the Falcons so my opinion on the value of a dual threat RB was validated.
Jalen Carter: I watched an interview with Poles and he was hesitant to answer questions about Carter. He did make a comment to the effect of character counting. I think that was his professional way of saying they were never going to draft him in the first place.

I do like the pick. Darnell Wright is a heck of a player. A very "eat your vegetables" kind of a draft choice which is what we needed anyway. I watched a post draft interview of his and he does seem to have a personality so hopefully this team starts to get some charisma.

If Jenkins stays healthy the right side of the line is going to be fucking good.

Now onto building an entire defensive line and finding a center to replace Whitehair who I now view as the weakest link.

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1yoJMZ ... ell-wright

If we take Poles at what he said in the presser, they had Wright as their top tackle on the board. If that's where they had him, I love getting the guy you have as the top T. Clearly a position of need.

Similarly, I think we can take the answers about Carter to be an indication that despite EVERYONE mocking Carter to the Bears for obvious reasons, the Bears decided he wasn't on their board based on their character work. They saw all the tape, which spoke for itself, so that's really the only reason I can see us not taking him. If that's the case -- then we got a future pick in exchange for swapping with the Eggles so they could pick a guy we weren't going to pick anyway. That's bonus value and I can appreciate that.

I totally agree.

For all the talks about Carter. None of us nor is anybody in the media actually in the room with him evaluating him.

Poles sniffed around him and caught a whiff of something he didn’t like.

Wright is the exact opposite. In Poles’ interview he talked about Wright’s workout and how they put him through the paces and the guy just kept coming. Works for me.

I had different ideas of what I wanted but I cannot argue that we needed and RT and Poles drafted the best one.

A+.

[Grizzled]

3rd ranked player, not just OT on Yahoo's big board. Great pick. Even better getting another pick for moving down 1 spot for a guy Poles apparently was not going to draft anyways. Also, if the Bears had made a trade down (Jets, Steelers, ?), I don't think any of the top 4 OTs would still have been available. Plus I'm sure Fields is a bit more happy this a.m.

DD: sorry for the loss of your dream, no Leatherwood at RT for the Bears.

[wulfy]

I feel like people are sleeping on Wright's upside as well, at least compared to the other OT. I know he doesn't have quite the length of a Broderick Jones and is more developed (47 starts) but he's still a very young guy.

He tests well athletically at 330+. We know Poles likes his OL a little leaner so it will be interesting if he asks him to refine his body more or not, but seems like he carries it well as is.

Why can't he be a Tristan Wirfs? If people are downgrading Wright just for the RT piece I think they're missing out.

Wright has a RAS of 9.68, third among all tested OTs in the draft (behind 3rd rounders Blake Freeland and Jake Witt). Paris Johnson did very little/no testing this offseason - so his score is unknown.

[Moriarty]

DD: sorry for the loss of your dream, no Leatherwood at RT for the Bears.

He may get a shot at being the backup RT, although competing to be backup LG might be better for him.

[spudbear]

I hope Wright becomes more than just "glad it wasn't Skoronski but wish it'd been Carter" pick. Wright has worked his way up and was dominant his senior year against the top SEC talent, about as good a pedigree as you can ask for. It'd be great to see him paired up with Jenkins but it looks like Tevin is heading to LG, maybe.
One side of the trench bolstered, time to work on the other side for the D.

[thunderspirit]

Whoever the Bears took yesterday woud've been the player at the top of their board, lol. They always say that crap.

Heh, true story.

[Otis Day]

This guy is a right tackle. They needed a right tackle. P Johnson was gone. Skoronski has been a left tackle and many say he will move to guard. They didn't need a guard. They picked a guy they will not be moving to a different position. Love it. Most of the "lazy" reports I saw were coming from one guy, McGinn (or something like that). Dude played in the SEC and didn't allow a sack last year. I will take that.

[Hoog]

Great pick! Guy Poles had targetted at our spot. He didn't get cute and screw himself. Very business like move. Really liking what Poles is putting together in this draft and the next two. Now, lets hope he hits in the next few rounds like he did last year! Bear down

[wiNDycityfan]

For all the talks about Carter. None of us nor is anybody in the media actually in the room with him evaluating him.

Poles sniffed around him and caught a whiff of something he didn’t like.

Here’s the thing about Carter:

His legal problems, then his performance at the combine, followed by him showing up at his pro day even heavier and being unable to complete the drills was game, set, match. The legal problems told the world there were red flags on maturity. His response to that should have scared the crap out of every GM in the NFL. Then completely bombing his “job audition”, that fellas is a whole different animal you can’t unsee.

At some point, the talent is worth the gamble. For a Super Bowl participant with a very strong defense, perhaps the #9 overall pick is where the risk and potential reward intersect. That is NOT where risk and potential reward intersect for the Chicago Bears as presently constituted. Carter may have a Hall of Fame career, but for the Bears that would be a lucky outcome. They're not in a position to rely on luck overcoming poor decision-making (on their part).

All the above said, our biggest need was not just the (right) tackle position, but to fix the offense around Justin Fields so he can flourish, or to at least determine the passing game can actually flourish, let alone minimize the beatings he takes on passing situations.

Poles made the “Wright” decision.

[UOK]

*Larry Borom wasn't too pleased with the pick. He deleted a tweet that simply read "lol."

