Steelers Scouting Report: Tennessee OT Darnell Wright
Darnell Wright was a big-time recruit coming out of Huntington, West Virginia. A former 5-star that was ranked inside the top 10 nationally among all prospects, Wright had a plethora of suitors for his services.
He was thrown into the fire as a freshman, starting a couple of games, mostly at right tackle, while taking a pit stop at guard, before winning the starting tackle job outright as a sophomore. During his junior season in 2021, Wright occupied the left tackle spot, protecting the blind side of star quarterback Hendon Hooker. Prior to the 2022 season, Tennessee made the decision to move Wright back to his natural position at right tackle. That choice proved wise as Wright had a fantastic senior season for a Volunteers team that exceeded expectations before Hooker's unfortunate season-ending injury.
The Steelers will get the chance to see Wright in person during senior bowl week, but before that takes place, I took a deep dive into the tape to see what exactly makes him such an intriguing prospect.
Few players in this draft class come with the type of experience that Darnell Wright has, with 2,746 snaps on offense during his time in Knoxville. Accruing a ton of experience in college is one thing, but Wright's battle-tested with plenty of tape against some of the best pass rushers in the land.
He has some experience playing left tackle which took place during his junior season, but he's more likely to stay on the right side in the pros as that seems to be where he's most comfortable. Wright has played under a couple of different coaching staffs with varying offensive ideologies, but the Vols offense shifted to a more gap-heavy scheme which non-coincidentally coincided with his breakout into stardom.
Strengths
If you're a fan of size at the tackle position, this is the player for you. Wright's a massive human being, listed at 6-5, 335 pounds and he looks every bit of that on tape. He's extremely well put together and will check every box that NFL teams will look for in a starting caliber tackle at the next level. A wide body build with the size to just engulf opposing edge rushers that are lining up across from him.
Wright has the type of angry demeanor and physical play style and mentality necessary for the position. It's also worth noting that Tennessee didn't offer him much help in passing situations as they left him on an island on a regular basis.
To go along with the size, there's a lot to like about Wright, especially when he's in pass protection. His reputation as a power player is well-earned as there's notable pop behind his hands that can jolt rushers of all body types. He plays with a good base, and when Wright can get his mitts on defenders, the rep is often won at that point as he possesses impressive grip strength to latch onto the shoulders and chest area and sustain blocks.
The anchor is legit, Wright has zero issues dropping back vertically, and withstanding speed to power rushes from defenders looking to bull rush him back into the quarterback. His ability to hop step upon impact and quickly anchor down while redirecting force upwards to stall out rushes is exciting.
For his size, Wright gets out of stance fairly quickly and can cover a lot of ground in a short period of time. The footwork itself has notably improved over the course of his career which has helped him protect himself from speed rushers attacking his outside shoulder.
One of the more impressive parts of his game is that he's well-balanced and plays with consistently good weight disruption and it shows up when he's asked to mirror movements throughout his pass set. Even when things don't go as planned through the early portion of a pass pro rep, Wright has a surprising recovery ability.
Something that Wright can hang his hat on is that he's definitely one of, if not the most technically advanced blockers that I've seen so far in this class. Wright will mix up his stance, switching between vertical sets and jump sets which is where he appears the most comfortable during this stage of his development. Wright will even mix in some advanced setting techniques such as a fake jump set, which he pulled out against LSU this past season.
He's a very intelligent player and the experience definitely aids him in that regard as he quickly recognizes blitzes, stunts and can pass off rushers effortlessly. He's also looking for work and can deliver some earthquake hits on guys not expecting his presence.
Offensive line play can sometimes be boring to the masses, but Wright offers some of the most fun highlights that you'll ever see from a college tackle prospect. He will go through stretches where he'll spam his "snatch-trap" move where he will allow rushers to get into his chest before knocking down the hands and then punishes them as they go the turf. This is an advanced move in his toolbox that he's already mastered by perfecting it against some of the best rushers in the nation.
Wright will also use a flash or bait move with his outside hand to get rushers to prematurely declare their move intentions. He'll mix in a two-hand strike every now and then but he relies mostly on independent hands which is ideally what you'd look for in a prospect.
