Former Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright is a busy man when it comes to the pre-NFL Draft season.
Wright participated in the Reese’s Senior Bowl back in February, competed in the NFL Combine this past weekend in Indianapolis, and is now continuing to meet with teams from all over the league.
According to a new report from The Draft Network’s Ryan Fowler, Darnell Wright has had “formal meetings” with 12 NFL organizations.
Fowler listed the following 12 teams:
- Atlanta Falcons
- Denver Broncos
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Arizona Cardinals
- Detriot Lions
- Indianapolis Colts
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Tennessee Titans
- Baltimore Ravens
- Washington Commanders
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With Fowler’s list, we can determine that Wright has met with five of the teams that own a Top 10 pick in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft: Cardinals (No. 3), Colts (No. 4), Lions (No. 6), Raiders (No. 7), Falcons (No. 8).
In a recent NFL mock draft from ESPN, draft expert Mel Kiper has Wright being selected by the Washington Commanders with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
“[Wright] started 42 games for the Volunteers, with 27 at right tackle, 13 at left tackle and two at right guard,” Kiper wrote. “That versatility is attractive to NFL teams, though I expect him to stick at right tackle at the next level. The Commanders need an injection of talent along the O-line. They ranked 28th in both yards per play on offense (4.9) and yards per rush on offense (4.0) last season.”
According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Wright is the third-highest offensive lineman in the class in terms of both his athleticism score and his total score as an NFL prospect from the combine.
Will Anderson Jr., arguably the top player on Alabama last year and a projected top-three pick in this year’s NFL Draft, recently pointed to Wright as an impressive matchup from this past season.
“Darnell Wright from Tennessee, my sophomore year to my junior year, he had gotten way better,” Anderson Jr said from the NFL Combine last Wednesday. “Very athletic, can bend, can re-trace with his steps. If he gets off balance, can sit down on powers, so it was really exciting going against him this year. He was really great.”
Wright has been rapidly collecting praise from the biggest names covering the NFL, too.
.@Vol_Football @darnell_5232 had a near flawless performance v @AlabamaFTBL and one of the elite players in all of CFB. And this is only 1/42 starts and oh yeah ..he just busted a 5.01 40 #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/Y52XXai2PM
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) March 5, 2023
333 pounds. Moving like that. Beautiful. 💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/Tbtb0FtiVr
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) March 6, 2023
Really good work here by #Vols Darnell Wright… even Eagles’ O-Line coach Jeff Stoutland (running drills)liked it… and he’s a tough critique! pic.twitter.com/Alo9hx3fLp
— Kayla Anderson (@KaylaAndersonTV) March 5, 2023
