Darnell Wright officially declares for the draft, will play in Orange Bowl
Tennessee senior right tackle Darnell Wright has officially declared for the NFL draft, but will play on final game in the orange and white as the West Virginia native announced on social media Thursday his future plans.
Wright, who accepted his invitation to the Senior Bowl on Monday, has been a force for the nation’s No. 1 offense at 538 yards and 47.3 points per game. Tennessee also broke the program record with 568 points this season. Wright, who moved back over to right tackle this offseason after spending the 2021 campaign at left tackle, has not allowed a sack in 18-straight games.
Standing in at 6-foot-6 weighing 335 pounds, the offensive lineman has appeared in 46 games throughout his with 41 starts (33-straight). Wright finished the 2022 regular season not allowing a sack on 829 offensive snaps. In total, the tackle has logged 2,680 career snaps while making 26 starts at right tackle, 13 at left tackle and two at right guard.
Wright was named the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week twice this season following Tennessee’s defeat of Alabama (October 15) and Kentucky (October 29). The senior was a semifinalist for the 2022 Rotary Lombardi Award. Wright was named to the Freshman All-SEC team at the conclusion of the 2019 season.
Prior to arrive on campus in 2019, Wright was a consensus five-star recruit out of Huntington High School in West Virginia. He played in the 2019 Under Armour All-American Game and was a preseason 2018 MaxPreps All-American. Wright was a three-time Class AA All-State selection by the West Virginia Sports Writer’s Association.
Cade Mays is the latest Vol offensive lineman to be drafted as he was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the sixth round earlier this spring. Two years ago, Trey Smith was taken by the Chiefs in the sixth round.
Tennessee has sported a combined 379 all-time draft picks, including the AFL Draft which merged in 1967. Josh Heupel produced seven draft picks while head coach at UCF and churned out another five following his first season in Knoxville. He was also instrumental in the development of former second-round quarterback Drew Lock while serving as the offensive coordinator at Missouri.
