The Chicago Bears have enjoyed plenty of standout safeties over the years, from Mike Brown to Eddie Jackson. But not every defensive back left Chicago with a legacy worth celebrating.
Unfortunately for former Bears starter Major Wright, a new Pro Football Focus study dug up one of the lowest points of his NFL career…
PFF recently identified the lowest-graded single season at every position since it began grading in 2006, and Wright’s 2013 campaign with his 30.2 overall grade topped the safety list.
“Wright was a third-round selection by the Bears in 2010, but he struggled in three of his four seasons in Chicago.” Bradley Locker wrote. “The lowest-graded one came in 2013, when he ranked in the bottom four of both PFF coverage and run-defense grades. Wright’s 0.2% run stop rate sat in the 1st percentile, and his coverage grade at safety was in the 5th percentile.”
The numbers behind the record
GettyFormer Chicago Bears Safety Major Wright
It all started when the Chicago Bears took Major Wright 75th overall in 2010 out of Florida, where he’d just won a national title. Then GM Jerry Angelo pegged him as a future starter, and for stretches he looked like a future superstar.
Wright picked off Michael Vick as a rookie then housed a Matthew Stafford throw the next week for his first career TD. Then in 2012 he started all 16 games and grabbed four interceptions including a 45 yard pick six against the Rams.
But 2013 destroyed everything he’d built… Wright played 15 games, still racked up 100 tackles, and finished with two picks. But the tackle numbers masked how often he was a step slow, out of position, or simply beaten.
Wright’s 30.2 sits below every other safety season PFF has graded, including some ugly ones from Oakland. The Raiders have produced three of the worst safety seasons in league history on their own, from Brandian Ross’s 30.5 in 2013 to Johnathan Abram and Isaiah Pola-Mao more recently. Wright’s mark still beats (or rather loses to) all of them.
He was gone from Chicago after that season and by 2016, he was out of the NFL completely.
How far the position has come
GettyFormer Chicago Bears Safety Major Wright
The record is a good reminder of just how much the Chicago Bears’ safety room has changed since Major Wright’s era.
Now the Chicago Bears enter 2026 with a completely rebuilt safety group after letting both Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker walk in free agency. Coby Bryant arrived on a deal that out-earns what Byard and Brisker combined to earn this offseason, and first round rookie Dillon Thieneman is expected to start immediately alongside him. Elijah Hicks is the only returning safety from last year’s roster…
Whether the new duo lives up to expectations remains to be seen, but the Bears clearly believe they’ve upgraded the position with younger, more athletic talent.
Given that one of the franchise’s former starters still owns the lowest graded safety season in PFF history, Chicago is hoping the next chapter at the position will be remembered for much different reasons.
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