Kevin White Tabbed as One of the Worst First Round Picks Since 2010
While Jamies Winston and Marcus Mariota headlined the 2015 NFL Draft, the second biggest debate heading into the draft was who was the better receiver, Amari Cooper or Kevin White? While Winston was recently replaced by Tom Brady in Tampa Bay and Mariota looks onward to battle for Derek Carr's job in Vegas, Amari Cooper just signed a five-year contract worth $100 million ($60 mil. guaranteed), but someone is missing?
Insert Mr. White, the former WVU receiver who arose from nothing, into the potential best wide out in the 2015 draft, that was, until he wasn't. Below, Bleacher Report's reasoning behind ranking White, the Bears' worst first round pick since 2010.
Like so many players who don’t reach their potential early in their careers, wideout Kevin White battled multiple injuries.
He missed his rookie campaign with a stress fracture in his leg that required surgery. Then in 2016, after four appearances, the West Virginia product suffered a high ankle sprain and a fractured fibula.
Despite the early setbacks, White opened 2017 in a starting role. He caught two passes for six yards and then fractured his shoulder blade, which put him on injured reserve for a third consecutive year.
Regardless of where your analysis lies on if someone with repeating injuries should be labelled as a bust or not, the fact is, usually injury ridden careers will get labelled poorly. For example, White spent his first three seasons in Chicago on the injured reserve list, making it pretty difficult to make any substantial progress. Add that with the concerns of his route running ability, or lack thereof, contributed to White earning the bust tag. Whether that tag was fair is a different question, but it was earned.
White played in just 14 games, totaling 25 receptions for 285 yards. In all fairness, White literally was never on the field due to various injuries. While ranking him as the worst first rounder since 2010 may be harsh, White's NFL career has not been nice to him.
He is currently a free agent.
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