A grizzly bear masquerading as a football player, Wright more or less wins with pure mass and absurd strength in the trenches. Whenever he's asked to come down the line of scrimmage or work on double teams, he creates a ton of vertical and/or horizontal displacement.
A mauler in the run game and there are examples on film of him moving 3-techs multiple gaps over. Even at 6-5, he consciously tries to play with good leverage, and when he's able to get under the pads of defenders, he'll run his feet and drive them backward.
As mentioned above, the grip strength is of no concern and he can sustain blocks for a decent amount of time in a phone booth.
There is nothing passive about Wright's game as his aggressive play style can be difficult to deal with if you're lined up across from him. Coaches talk about finishing plays to the whistle and Wright does that on every single rep, burying guys in the dirt. Wright is most comfortable on gap-rushing schemes where he can just fire off of the ball, get his hands tight and inside and run his feet forward.
The senior standout can also function as a blocker in confined spaces on inside-zone running plays. When asked to get to bypass the defensive line and work to the second level, Wright can use his mass and length to control second-level defenders if he can get squared up. An intelligent player who understands the design of the play and will do his best to wall defenders off to give the ball carrier an easy read as they approach the line of scrimmage.
Weaknesses
While he's certainly a solid athlete for his size, Wright has only sufficient mobility and general movement skills.
When he's asked to work as a puller or get out in space, things often look a little clunky when he's asked to change direction, and he is often unbalanced approaching second-level defenders. Wright needs to focus on being more in control in space, squaring his shoulders before engaging with defenders. Because of his lack of range as a blocker, Wright isn't going to be a glove-like fit for zone-blocking schemes, especially if you're an offense looking to run a lot of wide/outside zone.
As a run blocker, he wins with his physical traits more so than technique and has a habit of ducking his head unnecessarily which leads to reps of him lunging and ultimately whiffing on defenders as they scoot by him.
As a pass blocker, Wright's technique has improved over the years, but his hand placement could be a little more consistent as he can get too wide at times. His length looks average with no alarming concerns it won't be something he can lean heavily on, and that shows up on tape, and there are games where it feels like edge rushers are the ones making the first significant contact during the rep.
The independent hands are nice, but he's very outside-hand dominant in pass pro and rarely throws inside strikes which could lead to some issues defending the cross-chop which is the most popular move right now in the NFL. Sudden movements can give him trouble and while he's neutralized speed rushers from winning the outside shoulder in college, his lack of top-end foot speed signal that this could be a more difficult challenge in the league.
Numbers to Note
- Career Totals: 42 career starts (13 at left tackle, two at right guard, 27 at right tackle)
- 2022 totals: 13 starts at right tackle
- Reduced his number of penalties from 10 in 2021, to 3 In 2022 (PFF)
- Allowed just eight total pressures and 0 sacks in 2022 (PFF)
- Pitched a shutout against LSU and allowed just one pressure against Alabama in 2022 (PFF)
Projection
Wright may not be for every offensive scheme, but he has rock-solid tape as a pass protector against the best competition that the NCAA has to offer, holding both BJ Ojulari and Will Anderson in check this past season. Traits matter but matchups also matter and Wright won essentially every matchup that he was in this past season. He understands how he wins and plays to his strengths, but NFL coordinators will likely have to give him some help early on against the game's elite speed rushers who can threaten him upfield.
It'll be interesting to see if he elects to lose 10-15 pounds in order to potentially improve his foot speed. With his physicality, raw power and technical refinement as a pass protector, Wright carries a late first-early second round grade should come off the board in the first 50 picks of April's NFL Draft.
Pittsburgh gave Chuks Okorafor a three-year contract last offseason but seeing as he's now a five-year veteran, he's likely maxed out as just a solid starter which is genuinely fine until you factor in his cap hit. The Steelers have bigger needs than right tackle, but the value could say otherwise depending on the board when they come up to the podium.
Wright needs to stay at right tackle in the NFL but any team looking for a guy who can step in and play (and probably play pretty well) early on in his career, should be looking Wright's way.
Wright has the potential to transform into a solid starter early on and if he continues growing at a similar rate as he did in college, the ceiling could even be a bit higher than that despite some athletic limitations.
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