Tennessee signed four offensive linemen in their 2019 early signing class, but they’re in the market for one more lineman to round out their 2019 class. The Vols’ top remaining target in the 2019 cycle is five-star offensive tackle Darnell Wright, and UT hopes he will join fellow five-star Wanya Morris as the cornerstones of Tennessee’s 2019 class.
And right now, Wright is absolutely dominating at the Under Armour All-American Game.
Practices got underway for the annual high school all-star game over the weekend, and Wright impressed from the outset. After knocking off some rust after a month off from football, Wright stood out as one of the top performers in Day 1 of the event.
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According to Greg Biggins of 247Sports, Wright was the second-most impressive player on offense during the first day of practices.
“Wright is a powerful player and won just about every one on one rep that we saw,” Biggins wrote of Wright’s first day at the All-American Game. “He’s patient, doesn’t lunge or overset, and had the most dominant win of the day by putting his man on his back.”
On the second day of practices on Monday, Wright was even more impressive according to those gathered to watch.
Jesse Simonton of Volquest — Tennessee’s Rivals.com affiliate — stated that Wright had “a really impressive Day 2” at the event and held his own against some of the top defensive linemen in the 2019 class.
Darnell Wright is having a really impressive Day 2 at @AllAmericaGame .
The 5-star OL and top Tennessee target has dominated at 1-on-1s at LG and RT, beating Justin Eboigbe (Alabama) a couple times, Charles Moore (MSU) and Savion Jackson (NC State).
— Jesse Simonton (@JesseReSimonton) December 31, 2018
Of the three players Simonton mentioned, all three are inside or right around the top 100 players in the 2019 cycle according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Eboigbe, who is committed to Alabama, is the No. 75 overall player and No. 5 strong-side defensive end, Savion Jackson, an NC State commit, is the No. 93 overall player and No. 7 strong-side defensive end, and Charles Moore, who is committed to Mississippi State, is the No. 105 overall player and No. 9 strong-side defensive end.
That wasn’t all for Wright on Day 2, though.
According to John Garcia of 247Sports, Wright had the third-most impressive play of the day on Monday when he quickly pancaked the defender he was matched up against.
“An uncommitted 247Sports Composite five-star, he looked like it for the second day in a row,” Garcia said of Wright, “including with as quick a pancake as you will see in this setting.”
Tennessee is considered the front-runner for Wright as of now, but they’re in competition with both Alabama and Georgia for the five-star’s signature. Wright is rated as the No. 10 overall player and No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2019 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
The Vols have one of their commits performing at the Under Armour All-American Game as well. Five-star offensive tackle Wanya Morris has been running through drills and has looked solid to start the week. Tennessee also has a number of other targets performing at the event, including wide receiver George Pickens and the aforementioned Charles Moore among others.
Wright does not have a set time for his college announcement just yet, but it’s believed he may wait all the way up until National Signing Day on February 6th before making his decision known publicly.
