Post by chicago66 on May 31, 2018 13:53:59 GMT -6
This point in each of the last three offseasons has been marked by positives in the direction of Kevin White. Even the first one, in 2015, before White’s stress fracture had been diagnosed conclusively, saw the young wide receiver showing flashes, to the point of White starting both the 2016 and 2017 opening games. So having seen all of White’s pre-camp offseasons, and more than just White’s over the past couple decades, this humble and faithful narrator has learned to temper encouraging observations.
But Wednesday was different. On a couple levels.
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.
This is potentially a very big deal, for a couple of reasons. For White personally, this was very, very nice to see. Coaches last year confided that White had to effectively re-learn how to run, to again trust his once-natural gait after consecutive season-ending leg injuries. To see White explode deep on Wednesday was something different from anything this reporter had seen from him.
Teammates of legendary Bears speed wideout Willie Gault described Gault as, “If he’s even, he’s leavin’.” That was White.
And you know who knows it? Mitchell Trubisky.
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. Hence the Trubisky air show on Wednesday.
“Right now, it’s ‘Let’s test it downfield a little bit,’” Nagy said. “If you’re going to make a mistake and make a poor throw, let’s do it with an aggressive mentality… .[Trubisky] made some throws today that we talked about last night that we now have put on tape.”
Nagy said that he’s noticed more from White through his part of the offseason which allows coach-player interaction. White has never gone prima-donna, and “he’s somebody that you’ll see stay after practice and take those extra reps, if it’s a route he didn’t have the correct footwork on,” Nagy said. “Maybe he was two steps off on a seven-step route and he took five steps so he’s going to go back out there and run the route with seven steps the right way…or maybe he dropped the football. So, he’s committed. He’s dedicated. He wants to be really good wide receiver. When you have somebody that has that want, we as coaches need to give him every opportunity to succeed.”
Succeeding in May is a long way from succeeding in September (or in White’s case, October, since White has only played one game in October in his three “seasons”). But something is happening in White, around White, whatever. And as a couple Bears DB’s learned the hard way, if he’s even….
But Wednesday was different. On a couple levels.
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.
This is potentially a very big deal, for a couple of reasons. For White personally, this was very, very nice to see. Coaches last year confided that White had to effectively re-learn how to run, to again trust his once-natural gait after consecutive season-ending leg injuries. To see White explode deep on Wednesday was something different from anything this reporter had seen from him.
Teammates of legendary Bears speed wideout Willie Gault described Gault as, “If he’s even, he’s leavin’.” That was White.
And you know who knows it? Mitchell Trubisky.
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. Hence the Trubisky air show on Wednesday.
“Right now, it’s ‘Let’s test it downfield a little bit,’” Nagy said. “If you’re going to make a mistake and make a poor throw, let’s do it with an aggressive mentality… .[Trubisky] made some throws today that we talked about last night that we now have put on tape.”
Nagy said that he’s noticed more from White through his part of the offseason which allows coach-player interaction. White has never gone prima-donna, and “he’s somebody that you’ll see stay after practice and take those extra reps, if it’s a route he didn’t have the correct footwork on,” Nagy said. “Maybe he was two steps off on a seven-step route and he took five steps so he’s going to go back out there and run the route with seven steps the right way…or maybe he dropped the football. So, he’s committed. He’s dedicated. He wants to be really good wide receiver. When you have somebody that has that want, we as coaches need to give him every opportunity to succeed.”
Succeeding in May is a long way from succeeding in September (or in White’s case, October, since White has only played one game in October in his three “seasons”). But something is happening in White, around White, whatever. And as a couple Bears DB’s learned the hard way, if he’s even….
www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bears/takeaways-bears-ota-good-things-coming-kevin-white?amp&__twitter_impression=true
I'm back on the KW for OROY train!