The NFL’s leader in sacks for the 2016 season is expected to wreak havoc on Tom Brady in Super Bowl 51. Vic Beasley was selected eighth overall, right after Kevin White, in the 2015 draft. Beasley, if you remember, was closely tied to Chicago because everyone expected White to be part of the first seven picks.
Everything changed when the Washington Redskins selected Brandon Scherff with the fifth overall pick, nobody saw that coming. Therefore, all the hype leading up to that draft paired the Bears with the 24 year-old beast from Clemson.
From NFL.com:
“He can definitely step in and be that guy” for the Chicago Bears, Curtis Conway said. Conway also said Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio would be a good teacher for Beasley, noting what Fangio did for Aldon Smith when Smith was a rookie with the San Francisco 49ers.
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From ESPN:
“Beasley’s background suggests he has the potential to be a high-impact player at the NFL level. Unless the Bears have ruled him out for reasons unknown, Beasley likely receives a strong look at No. 7 if he remains on the board when Chicago goes on the clock.”
From NBC:
“Beasley is enough of a game-breaker and potential future star that the team would be well-advised to take him. He has the talent to be an elite player in the NFL, and if he can bulk up a bit and become more reliable against the run, he would be an excellent addition by Ryan Pace and John Fox.”
All that, and Pace selected White. You can’t really blame him for taking White considering, as we said, he was expected to already be gone. But, when you look back the injuries White has now sustained, it makes you wonder if Washington, and all the other teams with selections before the Bears in that draft, knew something that Pace didn’t. Doctors and other medical analysts have already indicated that White’s injuries appear to be “bad luck” with the first one being caused by “over training.”
Here’s some food for thought…. The Bears selected White on April 30, 2015. They learned of his injury, according to the Chicago Tribune, in June and he immediately went in for surgery to have a rod inserted into his leg. Did he really “over train” in that 30+ day period after being selected by the Bears and fracture his leg, or was he over training for the entire process leading up to the combine that brought a sense of doubt for the other teams in the top seven that year? The world may never know.
