Wright amped for Bears' Morgan to take his game to ‘next level'

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LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright forged an immediate connection with Bears offensive line coach Chris Morgan during his pre-draft visit to Halas Hall. When I spoke to Wright last Friday, everything pointed to him being the Bears' selection at No. 9 overall.

“I talked to coach C-Mo for a long time," Wright told NBC Sports Chicago. "It was funny, he was talking to me about what are some of your pet peeves? It’s funny, right off the bat, his No. 1 pet peeve and my No. 1 pet peeve are both the same thing. So it’s going to be fun working with him ... if I end up with the Bears.”

Wright was indeed the selection as the Bears drafted the 6-foot-5, 330-pound tackle at No. 10 overall following a small trade-down with the Philadelphia Eagles.

That connection with Morgan, and a grueling pre-draft workout, set Wright on the path to be quarterback Justin Fields' newest protector in Chicago.

"They brought me in, and (C-Mo) also came and worked me out. He kicked my ass, if we’re being honest," Wright told Chicago media via Zoom on Thursday. "He wanted to see what I was made of. It was hard, but I didn’t quit. So I think he respected that.

"He put me through the wringer. We were out there working. You go about … you’re 15 minutes in and you’re going back to back to back. But then you’re still going back-to-back-to-back and another 10 minutes pass. Another maybe 10 minutes pass. He just wanted to see if I’d quit, and I wouldn’t quit."

In Wright, the Bears get a big, strong, violent offensive tackle with great athleticism who will immediately be a Day 1 starter on the right side. He has the versatility to play left tackle as well, but early indications are that the Bears want to leave Braxton Jones at left tackle and play Wright on the other side.

Wright was speechless when speaking with Chicago media after the selection. He knew he had the talent to be a top-10 pick. He also knew the Bears were interested but wasn't sure if they'd ultimately call his name. When they did, Morgan called Wright and told him how hard it was not to call him earlier to tell him he was the pick.

The 21-year-old had a sensational senior season at Tennessee. He allowed just eight total pressures and didn't allow a sack. He stonewalled Alabama star Will Anderson and didn't get up a single pressure against LSU or Georgia.

Wright opened the pre-draft process as a potential mid-Day 2 pick. But his rise started quickly at the Senior Bowl and never stopped until the Bears selected him at No. 10 on Thursday night.

For Wright, he knows his sterling senior season at Tennessee, which led to him being the first first-round pick of the Ryan Poles era, is just the beginning.

“The main thing I tell them is, ‘You see what I have done in a year and a half of just really, really focusing in and really trying to be my best self,' Wright told NBC Sports last week. "You see what I did at the combine. You see the pro day. You see the Senior Bowl. You see like, with just a little more attention to detail and a little more focus, you can see how far I’ve gotten. I don’t even feel like I’ve scratched the surface. If this is where I’m at now, I’m excited to see where I’ll be at when I’m 25, 24.

"I’m just, you see on tape that I have some stuff – you say it’s good or you say it’s advanced. But I don’t even know. Sometimes I feel like I’m just really out there free-balling, off instincts. If that’s where I’m at right now, I don’t know. If I get around some of these NFL vets and they can really teach me, I don’t know how good I can be.”

RELATED: Why Wright was home-run pick for Bears at No. 10

Wright believes that Morgan, who the Bears lauded as a critical piece of their pre-draft evaluations of the top offensive linemen, is the man to get him from free-balling well of untapped potential to All-Pro.

"I’m not gonna tell you everything we talked about, but we talked about a lot of stuff," Wright said Thursday when asked about Morgan. "There’s a lot of stuff that I need to work on, and there’s a lot of stuff that I do really well. It’s rare that you get to go somewhere where you really get to get coached by someone you really like and you feel like can take your game to the next level. That’s what I feel like C-Mo can do for me.

"He already told me it’s gonna be hard, but I’ve never shied away from hard. I just want to get the best out of myself, and I think Coach C-Mo is gonna be perfect for me. It’s just gonna be perfect.”

The Bears believed Wright was the perfect pick for them -- a sturdy foundational block on the right side who can help Fields take a massive Year 3 leap as a passer.

The fit with Wright and the Bears started crystalizing over the past two weeks. He impressed Poles on his top-30 visit by being "his genuine self," and the quick connection with Morgan put it over the top.

Wright reached the pinnacle of a mountain Thursday when the Bears called his name at No. 10. Once he arrives in Chicago, he and Morgan will get to work climbing the next mountain.

One everyone at Halas Hall believes he's equipped to summit.

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