Bears roster preview: Can Darnell Wright improve in second season?

As we head toward a new season, Bears Digest is looking at each member of the 53-man roster to recap their 2023-24 season and look ahead to the upcoming campaign. Today, we start with right tackle Darnell Wright.

It’s an exciting season for the Chicago Bears, with No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams taking the reins at quarterback and an improved roster for him to work with. However, the play of the offensive line will play a big role in the team’s success. That’s where we’ll start our roster preview, and why not start with the biggest man on the line: Darnell Wright.

Listed at 6-foot-6, 333 pounds, Wright went from being the 10th overall pick in last year’s draft to the Bears’ starting lineup and turned in a strong rookie campaign.

He started all 17 games and played every offensive snap in all but two of those, earning a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie team. However, the Bears will need him to build on last year’s successes and take a step forward this season to help the offense improve.

Pro Football Focus gave Wright a 66.0 run block grade, a 61.4 pass block grade and a 62.4 overall grade, ranking 36th, 58th and 52nd among all NFL tackles last season, respectively. He also surrendered seven sacks (tied for 13th-most), was called for 11 penalties (tied for sixth-most), and allowed 51 quarterback pressures and three hits in 1,127 offensive snaps.

Again, a lot of good but also a lot of room for improvement. The good news is that, according to PFF, Wright seemed to take a step forward the last few weeks of last season.

He received grades higher than his season-long marks across the board in the final two weeks from PFF, only allowed three total quarterback hurries in those two games, didn’t allow a sack in any of the final three games, and was only called for one penalty over the final four weeks of the season.

If Wright can take another step forward this season, especially in pass protection, it will go a long way toward helping the Bears improve upon last year’s 20th-ranked offense.

Darnell Wright became the second Bears tackle in two seasons to make the PFWA All-Rookie Team. Mike Dinovo Photo / USA TODAY