Bears News: Ryan Poles on why he chose Darnell Wright: "Nasty mentality" playing OL |
Bears General manager Ryan Poles talked to the media late Thursday after picking Tennesee offensive lineman Darnell Wright with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
"The one thing that stands out with him is he's a tone-setter," Poles said. "He plays with an edge to him, which we love. We want more of." The Bears really worked him hard during their Top-30 visit with him. "There's an attitude. There's a mental toughness that you have to have to play this game," Poles said. "With him, I kind of joked around, we brought him in deep water to see if he could swim or not, and he accepted the challenge, and he showed us the grit and the mental toughness to be able to fight through fatigue and all of those things that we look for. So it was a really good experience from start to finish, a guy that we were comfortable with as being the top tackle in the draft, so we're pumped about that." Wright had no quit in him during the session. "We got him exhausted, and the kid had no quit in him. His body language was excellent. He stayed aggressive, finished. Again, that attitude we're looking for upfront. Good experience. Hands-on. You're always looking to be convicted about things, and that was the final box we were able to check and feel good about it." Poles believes that Wright has everything you want at the tackle position. "I mentioned the tone setting, the nasty mentality that you look for," Poles said. "That probably set him apart. I think, like I talked about, the anchor was a big one. That’s critical. The combination of size and athleticism together was another part that made us feel really good about him. "He’s a nasty dude who when you watch the tape and are like, alright, we’ve got to play the Bears next week, you go – OK, this is going to be a long day."
