Tennessee HC Josh Heupel shares heartfelt message about Darnell Wright with Bears reporters
The Chicago Bears selected Tennessee Vols offensive tackle Darnell Wright with the No. 10 overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. Wright is a true right tackle who also has the ability to play left tackle (he played both positions extensively at Tennessee). The newest member of the Bears is a former five-star recruit who […]
The Chicago Bears selected Tennessee Vols offensive tackle Darnell Wright with the No. 10 overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Wright is a true right tackle who also has the ability to play left tackle (he played both positions extensively at Tennessee).
The newest member of the Bears is a former five-star recruit who lived up to the recruiting hype.
On Friday, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, who coached Wright the last two years, spoke to Bears reporters about Wright. And he shared a heartfelt message about his former player.
"He's an intense competitor that's physically gifted," said Heupel (via NBC Sports Chicago's Alex Shapiro). "As gifted as probably anyone I've ever been around. But he's a really lovable, likable guy. He's got an infectious smile when he walks in the building. He's a real dude."
There were a few character concerns floated about Wright from a small group of analysts over the last couple of weeks. It's unclear where those concerns originated from as Wright never had any issues at Tennessee. Fortunately for Wright, those out-of-left-field concerns didn't hurt the former Vol's draft stock.
One reason why the Bears likely looked past those concerns was the workout that Chicago put Wright through in Knoxville in early April.
Heupel called the workout the most intense pre-draft workout that he's heard about during his 20-year coaching career.
There are no sure things when it comes to the NFL draft, but the Bears should feel pretty confident that they landed a franchise tackle in Wright.
