One of the biggest frustrations with the new regime has been the first-round pick of Lewis Cine after moving down in a trade with the Lions. Cine’s rookie year was cut short early on with a gruesome foot injury suffered in a Week 4 London game last season. Cine was not in-line to become a starter at that point, in fact he seemed to be no higher than fourth on the safety depth chart, behind Harrison Smith, Cam Bynum, and Josh Metellus.
I’ve often thought that injuries early in a players rookie year are often more difficult for them to come back from, as it cuts them off from development at a key time in their career.