The Chicago Bears took a tremendous risk in the spring of 2023. Not only did they pass on taking a quarterback #1 overall, but after trading down to #9, they passed on taking highly-touted defensive tackle Jalen Carter from Georgia as well. If that weren’t enough, their final gamble was selecting Tennessee right tackle, Darnell Wright. While many experts agreed he was a really good prospect, most felt he was more of a mid-teens or early-20s prospect. General manager Ryan Poles didn’t care.

He felt Wright had all the tools of a franchise tackle, from size to power and mobility. All he needed was time to finetune his technique. Three years later, the Bears GM might be owed an apology. Wright was second-team All-Pro last season, and just cracked ESPN’s list of the top 10 offensive tackles in the NFL. This is assembled through polls of league executives, scouts, and coaches. That should tell you how respected the Bears’ starter has become. Yet even now, it still feels like he’s undervalued.

6. Darnell Wright, Chicago Bears

Highest ranking: 2 | Lowest ranking: Unranked
Age: 24 | Last year’s ranking: Unranked

Wright is on an upward trajectory as an anchor of Chicago’s vaunted offensive line. The team ranked third in rushing and top 10 in overall offense.

“Power and brute strength,” an NFL personnel director said. “He can do whatever he wants on a football field.”

The Bears were highly pleased with Wright last season as he played through a nagging shoulder injury. But despite ranking fourth in pass block win rate (95.2%), some voters believe he needs to improve his refinement on passing downs.

“I don’t see a consistently high motor,” a veteran NFL defensive coach said. “That’s the next step for him is getting that up.”

Darnell Wright being so far behind Penei Sewell feels disrespectful.

The two weren’t that far apart last season in terms of play quality. Sewell gave up 19 pressures in 601 pass-blocking snaps. Wright allowed 24 in 740. Sewell had the #1 run-blocking grade for the year. Wright was 10th. This is somewhat curious since Detroit ranked 14th in rushing while Chicago was 3rd. The point is that Wright has a legitimate case for being on the same tier as Sewell, who took home the #1 spots in the rankings. Yet still no Pro Bowl honors or proper respect from national media outlets.

That probably suits Darnell Wright just fine. He thrives on criticism like that. It’s been this way since college. Every instance of not mentioning him as a top tackle only fuels him to work even harder. The Bears certainly won’t complain. When he’s operating at his peak, their offense has proven it can turn opposing defenses into road kill. The only saving grace at this point is that Chicago hasn’t yet found a left tackle who is similar in quality to him. If they ever do, it’s a wrap.

It truly feels like things started changing with Wright’s arrival.

He was Poles’ first selection in the 1st round as a general manager. Most people know that such moves can set the tone for an entire GM tenure. It was with Shea McClellin and Phil Emery and again with Kevin White and Ryan Pace. Poles had to make sure his first swing connected. We can now say with absolute certainty that he did. Darnell Wright is a stud. The Bears’ offensive line is one of the best in the NFL. Successful periods in franchise history always have an origin point. Selecting Wright should be viewed as the one for this team.

The next step for the Bears is obvious. They must extend their star tackle. Wright is entering the fourth and final year of his rookie contract. While the 5th-year option is already in play, most believe the Bears won’t bother leaning on it. They want to lock Wright up as quickly as possible. Expectations are that he’ll be one of the highest-paid tackles in football when the dust settles. As well he should be. From there, it becomes about how much better he can continue getting.

The Chicago Bears pretty much revolutionized the tight end position with Mike Ditka in the 1960s. Since then, they curiously never built on that success. While they’ve had plenty of good players come and go, the franchise never explored the full possibilities of what the position could do. That changed with the arrival of new head coach Ben Johnson. He already understood the massive potential tight ends had, having experimented with them during his time in Detroit. Chicago offered him a golden opportunity to explore uncharted territory. It began when he chose to pair 1st round pick Colston Loveland with established starter Cole Kmet.

It became clear almost immediately that the Bears had a pairing that would allow them to run loads of “12” personnel with two tight ends on the field. Not only would it help open up the running game with their blocking, but it’d be impossible for defenses to determine which of them was the primary pass catcher. The success was almost immediate. Chicago was 3rd in rushing last season, and tight ends combined for 1,060 yards and eight touchdowns. When ESPN released its updated rankings for the position based on polls of top NFL evaluators, the Bears were the only team with two names mentioned.

7. Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears

Highest ranking: 3 | Lowest ranking: Unranked
Age: 22 | Last year’s ranking: N/A

Loveland’s production over last season’s final four games showed exactly where his career is going: upward.

He gained 378 yards on 28 receptions (two for touchdowns) over his final four games, including the playoffs. His target share during that span was 29%. Loveland showed as a rookie exactly why several teams tried to trade up for the No. 10 pick in the 2025 draft.

“He’s unbelievable,” an NFL coordinator said. “A smooth mover with toughness.”

While he failed to crack the top 10, Kmet earned an honorable mention for his constant dependability as both a blocker and pass-catcher.

Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears: “He’s still a quality player who’s friendly for a young quarterback, good in the run game. They need to find ways to get Kmet and Loveland on the field together.” — personnel executive with an NFL team

The Bears are in exceedingly rare company.

There are very few instances throughout NFL history when you could argue an NFL team had two of the top 15 tight ends on the same roster. The most prominent example is probably the San Francisco 49ers of the late 2000s and early 2010s. They employed both Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker at that time. Davis was a star at that point, helping the team to reach the Super Bowl in 2012. Walker was mostly used as a blocker, but he would later become a Pro Bowler with the Tennessee Titans.

San Francisco never tapped into what that pair could’ve done together. Johnson and the Bears aren’t making that mistake. Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet were both used in high-leverage situations. Both made huge plays for the team. Loveland had the famous game-winning catch against Cincinnati and torched Green Bay in the wild card round. Kmet caught the knockout shot against the Eagles in Philadelphia and then forced overtime on Caleb Williams’ 4th down prayer against the Rams in the divisional round.

That isn’t even the scary part.

What should terrify those same NFL people is that the Chicago Bears might be three-deep now. They spent a 3rd round pick on Stanford tight end Sam Roush this past April. Most considered him one of the best blockers in the entire class, which is an immediate help to an already great run game. The scarier part is that multiple experts believe he has untapped potential as a pass-catcher. While not as explosive as others, he has enough speed and good hands to make for a perfectly solid target.

Imagine a world where a defense somehow finds a way to contain both Loveland and Kmet. Now they have another giant target to contend with. No defense in the league has three defenders capable of covering three 6’6″ tight ends man-to-man at once. There will be a mismatch somewhere, which is entirely the point. This is what Johnson has been working towards for years. Depending on how things go, the Bears may not just have the best tight end room in the NFL right now, but maybe ever.