Normally an organization will become aware of a draft prospect maybe two years before they’re set to join the NFL. Scouts start taking notice first. Then the personnel directors become involved, and finally, the GM. However, there are rare cases where a franchise takes immediate notice of a player from the moment they leave high school. It sounds like this was the case for Darnell Wright and the Chicago Bears. Buzz was spreading about him even before Ryan Poles became GM in 2022.
The man to thank for this is Sam Summerville, one of the top scouts in the organization. He was the Bears’ southeast area scout when Wright joined Tennessee in 2019. Whispers about him had already begun even back then, according to Adam Jahns of The Athletic.
Summerville, the Bears’ Southeast area scout until he was promoted by former GM Ryan Pace in 2021, said he’s been following Wright for years, starting when he was a five-star recruit coming out of Huntington, W.Va.
“You want to get a full picture of the player,” Summerville said. “So, with any player, we’re going to watch home games, away games, games against big opponents, games against small opponents to see if they might take days off when they don’t think the competition is going to be as hard.”
It’s time to look for loafing. Instead, the Bears continued to see violence, including in the run game. And they loved it.
“I would say he’s violent,” Summerville said. “I would say he’s aggressive. I would say he’s powerful. I would say he’s nasty. All of those words. Those aren’t necessarily good traits when you’re talking about your kids, but they’re excellent traits when you’re talking about an offensive lineman.”
Going into 2022, the Bears had Wright on a short list of players to watch.
What followed was the best season of his college career, helping lead one of the best offenses in college football while shutting down one top SEC pass rusher after another. Once he aced his private visit last month, the stage was set for last Thursday night.
Darnell Wright made a bit of history too.
He is the first offensive tackle taken by the Bears in the top 10 since Jimbo Covert way back in 1983. That is a massive gap. No doubt the organization hopes Wright can put together a similar carer. They certainly seem to think he has the capability. People keep talking down about his athleticism. Yet when you look at the testing numbers, you realize this guy is a great athlete for his size. Combine that with his power and violence, and you have the makings of a long-term starter that can anchor one end for ten years.
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Nobody knows for sure if this pick will be a success. However, it’s beyond clear the Bears did their homework. They’ve been watching this guy since he came out of high school. Nobody can say the organization half-assed it. Summerville, Poles, and the coaching staff did everything in their power to find faults in Darnell Wright as a player and person. They failed. Once that became clear, the decision to draft him was easy. Now it’s about letting fate take its course.
