As the draft approaches, the Bears are expected to depend heavily on Kevin White to begin returning the investment Chicago used on him with the 7th overall pick in 2015. After a season-ending leg injury during training camp his rookie season and another just four games into his sophomore campaign, White's luck hasn't been very good since entering the NFL... to say the least.
Recently, head coach John Fox and general manager Ryan Pace spoke about White and their expectations moving forward.
"Obviously it’s not a great start to his career," said Bears head coach John Fox, via
Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune. "I think he understands that greater than anybody. Because he’s been the one who’s had to deal with it. … I’m sure it has been frustrating. Anytime somebody is injured it’s frustrating for everybody–whether it’s fans, coaches, the player himself. But I think he’s a very resilient guy. That’s one of the biggest reasons why we drafted him. I think his makeup will prevail."
Unfortunately, White has missed two crucial seasons to learn the speed of the pro game and grow at the receiver position which has inevitably hurt his reputation as an elite game-breaker. Coming out of West Virginia two years ago White was arguably the most athletic player in the entire draft. Ironically enough, he fell to the Bears and has only caught 19 balls since.
"Kevin is going to have to step up and stay healthy," Pace said,
via the Chicago Tribune's Rich Campbell. "He knows that. He’s motivated."
If the pressure wasn't on White enough while entering into Chicago as the heir to Brandon Marshall, it will be now that number one wide receiver Alshon Jeffery is gone. A scenario of White suffering another season-ending injury would almost ensure his career as a Bear would be over, and it really hasn't even started.
"When you do this for a living, I don’t think anybody has higher expectations (for you) than yourself and I would include Kevin in that," Fox said. "So I can’t tell you everybody on the planet’s expectations. But I know they won’t be greater than his. A lot goes into it."
Many are confident that if White can stay healthy, he'll eventually blossom into the player he was always expected to be. The key word in that sentence being "if." He now has pins and screws in his leg.
Good luck this season Mr. White. Bear down.
