Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright has put together an impressive week at the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Wright won plenty of one-on-one pass blocking reps with top senior pass rushers and it was more than earning the attention of NFL scouts.
“Darnell Wright, I had an offensive line scout that’s an offensive lineman that’s actually in the Hall of Fame and he came up and was like ‘Darnell Wright has made some money today,'” Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy said on the Kayla, Ramon and Will show on Nashville’s 104.5 The Zone.
Wright entered the week projected as an early day two pick in a strong offensive tackle draft. There’s plenty of talented offensive linemen available in the 2023 NFL Draft but Wright’s strong play in his senior season at Tennessee combined with a big week at in Mobile could see him move into the first round.
The massive offensive lineman’s play this week led to his peers voting the American team’s OL Practice Player-of-Week.
BREAKING: Tennessee’s Darnell Wright (@darnell_5232) has been voted American team’s OL Practice Player-of-Week by vote from his peers in American DL and LB groups.#TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™️ pic.twitter.com/kgTOD3l02n
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) February 3, 2023
The massive 6-foot-6, 335-pound offensive tackle came to Tennessee as a five-star recruit and had an up-and-down first two seasons in Knoxville that saw him earn All-SEC Freshman honors in 2019.
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After sticking at Tennessee through the coaching change, Wright moved from right tackle to left tackle in 2021 and had a breakout season. The West Virginia native improved his game radically from his sophomore to junior season before a dominant breakout senior season.
Wright moved back to right tackle as a senior and was fantastic, earning All-SEC First Team honors while allowing zero sacks. The Vols’ top offensive lineman twice earned SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors, first for shutting down Alabama star Will Anderson and then again for his play against Kentucky.
Wright and the rest of the Vols heading to the NFL Draft are hoping to hear their name called in the three-day draft on April 27-29 in Kansas City.
