Bears Keep It Tight With Kerrith Whyte

Kerrith Whyte Jr. was selected as the Bears first of two seventh round picks and without knowing anything about him, I was a little disappointed that the team had now drafted two running backs when they had other more pressing needs to address. Since they have Tarik Cohen as a weapon, David Montgomery was drafted with their first pick in the draft (3rd round), they just signed Mike Davis, and Cordarrelle Patterson does dabble in the backfield, another running back was going to have a hard time seeing the field. But clearly the Bears saw something in Whyte, so I took a look at his game against UCF to see what qualities he possesses.

Let's start off with a touchdown catch from Whyte.

Usually on touchdowns, I will point out some positives, but it's about as unimpressive of a touchdown catch as you'll see. He does technically break a tackle, but the defensive back just throws his head at his leg and seems to completely forget that he possesses arms.

The other issue is the catch which he bobbles because he uses his chest to catch the ball instead of using his hands. I do not trust him to consistently catch the ball which makes him a non-factor in the passing game.

On the positives, he shows a nice move here.

He sees the safety coming in the box to fill the hole, but then cuts back inside without losing much momentum to speed forward for nine yards instead of getting stopped at the line of scrimmage.

Since I only watched one game, and they were down early in that game, I didn't get a lot of standout plays from Whyte. The issue is that I didn't see any one characteristic that stands out so I have a hard time seeing playing time for him in what is already a crowded Bears backfield. Maybe he can provide depth from the practice squad, but I don't foresee anything more than that. Hopefully he proves me wrong.

Chicago Bears Scouting Reports
3rd Round - David Montgomery, Running Back, Iowa State
4th Round - Riley Ridley, Wide Receiver, Georgia
6th Round - Duke Shelley, Cornerback, Kansas State