It's June 20th—do you know where your countdown is? Here, of course! Can you believe we're already half way through the 70s?
We've got 75 days until kickoff ... so today we'll be taking a look at number 75 on the Bronco roster—Faraji Wright
#75, Faraji Wright, Junior, OT
Stats
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 291 lbs.
High School: Berkeley High School, Vallejo, CA
How'd he get to The Blue?
A three-year letterman at Berkeley High School, Wright earned first-team all-conference honors as a senior team captain and was ranked sixth on the Bay Area "Cream of the Crop" list for 2007. Wright was also named first-team West County Times and to the San Francisco Chronicle All-Metro second team. Ranked a 3-star OT recruit by Scout.com, Faraji had FBS scholarship offers from Utah State, UNLV, and San José State as well as a smattering of FCS offers.
Nickname
"The Wright Stuff" [rahyt stuhf]
No, this isn't because of his striking resemblance to Chuck Yeager.
Look-a-like
Notorious B.I.G.
Career highlights
Played in 4 games as a freshman in 2009. Played in 8 games as a sophomore in 2010, with 3 starts coming at the left guard position.
Career lowlight
2011 prospectus
It's hard to predict what Wright's season will look like. With his game appearances having increased dramatically since his arrival, it seems like it would be a safe bet to predict that he become a permanent starter in 2011. However, because of the musical chairs that constantly takes place on the O-line, I really couldn't tell you whether Wright will be playing guard, tackle or both this season. Remember, last season, it looked like Nate Potter—the incumbent at left tackle—would be moving to left guard; opening up a spot for what we assumed would be Charles Leno/Faraji Wright bookends. Then, the season started, and the Nate Potter guard experiment quickly dissolved, leaving the scraps for whomever was lingering in the right tackle position. Indeed, Wright did make some game appearances in the right tackle slot, but his starts on the year came at left guard—a position and side shift. In Spring Camp, it looked like Wright might have safely landed in the left guard spot, doing daily battle with Joe Kellogg for first team rights...but will he stay there when the season begins? I think so...and I don't know if this is good for Wright's PT or not. Nate Potter, by all accounts will be the starter at left tackle, and the epic battle for right tackle that we thought would develop between Wright and Leno, will probably not materialize—I think Leno gets the spot in the Fall. So, Wright will apparently have to overcome Joe Kellogg at left guard—a tall, but not impossible order. As I discussed yesterday, Jake Broyles appears to be the favorite at right guard.
All of this, of course, could blow up in Fall Camp if the coaches see fit—and more shuffling is bound to occur...it's just that, for the time being, we don't know what position Wright is definitely going to be competing for and the injury x-factor could render all of these O-line predictions completely futile. That said, I'll reiterate my O-line prediction from a few days back, when I highlighted Chuck Leno: RT–Charles Leno, RG–Brenel Myers (as you can see, I'm already drifting away from this prediction), C–Thomas Byrd Esq., LG–Joe Kellogg, LT–Nate Potter.
Completely made up fact
Faraji plans on releasing numerous new rap singles at the end of the season—among them: Kellen Moore: He goin' to the League, Shea McClellin: He goin' to the League, Doug Martin: He goin' to the League, and Brad Elkin: He goin' to Home Depot (fo' buildin' suppliez).