[artbest01]

Thought that was Larry Borom?



quote=UOK post_id=335474 time=1682690806 user_id=55]
Braxton Jones wasn't too pleased with the pick. He deleted a tweet that simply read "lol."
[/quote]

[wulfy]

Braxton Jones wasn't too pleased with the pick. He deleted a tweet that simply read "lol."

@artbest is correct, that was Borom.

[UOK]

Yes, my mistake! Thanks fellas.

[Grizzled]

[TheWorldBreaker]

For all the talks about Carter. None of us nor is anybody in the media actually in the room with him evaluating him.

Poles sniffed around him and caught a whiff of something he didn’t like.

Here’s the thing about Carter:

His legal problems, then his performance at the combine, followed by him showing up at his pro day even heavier and being unable to complete the drills was game, set, match. The legal problems told the world there were red flags on maturity. His response to that should have scared the crap out of every GM in the NFL. Then completely bombing his “job audition”, that fellas is a whole different animal you can’t unsee.

At some point, the talent is worth the gamble. For a Super Bowl participant with a very strong defense, perhaps the #9 overall pick is where the risk and potential reward intersect. That is NOT where risk and potential reward intersect for the Chicago Bears as presently constituted. Carter may have a Hall of Fame career, but for the Bears that would be a lucky outcome. They're not in a position to rely on luck overcoming poor decision-making (on their part).

All the above said, our biggest need was not just the (right) tackle position, but to fix the offense around Justin Fields so he can flourish, or to at least determine the passing game can actually flourish, let alone minimize the beatings he takes on passing situations.

Poles made the “Wright” decision.

PFT reported that Georgia coaches gave him negative reviews too: https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2 ... in-top-10/

Philadelphia is the best place for him, they’ve got established culture with respected veteran leaders, and several of his former teammates.

The Bears are a young team and still establishing the culture, I don’t think the current players could have effectively policed him.

[Otis Day]

Borom, lets see, you didn't hold down the starting job. You seemed to have gotten worse as time went on. You are not the man. The pine will be your long term friend. Or, maybe get motivated to kick some ass.

[bbaker]

Whoever the Bears took yesterday woud've been the player at the top of their board, lol. They always say that crap.

Heh, true story.

Every team does/says that. However, I'm pretty damn confident that isn't BS this time. Poles was asked in his presser if he normally goes with assistant coaches to workouts, and his answer was that this was the FIRST time. If he did something special for this one prospect, it's pretty easy to make a case that he really was their guy all along, no BS.

I think what happened with a LOT of evaluators is when they were researching Wil Anderson, they watched the Tennessee game, and instead of him being dominant, they saw him being dominated by Wright. That was when the light came on for me. At first, I viewed it as a knock on Anderson, because he got completely shut down by Wright, but the more I watched and learned about him, the more I got excited at Wright. TBH, my choice would have been PJJ or Broderick Jones, because I'm not sold on Braxton Jones yet... but if I had the experience that Poles had working Wright out in person, it extremely easy to see why he fell in love with him.

[wulfy]

On any of the "character concerns" that are oddly being bandied about .... Getsy coached him in Mobile, Chris Morgan "kicked his ass" in a private workout and they also have his former teammate, VJJ, on the roster as a check-in points for scouts.

I'm pretty sure they've done their homework.

[Hoog]

Dominant RT, who thrives to improve, and wanted to be a Bear. Right up Poles alley. Future 10 year starter with some probowls. Love it.

[Mr.Irrelevant]

I'm confused by this pick Nothing against Wright, I'm sure he's great. But the Bears have made a big deal about scheme fit in the past and Wright doesn't seem to fit the wide zone at all. Yes, he tested great FOR HIS SIZE, but all of the negatives in the various draft profiles have to do with his not being able to get to the edge. His pro player comp is Jason Peters.

I'm not seeing it.

Is it possible we're changing to a more inside zone/power scheme? Signing Nate Davis and D'onte Freeman seem to point that way as well.

(an interesting aside, Lindy's Draft Guide lists his pro player comp as Larry Borom)

[artbest01]

I admittedly was a bit bummed the Bears didn't take Jalen Carter - thought the risk-reward was worth it. That said, I can see why the Bears didn't feel like their locker room could handle his (various) issues. It also appears that Wright was "their guy" all along - "right" or wrong.

I admittedly don't know much about him other than he didn't give up a sack in 2022 playing in the SEC and played extremely well against Will Anderson. With his size, athleticism for his size, power and experience, this is a hard pick to quibble with imo.

[artbest01]

You raise an interesting point, although Wright's RAS score is very high for his position, not just for his size. He seemed to have no problem getting to the edge against Will Anderson.

I'm confused by this pick Nothing against Wright, I'm sure he's great. But the Bears have made a big deal about scheme fit in the past and Wright doesn't seem to fit the wide zone at all. Yes, he tested great FOR HIS SIZE, but all of the negatives in the various draft profiles have to do with his not being able to get to the edge. His pro player comp is Jason Peters.

I'm not seeing it.

Is it possible we're changing to a more inside zone/power scheme? Signing Nate Davis and D'onte Freeman seem to point that way as well.

(an interesting aside, Lindy's Draft Guide lists his pro player comp as Larry Borom)

[UOK]

[The Cooler King]

I don't remember them ever showing Phillips on those calls lol

[Rakshir]

Hoge and Jahns said the trade compensation to move down was a 4th this year and a 4th next year, which is more then I thought we got to still get our guy. Bleh looked it up and they were wrong.