2019 NFL Draft Profile: Devin White

Devin White

#2 Overall Inside Linebacker by Football Addicts

Born: February 17th, 1998 (21 years old)
Height: 6’1
Weight: 255 Lbs
Position: Inside Linebacker
University: Louisiana State

About Devin

One of the best characters of this class is horse maven Devin White. White was ESPNs 3rd ranked ATH in Louisiana for the 2016 class. He not only played linebacker, but he also rushed for over 80 touchdowns in high school. Just goes to show you that one, he has room to grow at linebacker, and he is a tremendous athlete. In 2016, Devin earned Freshman All-SEC honors after registering 30 tackles, 3 for a loss, a sack, and a forced fumble. White’s 2017 campaign earned him 1st team All-SEC honors, jumping him into the national college football spotlight. He came in 2nd in the SEC in total tackles with 133, 13.5 for a loss, and 4.5 sacks. In his last season with the Tigers he was able to lead the SEC in total tackles with 123, 12 for a loss, 3 sacks, and 6 pass deflections. His 2018 performance earned him 1st Team All-American, 1st Team All-SEC honors and even the 2018 Butkus Award.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

He showed great instincts, and did a great job against Auburn at constantly tracking down the ball. He is very twitchy, and bursts to the ball carrier extraordinarily fast. As stated earlier, White is a great athlete, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ran a high 4.4 range. He shows the ability to chase the ball sideline to sideline.

Weaknesses

 White can really struggle shedding his blocks still. He is pretty raw in some areas, but if you put that in consideration, his ceiling is extremely high if he lands with a good coach at the next level. Needs to work on his blitz technique as well; he has the speed to get there but  just needs to work on hiding and timing his blitzes correctly.

NFL Draft Projection/Player Comp

NFL Draft Projection

Devin White will be a Top 20 pick come April. He shows too much raw athletic ability to pass up on. If the Browns don’t select him with the 17th, I think the Steelers would have to take him at 20. I really think White could fill the speed that Shazier left in the middle of the Steelers defense, and at the 20th pick in draft, there shouldn’t be too many players better.

NFL Player Comparison

Devin White is a freak athlete at middle linebacker with a lot of raw talent still coming into the next level. So was my NFL comparison, former UCLA linebacker, Myles Jack. Both White and Jack stand at an underwhelming 6’1, but make up for it in their elite athletic ability. Devin will most likely already weigh in heavier than Myles did as well, so once he can improve his tackling skills, White will be a top level linebacker.