Bear Digest

Why seeing the right stuff from Darnell Wright is critical now to Bears

Darnell Wright has clearly become a consistent road grader and this hasn't always been the case, plus he's not bad as a gymnast either.
Gene Chamberlain|
Darnell Wright discusses his play and cartwheel with reporters Wednesday at Halas Hall.
Darnell Wright discusses his play and cartwheel with reporters Wednesday at Halas Hall. | Chicago Bears On SI Photo: Gene Chamberlain

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Consider the high praise being heaped on Bears right tackle Darnell Wright these days as perfect timing.

Everyone on social media, it seems, has laughed about the 325-pounder's cartwheel behind the play as Colston Loveland raced into the end zone for the winning points with 17 seconds left against Cincinnati. It definitely had Ben Johnson's attention, but didn't surprise him because he remembers the passes Wright was catching one-handed at training camp and in OTAs.

“I thought it was pretty awesome," Johnson said of the cartwheel. "I call him the unicorn for a reason. He does some things that are pretty extraordinary. We have to continue to highlight what he can do with or without the ball himself."

The idea of Wright being involved in a trick play as a receiver, thrower or runner instead of as a blocker has to immediately be on everyone's mind, including opponents like the Giants this week.

"He's another guy that is playing really good football right now," Johnson said. "It's good to see excitement like that."

Wright had an elbow injury in Week 3 and missed just one game with it.

“He’s really prideful in how he goes about his business," Johnson said. "The fact that he's out there, he didn't want to come out when it happened, even though it was pretty obvious when you watched the tape that it was a factor a few games ago on him. He's a tough guy. I think the biggest thing to me is he's been a very consistent player since the season started. You knew what the talent was going to be, I saw it coming out of Tennessee. I loved the player coming out of Tennessee myself. You just wondered, ‘Hey, is he going to be able to put it all together?’

"I feel like (offensive line) coach (Dan) Roushar and (assistant offensive line coach) Kyle DeVan and those guys have done a really good job of helping him. I think (OL) Jonah Jackson being next to him, (OL) Joe Thuney being in that room, I think that's gone a long way for him–I don't want to say learning how to be a pro, he's been in this league now for a minute, so he knows what that looks like. But he comes to work every single day and he knows when to crack a joke and smile, and yet he can snap it back in and be serious in a hurry, too. It's the balance that we want all of our guys to have. I'm just really proud of how consistent he's been from the start of the season up until this point.”

The praise is returned by Wright when he's talking about Johnson and the way he coaches everyone, including the O-line.

"I feel like i have an actual role in a bunch of games," Wright said. "I think he (Johnson) does a good job, if he purposely does it or not, but he makes us feel like--you know offensive line you don't score touchdowns but you do play pivotal roles—I think he does a good job making it clear to you even though moreso obviously you're going to do your job—that you are a pivotal piece of this play.

"Like, I just need a mission. I just need an assignment."

Johnson gave this sense of purpose to him and now Wright is showing the necessary consistency. He needed to do this, apparently.

"A little bit too inconsistent,” was Roushar's assessment of Wright back at training camp. “There’s moments when we look at it when he loses focus or fatigue starts to set in, we see a decline in play. But when he’s on point, I’ve seen Darnell do some things that you get excited about."

The reason this reversal is important now is it shows Wright has their confidence when it wasn't so certain once, way back during the training camp battle at tackle. They moved Ozzy Trapilo back to right tackle from left and it was easy to wonder if they might be higher on Trapilo for the future than Wright.

Now it's clear as Wright piles up one outstanding game grade after another with Pro Football Focus, if not the coaching staff.

The underlying reason this is all really important is this is the last season before they must make their decision on a fifth-year contract option for their 2023 first-round pick. They needed to know.

It's expensive to pay right tackles second contracts and the Bears would be making that first big step toward a long-term commitment to Wright by picking up his option in May.

He's definitely showing he has the blocking ability to earn his next deal, if not the kind of athleticism normally seen with a gymnast on floor exercise rather than 325-pounders.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.