Wright wants to be ‘one of the greats’

AUBURN | Jake Thornton could see the potential in Jeremiah Wright from the start.

Auburn’s first-year offensive line coach said as much to Wright not long after he was hired away from Ole Miss last December.

“He said I can be one of the most dominant O-linemen in this league,” said Wright.

But it’s a process for Wright to reach the level that Thornton believes he can play. It helps that Wright has finally settled at offensive guard after shuffling between defensive line and offensive line during his first couple of years at Auburn.

“I think he plays with toughness. He tries to finish,” said Thornton. “I do believe he's still learning how to play offensive line. He went back and forth from my understanding the last couple of years.

“So, I'm certainly excited to get him molded as an offensive lineman through an entire spring, summer and fall camp and I certainly think he can be a big-time factor and he's got all the physical traits. And I think he's developing the mentality to be one of the better ones in this league.”

Wright, a 6-foot-5 and 338-pound junior, was limited during spring with an injury but that didn’t keep him from learning the new offense and working on his fundamentals.

He’s got the physical part down when he’s on the field. Off the field, he’s one of AU’s most personable players.

“I don't even know where it comes from. My mom, she's real hard on me, my mom and grandma real hard,” said Wright. “When I'm on the field, it's just like a different person. You're going to know I'm there.”

Offensive guard should be one of the team’s most competitive position battles this fall. In addition to Wright, senior Kameron Stutts, junior Tate Johnson, junior Jaden Muskrat and freshman Connor Lew are all expected to battle for one of two starting positions.

Wright’s got a plan to be at his best going into fall drills.

"Just get my footwork, technique, everything down. I want to be one of the greats to do it,” he said.