Chicago Bears right tackle Darnell Wright landed at No. 6 in ESPN’s 2026 offensive tackle rankings, a survey of more than 70 league executives, coaches and scouts published Friday by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. It’s his first appearance on the list. One voter had him as high as No. 2.
The 24-year-old is coming off the best season of his three-year career, and the rest of the league is starting to notice.
How Wright cracked the top 10
Wright was Chicago’s first-round pick in 2023, taken 10th overall out of Tennessee. He has started 49 straight games and just finished his first All-Pro season, earning a second-team nod from the Associated Press.
That leap showed up in the ESPN voting. Per the report, Wright’s highest ranking from any single voter was No. 2, and he wasn’t ranked at all on last year’s list. He jumped straight into the middle of the pack.
“Power and brute strength,” an NFL personnel director told ESPN. “He can do whatever he wants on a football field.”
Not every evaluator was ready to call him elite. A veteran NFL defensive coach pointed to consistency as the gap between Wright and the tackles above him.
“I don’t see a consistently high motor,” the coach said. “That’s the next step for him is getting that up.”
The numbers behind the ranking
Wright started all 16 games he played last season and held up in protection. He allowed 19 total pressures, three sacks and three quarterback hits across 638 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, which graded him 14th out of 89 qualified tackles with an 81.4 overall mark. His run-blocking grade, 85.6, ranked sixth at the position — the part of his game that most stood out to Chicago’s staff as the Bears built one of the league’s better ground attacks around the right side.
Penalties were the rough edge. Wright was flagged 12 times, the seventh-most of any tackle in the league last season.
| Metric | 2025 Total | League Rank |
|---|---|---|
| PFF Overall Grade | 81.4 | 14th of 89 tackles |
| Run-Block Grade | 85.6 | 6th at position |
| Penalties | 12 | T-7th-most among tackles |
| Pressures Allowed | 19 | — |
What it means for Chicago’s offensive line
The Bears have already backed up the vote of confidence with a roster move. Chicago exercised Wright’s fifth-year option in April, locking him in through the 2027 season at a cost of roughly $19 million. A long-term extension is expected to be a priority before training camp opens.
That stability matters more than usual this summer. Ozzy Trapilo is dealing with an injury that’s expected to sideline him for much of 2026, pushing Braxton Jones into the left tackle job in the interim. With change on the blind side, Wright’s job on the right side is to be the one constant up front while the rest of the line sorts itself out.
Wright still has room to climb. Five tackles ranked above him, led by Detroit’s Penei Sewell at No. 1, and the same voters who praised his power flagged effort level as the separator between him and that group. But for a player who wasn’t on this list a year ago, No. 6 is a clear marker of where his career is trending — and training camp will be the next test of whether he can close the gap.
