Chicago Bears Rookie WR Kevin White Could Miss The Entire 2015 NFL Season

USA Today

During the 2015 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears seemed to have found their replacement for the recent departure of veteran wide receiver Brandon Marshall. The Bears selected wideout Kevin White with the seventh overall pick in the draft out of West Virginia and were thought to have brought in a player that could be a star right out of the gate this season.

Unfortunately, the Bears received some bad news concerning White on Saturday. According to Dan Hanzus of NFL.com, White will undergo surgery on a shin fracture and could miss his entire rookie season:

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace announced Saturday that White — the seventh overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft — has a stress fracture in his shin that will require surgery. White will begin the season on the team’s PUP list and could miss his entire rookie season.

White was widely considered one of the top-tier wide receivers in the NFL Draft along with Amari Cooper. The Oakland Raiders basically forced the hand of the Bears by going with Cooper at fourth overall after Jameis Wintson (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Marcus Mariota (Tennessee Titans) and Dante Fowler Jr. (Jacksonville Jaguars) were off the table.

The news of White potentially missing the entire 2015 campaign for the Bears was likely the most impactful to Jay Cutler’s prospect of bouncing back. Cutler has been highly criticized for his play over the past couple of seasons and didn’t exactly receive rave reviews from former teammate Brandon Marshall.

Without the added weapon of White downfield, Cutler may find it even more difficult to turn things around in Chicago.