Make Or Break Season Coming Up For Chicago Bears’ Kevin White
Since being drafted, Chicago Bears wide receiver Kevin White‘s career has been stunted by two unfortunate back-to-back season-ending injuries. The pressure’s on him to finally prove he can stay healthy in 2017. Otherwise, his tenure with the Chicago Bears may end, far sooner than anyone expected.
Kevin White’s career with the Chicago Bears has not gone according to the original plan. Drafted seventh overall in 2015, White was supposed to play alongside star receiver Alshon Jeffery for years to come. Together, they’d form one of the top wide receiving duos in the NFL. That’s how much hype White had coming out of West Virginia.
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Unfortunately, despite having the freakish athleticism for a wide-out, Kevin White hasn’t been able to put his skill set to good use thus far in the NFL.
Coming out of the 2015 NFL Draft, White posted a remarkable 4.35 40-yard dash. For any player, let alone a wide-out, having terrific speed like that is a sight to behold. White’s lightning speed would pose as a match-up nightmare for opposing cornerbacks. Add in his 6’3” frame, along with a 36.5 inch vertical, and you have a star-in-the-making.
That’s what the Bears’ organization, led by Ryan Pace, thought they’d be getting when selecting White. A player who’d make life easier for their starting quarterback on any given Sunday. Whether it’d be in bailing out the likes of Jay Cutler, Jimmy Clausen, Brian Hoyer, Matt Barkley, or anyone else brave enough to start at quarterback for the Bears.
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Two season-ending injuries are all it took to alter those promising perceptions. Unsuspected injuries wiping out precious playing time. Playing time that only serves the benefit of grooming a young player in the mold of a transcendental player for years to come.
White missed his entire rookie season in 2015, thanks to a stress fracture suffered in his shin during Bears’ training camp.
His 2016 season started out somewhat promising, as White played in the first four regular-season games. Just as he was beginning to settle into a nice groove for the Bears, another season-ending injury took place.
It happened mid-way during the Bears’ Week 4 victory over the Detroit Lions. White suffered a fractured fibula in his left leg during the third quarter. Thus resulting in another wasted season for him.
Can Kevin White finally withstand another potential season-ending injury this upcoming season? Injuries that have hampered his development as a player. Now in his third year with the Bears, White still has the look of an untested rookie.
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With the potential absence of Alshon Jeffery looming over free agency this spring, the Bears will be counting on White’s health more than ever. They’ll need him to be on the field when it matters most.
Especially once the Bears decide on a replacement quarterback for Jay Cutler later this off-season. Whoever that becomes will need a tall, fast target to throw to on any given down.
If Kevin White finally proves he can stay healthy in 2017, maybe he’ll still develop into the star-caliber player the Bears hoped they’d be getting in 2015. Unfortunately, that’s a big “If”.
Only time will tell how Kevin White’s future with the Bears plays out. Having said that, the Bears would probably just be happy to see him play a full 16 games this season. Regardless of whether his play lights the field on fire or not, experience alone is the greatest teacher in sports.
White needs all the on-field playing experience he can get from here on out. The Bears, after all, still don’t know what type of player they truly have in him. Do they decide to exercise White’s fifth-year player option after this upcoming season?
Or, do the Bears decide to cut bait with White after 2017 if his play still remains an unsolved mystery?
What the Bears for sure don’t want is to put him on the season-ending injury list again. That’d be traumatizing, for both the Bears and White.
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Unfortunately, as Kevin White has shown the Bears thus far during his brief NFL career. Expect the unexpected to happen.
Hopefully, that’s not the case for White this time around. But the Bears would be wise to brace themselves for that possibility once more, taking place.