‘He’s doing cartwheels with a banged up elbow’ – Former NFL tight end loves what he’s seeing from former Vols OL Darnell Wright

Former Tennessee Vols offensive lineman Darnell Wright went viral this past week for doing a cartwheel to celebrate a Chicago Bears touchdown. Wright, a first round selection by the Bears in the 2023 NFL Draft, received quite a bit of praise this week for his performance against the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday. Bears head coach […]

Zach Ragan Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
Add as preferred source on Google
Tennessee Vols
Bryan Lynn-Imagn Images

Former Tennessee Vols offensive lineman Darnell Wright went viral this past week for doing a cartwheel to celebrate a Chicago Bears touchdown.

Wright, a first round selection by the Bears in the 2023 NFL Draft, received quite a bit of praise this week for his performance against the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday.

Bears head coach Ben Johnson, for example, called Wright a “unicorn”.

Johnson also seemed to hint that a trick play involving Wright could be on the way.

Wright told reporters after he was drafted in 2023 that he’s willing to play wherever the coaches tell him to play — including at wide receiver if necessary.

Former NFL tight end heaps praise on Darnell Wright

Former NFL tight end Clay Harbor, an Illinois native who played college football at Missouri State, compared Wright this week to a couple of the best offensive linemen of the past two decades.

“This guy [has given up] one sack all year,” said Harbor on 670 The Score. “He’s doing cartwheels with a banged up elbow. The blocking game that he had last week, and honestly throughout the whole season — I played with Lane Johnson. I played with Jason Peters for four years. I’ve played with Ryan Ramczyk. I played with a bunch of good tackles — [including] Nate Solder. This guy is talented, maybe more talented than all of them.

“He reminds me of a young Jason Peters the way he can get out and run and his physicality. He’s just heavy handed. He’s good in the run game, good in the pass game. He’s moving guys.”

That’s incredibly high praise for Wright. Lane Johnson and Jason Peters are both going to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day. It’s obviously far too early to suggest that Wright is on that same path, but it’s clear that Harbor sees some Hall of Fame traits in the former Tennessee offensive lineman.

This article was originally published on A to Z Sports Tennessee Vols as ‘He’s doing cartwheels with a banged up elbow’ – Former NFL tight end loves what he’s seeing from former Vols OL Darnell Wright.

Tenenssee Vols

Tennessee Volunteers News

Former Vols offensive lineman shares thoughts on differences in Tennessee’s play-calling under Alex Golesh and Joey Halzle

A significant topic of discussion surrounding Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel over the last year has centered on whether he should relinquish play-calling duties. It’s been 12 years since a head coach who called his own plays won a national championship (Jimbo Fisher at Florida State in 2013). In the current era of college […]