8 Young NFL Players Entering a Make-or-Break Season

The NFL can be both patient and unforgiving if you're an early draft pick trying to make a mark. 

The patient part comes when the player in question sputters to begin his career or even flat-out face-plants but still gets multiple opportunities. NFL general managers aren't in the business of wasting valuable draft picks and getting nothing from them whatsoever. They need to be able to point at what a young player is doing on the field and say "see he's not a failure! Also, I'm not a failure!"

But then the unforgiving part comes when losses are cut, and those opportunities abruptly stop coming.

Young players are promising talents for only so long before the intrigue starts to fade away. Teams know they still have talent, but for any number of reasons it's not showing up on the field, and their career starts to head into a tailspin.

For Eagles wide receiver Nelson Agholor, the reason is simple: He's having trouble catching footballs, which is the most important part of being someone employed specifically to catch footballs.

The Bears' Kevin White and Ravens' Breshad Perriman, both fellow young wide receivers, face a more maddening issue. Their minds want them to be on the field and thriving. But their bodies aren't cooperating.

They all may be on their last chances to justify significant draft investments, and to finally either stay healthy or show their talent on an NFL field. Let's take a look at some other notable young players entering make-or-break seasons.

Dante Fowler Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars Defensive End

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Defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. went through the soul-stomping portion of his career almost immediately after being the third overall pick in 2015. That's mandated by league rules when you're selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars, or so it seems at least. He tore his ACL on the first day of minicamp in May 2015, months before the now-22-year-old would have taken his first meaningful snap.

But then with both his soul and knee healed, Fowler would instantly become an explosive pass-rusher, right? Not so much, as he struggled to generate consistent pressure in his first full season.

Fowler was often stymied and frustrated in 2016, finishing with just four sacks. As always, though, sacks tell only a partial story when measuring the effectiveness of a pass-rusher. The best pass-rushers only get to the quarterback on a small percentage of their snaps. Yet they're still constantly disruptive and able to alter plays by penetrating deep into the backfield.

Fowler simply didn't show signs of being that sort of game-changing force in 2016, and now he's already halfway through his rookie contract. He finished with only 39 pressures on 276 pass-rush snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. For perspective, fellow 4-3 defensive end Kony Ealy was just a little behind Fowler with 31 pressures, and the Carolina Panthers used him on only 185 pass-rush snaps.

Kevin White, Chicago Bears Wide Receiver

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At some point Chicago Bears wide receiver Kevin White needs to show his body isn't made of silly string and popsicle sticks.

White's career so far is depressing to even think about, both for him and the Bears. During offseason workouts after he was the seventh overall pick in 2015, White suffered a shin injury. That was unfortunate because it would lead to valuable missed practice time prior to his rookie year. But it also seemed innocent enough at first, and definitely not something that would erase an entire season.

Yet here we are two seasons later, and White has played only four games.

His shin injury eventually turned into a stress fracture—and a crippling problem that would require surgery to place a rod in White's tibia. Then after playing four games in 2016, White fractured the fibula in the same leg, along with suffering significant ankle damage.

To review, a top-10 pick was used on a wide receiver whose main appeal was winning jump balls with his size (6'3" and 216 lbs). And now said receiver has suffered two severe leg injuries that could zap him of his explosiveness. He also likely won't be nearly as fast as he was when he recorded a 4.35-second 40-yard dash during the 2015 combine.

We'll find out quickly if the worst is true with White and he's not the same receiver the Bears drafted two years ago. Right now it's tough to be optimistic, as in late May Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune reported that White was still working to align his stride and that the Bears don't know what to expect from him.

Trae Waynes, Minnesota Vikings Cornerback

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Terence Newman has reached legendary age-defying status for what he's done, and continues to do, just months away from his 39th birthday in September. So what follows isn't at all meant to insult Newman, who is one of just five players still active from the 2003 draft.

Instead, let's seriously question the future of another Minnesota Vikings cornerback who was a first-round pick and still hasn't been able to beat out Newman for playing time.

The Vikings signed Newman in 2015 assuming he'd give them fine veteran depth in the twilight of his career. A month later they selected Trae Waynes with the 11th overall pick in the draft. When a cornerback is knocking on the door of being a top-10 pick, he should be able to push aside a veteran who's well on the wrong side of 35 years old.

Yet here we are still wondering when Waynes will do enough to earn consistent playing time. In 2015, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer deemed him worthy of only 215 snaps. Then in 2016 he received more playing time because of injuries and showed flashes of his draft pedigree, finishing the season with a passer rating in coverage of 77.4, per PFF. But overall he still allowed 495 yards and four touchdowns in limited playing time.

Eventually time will defeat Newman. And when it does, the Vikings can't be confident Waynes will be his successor.

Nelson Agholor, Philadelphia Eagles Wide Reciever

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There's a chance Nelson Agholor won't be on the Philadelphia Eagles' roster at the beginning of the regular season. That's how far the former USC standout has fallen over a short period.

Agholor erupted during his final year at USC, finishing the 2014 season with 104 receptions for 1,313 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. And that wasn't just a one-year explosion either, as Agholor also averaged 16.4 yards per reception in 2013.

His deep speed and after-the-catch elusiveness vaulted him into first-round consideration. The Eagles bit hard and made the 6'0" and 198-round receiver their 20th overall pick in 2015. And only frustration has followed since.

Agholor has averaged a mere 23.1 receiving yards per game over two seasons, with 648 yards to his name overall. But the lack of yardage isn't even the most disappointing development with Agholor.

He's left a lot of yards on the field because he's recorded 11 drops over two seasons, per PFF.

