Darnell Wright in elite company among Bears tackles originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Chicago Bears offensive tackle Darnell Wright, selected with the No. 10 pick in Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft, is going to have plenty of eyes on him as he works to protect Justin Fields this season, but his name is already going to be associated with a Bears legend.
Wright, who was an All-SEC First Team honoree and turned heads at the Senior Bowl earlier this year, was one of the top tackles on the board, and even as the Bears traded back one selection in allowing the Philadelphia Eagles to nab Jalen Carter at No. 9, they still managed to get some serious offensive line help.
Even though the Bears have selected plenty of offensive linemen in drafts in recent years, they haven’t gone offensive tackle this high up in a long time.
In fact, the last time the Bears drafted an offensive tackle in the top-10 of the draft came all the way back in 1983 when they picked Jimbo Covert out of Pittsburgh with the sixth-overall pick.
Needless to say, Covert’s selection proved critical. He won a Super Bowl with the Bears in 1986, appearing in two Pro Bowls and being named an All-Pro on two different occasions. He was also elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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The last time the Bears had drafted an offensive lineman of any kind in the first round was back in 2013 when they selected guard Kyle Long out of Oregon.
The last offensive tackle they picked in the first round was in 2011 when they picked Gabe Carimi with the No. 29 selection, and they also picked Chris Williams out of Vanderbilt in the 2008 draft.
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