Bears add 'dynamic' force to offense in Kevin White

The Bears used the seventh overall pick in Thursday night's first round of the NFL draft to juice up their offense with big-play wide receiver Kevin White from West Virginia.

Coming off a 5-11 season, the Bears are expecting immediate production from White, as general manager Ryan Pace said earlier in the day.

"When you're picking in the top 10," Pace said, "you're hoping, you're confident, that you're going to get an impact player that's going to get this franchise rolling."

The Bears' GM was clearly pumped up after drafting White, who put up spectacular numbers last season, catching 109 passes for 1,447 yards (13.3-yard average) and 10 touchdowns. Pace used the words "dynamic" and "playmaker" frequently in describing his first pick in the first draft in which he had the final say.

"This was an easy pick," Pace said. "(We wanted to) stay true to our board, take the best player available, and get a playmaker, whether it's defense or offense. And that's what we did.

"I spoke about getting impact players in the draft, especially when you're picking in the top 10, and that's exactly what Kevin White is."

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound White brings a rare combination of great size and blazing speed. His 4.31-second 40 time was one of the best at the NFL Scouting Combine, and his 23 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press were the most among all wide receivers.

"I'm ready to turn this city around," White said at the Auditorium Theatre in downtown Chicago shortly after his selection. "I'm a great guy, humble and ready to work. I plan on doing big things. It's an honor to be here. I'm blessed and ready to go."

One of the few concerns heard from scouts against taking White in the top 10 was that he only produced elite numbers for one season at the FBS level. In 2013, his first season with the Mountaineers, White caught 35 passes for 507 yards and 5 touchdowns.

"You look at that closely," Pace said. "But, at the end of the day, it wasn't a concern. We did a lot of studying and got a lot of insight on that."

As a non-qualifier coming out of high school, White first attended Lackawanna College and caught 36 passes for 535 yards (14.9-yard average) and 6 touchdowns in nine games in 2012. He didn't play football in his first two years at Lackawanna because of a shoulder injury in 2010 and because he missed a deadline to file paperwork for financial aid in 2011.

Pace said watching White play in person, studying his game tape and a recent meeting with him at Halas Hall more than overshadowed any concerns about the meandering path he took to prominence or the "one-year-wonder" questions.

"He told that story (about the Lackawanna experience) when he was here, and that is an impressive path that he took," Pace said. "You just see this guy every year, climbing, climbing, climbing, and this year was just dynamic. That was impressive."

White got dinged by some scouts for being somewhat raw as a receiver, not running a full array of routes at West Virginia and playing just one wideout position. But Pace said he saw more than enough route-running expertise in person.

"I saw every route I needed to see from that player," Pace said. "He's big, he's strong, he's ultracompetitive. You see it after the catch. You see it in the way he attacks the ball in the air.

"This is a dynamic playmaker for our offense. The most excited guy in the building is (offensive coordinator) Adam Gase. Big-play weapon for us. We couldn't be more thrilled to have him."

White clinched his lofty status with the Bears' decision-makers when they got to know him more personally on his visit last month.

"He really checks all the boxes you're looking for," Pace said. "What's dangerous about this guy is, he can catch a quick slant and break a tackle and go 99 yards. He has that kind of playmaking ability.

"I love the fire and energy that he plays with. You see it on tape, and then you meet him in person. He's highly intelligent, he's confident, and we're really jacked about this."

Even before the first draft in Chicago in 51 years began, there were rumors about the Bears discussing a move up to the Titans' No. 2 spot. But talk was that the deal would have to include Tennessee taking Bears quarterback Jay Cutler as part of the deal. Pace had a ready reply when asked about it.

"In my mind, we just got Jay another dynamic weapon," he said. "I hope right now he's fired up because we just gave him another powerful weapon. This only adds to Jay's ability to distribute the ball."

On Friday, when the second and third rounds will be conducted beginning at 6 p.m., the Bears pick seventh in both rounds, 39th overall and 71st. On Saturday, when the final four rounds will be held beginning at 11 a.m., the Bears have a fifth-rounder (142nd) and a sixth (183rd) but not a seventh-rounder.

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