Agholor now faces a potential depth-chart burial after the Eagles signed Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffery. That's also why a fresh start elsewhere wouldn't be shocking.

Breshad Perriman, Baltimore Ravens Wide Receiver

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Breshad Perriman's situation is similar to the one White faces in Chicago. Just arguably worse.

The Bears aren't kidding anyone, or themselves. They're going to do a lot of losing during a rebuilding year in 2017. If White doesn't take a stride forward, they can just add another position to the list of areas to blow up.

But the Baltimore Ravens have a strong seventh-ranked defense in 2016 that allowed only 322.1 yards per game. They also just added free-agent defensive backs Tony Jefferson and Brandon Carr to that defense, and used a first-round pick on cornerback Marlon Humphrey.

They just need to clear the not so small hurdle of giving their defense even passable offensive support. And frighteningly, that's where Perriman comes in.

Perriman has been an injury-riddled mess to begin his career. And now, also much like White, it's fair to wonder if his blazing speed might be drained.

At his pro day in 2015, Perriman ran the 40-yard dash in just 4.25 seconds. But then he missed all of his rookie year after suffering a sprained PCL on the first day of training camp. And in 2016, Perriman didn't at all look like the college receiver who had supersonic speed. He finished with only 33 receptions for 499 yards.

There's been plenty of gushing about Perriman's development recently during an offseason not centered around rehab work. Which is great, but it doesn't carry much meaning during non-contact spring workouts.

The Ravens have experienced a mass pass-catcher exodus, with tight end Dennis Pitta the latest departure after being released following another hip injury. Now the receivers who were on the other end of 222 of Baltimore's 439 completions in 2016 are gone, and though they did add Jeremy Maclin on Monday, that addition alone cannot make up for the considerable experience lost.

Which means the Ravens' passing attack could live or die with Perriman's rebirth attempt. And that's a scary position.

Ameer Abdullah, Detroit Lions Running Back

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Ameer Abdullah started his second NFL season by making many observers buy into his breakout potential. In Week 1 of 2016, the Detroit Lions running back recorded 120 yards from scrimmage on his 17 touches.

Then one week later he was gone.

Abdullah suffered an ankle injury in Week 2 that eventually landed him on injured reserve. The specific nature of the issue was mysterious for quite some time, and Abdullah only recently elaborated to reveal he suffered the dreaded Lisfranc tear.

"I ended up tearing my Lisfranc the second game of the season against the Tennessee Titans, separating my foot, so that was a bummer for me," Abdullah told Adam Carriker on his podcast, via Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com. "But I'm shaking back good now. It's helped me to understand my body more, so I'm a lot more penciled in on what I need to do as far as recovery, make sure I'm doing all the right things for my body to make sure I'm ready for this 2017 season."

The Lions really, really need him to be ready too. Most of all, they need Abdullah to rejuvenate their lackluster rushing offense and be the running back who posted back-to-back 1,600-plus-yard seasons on the ground over his final two years at Nebraska.

That's what elevated Abdullah's draft value and made him a second-round pick in 2015. But as a rookie he stumbled while averaging a mediocre 48.8 total yards per game.

He has the talent and burst in the open field to inject life into a Lions offense that ranked a lowly 30th on the ground in 2016. Now he just has to, you know, do it, and stay on the field while shining with that natural skill every week.

Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars Quarterback

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Blake Bortles may soon force the Jaguars to acknowledge something that's been obvious to the rest of us for quite some time: He's not an NFL-caliber starting quarterback.

He can continue to have a career in a backup role after the 25-year-old inevitably flops again in 2017. He'd make the odd spot start and probably still be employed longer than Colin Kaepernick for some reason.

But when he's on the field for a full season, Bortles has been repeatedly exposed because of his wonky mechanics that lead to an elongated throwing motion. And worse, they also lead to awful ball placement and buckets of interceptions.

Bortles has thrown interceptions on nearly 3 percent of his pass attempts since coming into the league as the third overall pick in 2014. In total he's chucked 51 picks over only 46 starts, so at least he's...consistent?

He logged only five interception-free games in 2016, a year when Bortles also finished with a lowly passer rating of 78.8. Nothing about his play has hinted at a sudden fourth-year improvement. And yet for some reason the Jaguars picked up Bortles' fifth-year option.

Jaguars executive vice president Tom Coughlin recently appeared on the Rich Eisen podcast and said Bortles fixed his throwing flaws throughout the offseason. His tweaks need to carry over into the season this time, because with running back Leonard Fournette behind him now and a beefed-up defense likely set to keep scores low, Bortles is out of excuses.

Kyle Fuller, Chicago Bears Cornerback

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This is another case where a first-round pick is in danger of losing a roster spot before his rookie contract ends. That's always a massive failure for any franchise, and especially when we're talking about a top-15 pick too.

The Bears potentially find themselves facing that fate with cornerback Kyle Fuller, the 14th overall pick in the 2014 draft. Current general manager Ryan Pace isn't tied to Fuller as he wasn't hired until 2015. But the cornerback's failures still sting regardless for a rebuilding team that needs as much young talent as possible.

Fuller entered the league with promise after recording 10 passes defensed during his final year at Virginia Tech. His NFL career started spectacularly too, with three interceptions over his first three games. But later in 2014 he started to get roasted every week. Fuller went through a four-game stretch when he gave up 419 yards in coverage, per PFF.

Then there was hope again in 2015 when Fuller gave up only 425 yards in coverage all season, again per PFF. But he missed his entire third season because of a knee issue, and the Bears have planted the seeds to move on without him by signing cornerbacks Marcus Cooper and Prince Amukamara during free agency.