Chicago Bears fans have heard the Kevin White narrative a lot the past few months. It’s hard to know where the team stands on the former first round pick. Head coach Matt Nagy and quarterback Mitch Trubisky have remained supportive as he tries to recover from three-straight seasons where he ended up on Injured Reserve. His entire career covers just five games.
Most are starting to assume his future on the roster is bleak. The Bears invested a ton of money (Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel) and two draft picks (Anthony Miller and Javon Wims) into the receiving corps. This leaves White in an awkward spot. His fifth-year option was not picked up. So the best way for him to rescue his roster position is by playing well in 2018.
That’s a lot to ask at this point given the injury history. Yet a slight buzz has begun building over at Halas Hall. As the team goes through OTA and minicamp practices, something has changed with White. John Mullin of NBC Chicago took note of it almost right away.
Kevin White appears to have regained his elite speed
“White’s straight-ahead deep speed was flat-out startling, the first time this very graceful athlete looked like the one who ran 4.35 at the ’15 Combine. Not necessarily quickness (he’s 6-3, 216 pounds; “quick” is for another discussion). But just raw speed. Using one snap for illustration, White simply ran up to and by a cornerback (whose identity is being protected here) who’d started with a seven-yard cushion, White visibly accelerating with each stride and pulling away from deep-safety help.”
One of the biggest reasons the Bears fell in love with White was his ridiculous potential. A 6’3 behemoth who could take the top off a defense? Such things are rare in the NFL. Unfortunately, they never got a chance to see it. The obvious reason was that he suffered two broken legs in 2015 and 2016. It’s easy to forget that those injuries have now had over a year to completely heal.
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Nobody outside the building really knew what his status was. Nobody, it seems, except the man throwing him the football. Trubisky seemed to delight in taking advantage of the surprise by bombing the defense into submission.
“The second-year quarterback went into missile-launch mode with White more than once, interspersed with White driving hard into his break and creating separation on out and slants. The intriguing side element here is, that within all the run-pass-option stuff, the West Coast schematics and so forth, Matt Nagy and this staff appear to know what they might be sitting on.“
This about this for a second.
The Bears just got done adding a former Pro Bowler in Robinson, vertical threat in Gabriel and a slot savant in Miller. That looks like the makings of a lethal trio if they live up their billing. So try to imagine if the light suddenly goes on for White and he starts playing like the first rounder he was. Trubisky would have so many ways to attack a defense it would almost seem unfair.
There’s a long way to go. White may look unbeatable in shorts but his problems usually surface when the pads go on. Can his body hold up this time around? There will be lots of proving to do over the next few months.
