The nightmare that was the 2024 Chicago Bears season is over. Before the transactional period starts and the roster changes begin, we will recap the seasons of most of the 53-man roster. Next up: We’re looking at the 2024 season of right tackle Darnell Wright.
Darnell Wright’s 2024 Snapshot
Wright’s 2024 season came with high expectations. The Bears passed on Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter in the 2023 NFL Draft to select Wright, which always meant the microscope would be on him to succeed. All things considered, Darnell Wright’s rookie season in 2023 was solid. He had some rookie moments here and there, but for the most part, he looked like the anchor Chicago had been looking for at tackle for quite some time.
When this year kicked off though, Wright struggled. He was a bit of a roller coaster for the first half of the season. It was more good than it was bad, but the bad got pretty noticeable at times.
But right around the first Green Bay game, a switch seemed to flip for the Bears starting right tackle. Except for the brutal Seattle game on Thursday Night Football, Wright allowed just three hurries between the first Packers game and the season finale. From that Week 11 matchup through the rest of the season, the second-year lineman out of Tennessee allowed just one sack and two QB hits.
In addition to his pass-blocking picking up, he got better in the run game according to the metrics too. From that Packers game through the rest of the season, Wright’s run-blocking graded out under 70.0 on PFF only twice. In contrast, his run-blocking graded out in the 60s in each of the first five games of this season.
While PFF grades are far from a perfect measuring, stick, they are one of the only metrics we have to measure OL play. Wright graded out for the year with an overall grade of 79.3 – good enough for the 16th-best tackle (both left and right) in the NFL. Not bad after a pretty brutal start to 2024.
By the Numbers
- Snaps: 1,021
- Sacks allowed: 6
- Hurries: 21
- Pressures: 30
- Penalties: 8
- Run-Block Grade: 82.2
- Pass-Block Grade: 75.4
Contract Status
Darnell Wright will be entering the third season of his rookie deal. That contract was a four-year, $20.9 million agreement. Wright will make just over $1 million in base salary in 2025. He’ll get a $3.06 million prorated signing bonus and a $1.62 million roster bonus as well. His cap hit for next year will be $5.17 million.
One Big Question for 2025
Can Second-Half Wright Show Up All Year?
Consistency is going to be the key for Darnell Wright in 2025. The Bears starting right tackle at his best is a very good player. The second-half version of him we saw is 100% a building block this team needs with question marks just about everywhere else on the offensive line. The problem is, the first-half version was…well…a problem.
It feels like Wright will always have a bit of an unfair grading curve in Chicago. If you just look at what he’s done in a vacuum, any Bears fan would be thrilled with the production they’ve gotten from him in the two seasons he’s been here. There’s some room for improvement, sure, but more good moments than bad and some flashes of being a top tackle in the league.
However, the fact that the Bears passed up on Jalen Carter to draft him will always be held against him by some, even if that’s totally unfair. I don’t want to get into that whole debate, I think it’s a pointless exercise and it’s one you’ll never truly get an accurate answer to.
But sticking to what we do know, the Bears have a potential Pro Bowl or All-Pro talent at right tackle. The offensive line coaching hire will be huge for Wright, as will the changes made to the unit this offseason. But if Darnell Wright can play a full season for the most part like the player he was from Week 11 and on in 2024, Chicago will have a VERY good offensive lineman on their hands.