Senior Season 'Piece Of Humble Pie' For New Lions DT Gabe Wright
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK - In his junior season at Auburn, in 2013, defensive tackle Gabe Wright started 11 games and logged 31 tackles, including 8.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. That year, Auburn won 12 games and played for the national championship.
Wright could have declared for the NFL draft after that season, but he elected to stay.
In his senior season, in 2014, Wright started seven games and logged 24 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss and one sack. Auburn won eight games and lost in the Outback Bowl by the same score they had lost the national championship game the previous season.
"Once in a while in a man's life, every man needs his piece of humble pie," Wright said in a teleconference Saturday. "My senior year was definitely humbling for me."
The Detroit Lions traded into the fourth round Saturday to select Wright, and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said he expects Wright to be a part of the rotation.
Wright attributed part of his struggles in his senior season to late notice from Auburn about what his role on the team would be.
"I trained my whole junior year and that spring thinking I would be a defensive tackle, and two weeks before fall camp I was told that I'd be starting at defensive end," Wright said. "It was just the timing of it all ... I know if I would've properly prepped than things would have been handled accordingly."
Wright said he expected any position change he would face in the NFL would come with more warning.
Wright arrives in Detroit just as another former Auburn defensive tackle departs. Nick Fairley left the Lions in free agency, and his time at Auburn did not overlap with that of Wright, but Wright still considers Fairley a mentor.
"He had just got done playing, just had one of the best careers at Auburn, one of the best seasons ... and I'm an 18-year-old freshman and he's just trying to tutor me in the things that I'm going to see on and off the field and how to be presentable and how to be respectful," Wright said.
"He left when I came in, but he was still a mentor and definitely a huge tutor to me," Wright added. "He was one of the main guys who told me that naturally people would try to make comparisons, and I've just got to come in and just be Gabe Wright. That's all I can be."
In Detroit, Wright will share a defensive line room with veteran Haloti Ngata, a perennial Pro Bowl selection whom the Lions acquired from the Baltimore Ravens via trade this offseason. Wright looks forward to learning from Ngata.
"He's definitely been great at what he's been able to do," Wright said. "I can't see a better guy that I can just take teaching from. You can always take teaching from great coaches, but you need a guy alongside you who's been there and who's going through the same stuff that you're going through. I definitely think Haloti will be one of the best tutors for me ... You can't miss on a guy like that."
Along with Ngata and free agent acquisition Tyrunn Walker, Wright will face a fair amount of scrutiny in the 2015 season as the Lions revamp the defensive line after the departure of Ndamukong Suh, Fairley, C.J. Mosley and Andre Fluellen in free agency.
"We think we have the pieces in place to have a competitive group," Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. "Obviously it won't be the same as it was last year, but we still want to make sure we're effective and we're able to affect the game in a positive way to help us win more games."
