Wright pick: Bears grab Florida safety in draft

As the third round commenced Friday night the Bears had their sights focused on four defensive backs.

But by the time they were on the clock - 11th in the round, No. 75 overall - only one of their targeted defensive backs was left. That made general manager Jerry Angelo's selection of Florida safety Major Wright a no-brainer.

"I felt pretty good at the start of the third round, (but) they just started peeling off," Angelo said. "I really thought there would be two, maybe as many as three, (but Wright) was the last one there."

The first two picks in the round were South Florida's Jerome Murphy and Iowa's Amari Spievey, college cornerbacks who may be better at free safety in the NFL. Both of them, especially Murphy, were believed to be on the Bears' list.

On the eighth pick of the round, Green Bay selected Georgia Tech safety Morgan Burnett, another player who fit the Bears' profile.

But Bears coach Lovie Smith was more than pleased to come away with Wright, a three-year starter who left school with a year of eligibility remaining.

"(He) was one of the players we liked from the start," Smith said. "He's a high-character guy. He's going to bring a lot of energy to our defense. (He's a) big hitter and has good skills as far as coverages are concerned. We're going to put him at free safety and see what he can do."

Wright - who received high marks from scouts for his leadership qualities, instincts, speed, toughness and football smarts - said he was thrilled to get the call from the Bears, who recently sent defensive backs coach Jon Hoke down to Gainesville, Fla., to work him out on the field and in the classroom.

"Oh, my God," Wright said of his reaction. "I literally ran down the street and just ran in the (house, to the) middle of the floor and started crying."

The Bears' recent turnover at safety has often made them want to cry. They've made a total of 40 lineup changes at the free safety and strong safety positions since Smith became head coach in 2004.

Stability in the secondary was Job One, especially at free safety, which has become more important with the league-wide emphasis on throwing the ball more often.

Wright is expected, at the very least, to be active on Sundays, but neither Angelo nor Smith went so far as to say they expected him to start right away.

"I would say he assumes he is going to come in and play fairly quick," Smith said. "There is a long way to go before you put a rookie in a starting lineup. We feel good about some of our players that we have here right now. But we don't have the depth at the position we need."

The Bears have focused on improving at free safety since the 2009 season ended with their safeties having combined for a total of 1 interception.

"The secondary is what we targeted as our primary need," Angelo said. "The safety position and the corner position was really a coin toss in our minds, so whoever the best player was, we were going to take."

That turned out to be Mr. Wright.

Major WrightS, 5-111/2, 206, FloridaWright has a good combination of size and speed, with a 40 time of 4.48. He played in 41 games and started 33 in three seasons at Florida, leaving with a year of eligibility remaining. He started seven games at free safety as a freshman in 2007 and had 67 tackles, 2 pass breakups, 1 interception and 4 forced fumbles. Started 14 games at free safety in '08 with 66 tackles, 6 pass breakups and 4 interceptions. Started 12 games in '09, when he lost some playing time to freshman sensation Will Hill, and had 32 tackles, 2 pass breakups and 3 interceptions. Is considered a physical hitter who likes contact and could be better at strong safety because of his toughness but also has the speed and instincts to remain at free safety. Wright was considered one of the Gators' leaders, a role he took on almost immediately. Florida coach Urban Meyer said of Wright: "He's got a little bit of the (Tim) Tebow effect on the defense. He's an extremely high-character guy, (and) football means the world to him. He's always where he's supposed to be academically. If you get yourself a whole bunch of Major Wrights, you're playing excellent defense." <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Stories</h2><ul class="links"><li><a href="/story/?id=375817"><b>ROZNER:</b> One unsatisfying draft<span class="date"> [4/23/10]</span></a></li></ul></div></div></div>