Kendall

Wright

Wright has been cut from Arizona mutiple times but has yet to be active this season. The Cardinals promoted DE Vontarrius Dora from the practice squad with Robert Nkemdiche (questionable, calf) in danger of missing Sunday’s game.

Wright spent 10 days with the Cardinals last month, but he was released without ever seeing the field. He should stick around a little longer this time, but he is still not a fantasy option.

Wright is a healthy scratch after signing earlier this week. Also inactive are QB Sam Bradford, WR Trent Sherfield, RB T.J. Logan, OT Blaine Clausell, )T Korey Cunningham, and DT Ifeadi Odenigbo.

As Wright is a career slot receiver, it’s fair to wonder if this signing has anything to do with Larry Fitzgerald’s lingering hamstring injury. Wright, 29, was the Bears’ leading receiver last year, but then failed to make the Vikings out of 2018 training camp. He got beaten out by NFL dropped-passes leader Laquon Treadwell. Wright’s odds of making fantasy noise in Arizona are slim.

Wright left his visit without a contract, so it’s possible the Cardinals were just updating their emergency contact list. Despite leading the Bears in receiving yards a year ago, Wright has had trouble finding work since being let go by Minnesota at the end of training camp. The Baylor alum had previously worked out for the Patriots, though New England has since addressed its receiver need by trading for Josh Gordon.

The height and weight are nearly identical to Santonio Holmes when he came out of Ohio State. Wright was expected to measure in at this size, so his draft stock will not be affected. He should light up the Combine track on Sunday.

“Kendall Wright plays much faster than he was clocked,” the source added. We suspect it’s a sentiment shared by many teams, as Wright’s slow time was due primarily to hand movement before he got cleanly out of his stance. On film, Wright played faster than Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd (4.42) and Georgia Tech’s Stephen Hill (4.36). Wright could fall right in the Texans’ lap at No. 26 overall thanks to the “poor” Combine performance.

There were rumors of an offseason weight gain for Wright, and his forty time at the Combine was slower than anticipated. “Randall Cobb was a lot better,” one NFL evaluator said. “Wright is nowhere near as good with the ball in his hands and (Cobb) lasted ‘til the back of the second (round). People are getting snookered (by Wright).” Wright managed only four bench-press reps, and Pro Football Weekly reports his body fat was 16 percent. Per PFW, it’s “one of the highest percentages for a receiver in the past decade.”

These times are closer to Wright’s play speed compared to his 4.61 “official” electronic time from the Combine. Wright actually clocked around 4.45 on stopwatches in Indianapolis. The Baylor product has tremendous versatility from multiple wide receiver spots and consistently separates from defenders. We doubt Wright falls out of the top-22 picks.

Wright is tentatively expected to be drafted somewhere in the 20s. The Pats pick at Nos. 27 and 31. “You see him running by a corner every game,” one AFC scout told the Boston Globe, discussing Wright. “If you would have asked me to guess (his forty time), I would have conservatively guessed 4.45. I would have thought he easily would have run a 4.3. But for him to run to run what he did, I was completely shocked. It kind of reminded me of when Chad (Ochocinco) came out of Oregon State, he ran like a 4.6 after running by people at the Senior Bowl. He played a lot faster than what he timed.”