Don’t write off Kevin White just yet, says Mitchell Trubisky. The Chicago quarterback says the former top-10 pick is looking good in workouts.
White’s first three years have been plagued by injuries, and even in the brief stints he’s been on the field he hasn’t looked special. But an article in the Chicago Tribune indicates White is healthy now and working with Trubisky in California.
“Kevin is working really hard to get back, and I’ve got a lot of faith in what he’s going to be able to bring to the table this year. He’s looking good while we’re throwing together out here. We’ve just got to continue to put in that work, and I know he’s busting his tail to really do big things this year.”
No arguing that injuries have derailed White so far. Maybe he somehow gets things going, and that would be nice to see.
But if White is able to come back and be a good wide receiver, he’ll be beating the odds.
In the last 20 years, there have been 17 wide receivers selected in the first round who finished with fewer than 1,000 receiving yards in their first three years (that’s three years combined – 48 possible games). Of those 17, none have really gone to be much of a factor as a wide receiver.
Cordarrelle Patterson has been one of the league’s best kickoff returners, but he’s never taken hold as a wide receiver. Mike Williams came back to have one serviceable season with the Seahawks (65 catches for 751 yards and 2 TDs in 2010) but he didn’t quite get over the hump.
All of these guys are different, of course. Some struggled with injuries. Some had issues with substance abuse. Some simply weren’t any good.
But I can’t think of a case where a receiver wasn’t a factor at all for three years and then became a big-time receiver.
On the chart below, it includes Phillip Dorsett and Breshad Perriman – two other wide receivers from 2015 who haven’t blossomed yet. I am not including the wide receivers from the last two years because they haven’t yet finished their first three seasons.
| UNDER 1,000 YARDS IN FIRST THREE SEASONS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Pk | School | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 1998 | 30 | Marcus Nash, Den. | 4 | 76 | 19.0 | 0 |
| 2000 | 29 | R. Jay Soward, Jac. | 14 | 154 | 11.0 | 1 |
| 2004 | 31 | Rashaun Woods, S.F. | 7 | 160 | 22.9 | 1 |
| 2015 | 7 | Kevin White, Chi. | 21 | 193 | 9.2 | 0 |
| 2012 | 30 | A.J. Jenkins, S.F. | 17 | 223 | 13.1 | 0 |
| 1997 | 15 | Yatil Green, Mia. | 18 | 234 | 13.0 | 0 |
| 2007 | 30 | Craig Davis, S.D. | 30 | 299 | 10.0 | 1 |
| 2003 | 2 | Charles Rogers, Det. | 36 | 440 | 12.2 | 4 |
| 2005 | 10 | Mike Williams, Det. | 44 | 539 | 12.3 | 2 |
| 2015 | 26 | Breshad Perriman, Balt. | 43 | 576 | 13.4 | 3 |
| 2011 | 26 | Jon Baldwin, K.C. | 44 | 607 | 13.8 | 2 |
| 2000 | 21 | Sylvester Morris, K.C. | 48 | 678 | 14.1 | 3 |
| 1997 | 27 | Rae Carruth, Car. | 62 | 804 | 13.0 | 4 |
| 2013 | 29 | Cordarrelle Patterson, Minn. | 80 | 863 | 10.8 | 13 |
| 2001 | 25 | Freddie Mitchell, Phil. | 68 | 886 | 13.0 | 3 |
| 2001 | 8 | David Terrell, Chi. | 86 | 903 | 10.5 | 8 |
| 2015 | 29 | Phillip Dorsett, Ind. | 63 | 947 | 15.0 | 3 |
—Ian Allan