Darnell Wright Scouting Report

By: Michael Higgins

(Image courtesy of Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

School: Tennessee (Senior)

Position: OT

HT: 6’6

WT: 335 lbs

Sideline Prospect Ranking: #61

Darnell Wright was a 5-star recruit out of Huntington, West Virginia. Wright was one of the top recruits in the entire nation and one of the highest ranked recruits in UT history. Wright became a starter on the Volunteers’ offensive line right away in his freshman year at the right tackle position, seamlessly switched to the left tackle spot for 2021, and then finally finished his college career back at right tackle in 2022. Starting at both sides of the line against top competition, Wright has valuable experience and versatility that will serve him well as a young player in the league right away. Darnell Wright showed drastic improvement in each season at Tennessee. These improvements were not only obvious in terms of the eye test, but they were also made apparent via the stat sheet.

Wright has extremely strong hands that seemingly act as concrete bricks once they make contact with opponents. Rushers have extreme difficulty in moving his hands and recovering after Wright’s initial punch. Despite being a bigger tackle, Wright does a good job to maintain a solid and consistent pad level when engaged with defenders. Wright uses his length and strength to keep defenders off balance and stun them with an initial punch. Wright is extremely strong, not only with his arms, but also his lower half. It is difficult for defenders to get Wright to move once he has planted his anchor. Wright is an elite pass protector, he does not backpedal and get backed up by the rusher easily. He will oftentimes plant his feet right way and use his pure strength on his punch to keep defenders at bay, and then will slowly work with them in front of the pocket, giving the quarterback plenty of time to make his reads with a clean pocket. Wright is a great player, but no draft prospect comes without their weaknesses. Wright moves his weight well, there is no doubt about that. With that being said, his footwork is still a bit slow in both the run game and in pass protection.

Edge rushers can use shiftier pass rush moves to get around him on the edge with speed and elusiveness. Every once in a while, Wright gets too eager to make first contact at the line of scrimmage, and his hands do not land where he wants, which leads to them falling off the defender’s body and getting Wright to fall off balance. Wright is also a bit stiff in most of his sets, he doesn’t have the flexibility or bend that would allow him to have great speed or change of direction for the position.

Darnell Wright is a solid prospect with much sought-after versatility along that offensive line. He could afford to drop around 10 pounds just to help with his foot speed, but he is a strong and powerful player that can hold down either side of the line. His positional versatility will come of value should a team decide that he isn’t ready to be a full time starter, he can be a team’s swing tackle while he continues to develop into a starter role.

Scheme Fit: Scheme Versatile

Ideal Role: RT

Best Team Fits: KC, TEN, GB

Player Comparison: Morgan Moses

Player Grade: 78.0