Found this article about outliers in the upcoming draft. They mention the outlier regarding an inside linebacker being taken in the top 5 picks. However, I do like the spin at the end that there could be an impact from locking down receiving backs such as Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey. Combined with a solid secondary (which unfortunately we don't have right now), I can see this being an effective way to take away some of the better weapons in our division. I still don't like it at 5... would prefer to slide down and pick up additional picks.
"It’s hard to find a mock draft these days that doesn’t have White slotted into the no. 5 spot to the Buccaneers. It’s easy to see why Tampa Bay may have interest—White plays incredibly fast and is aggressive and versatile against both the run and pass. But if he goes anywhere in the top 10, he’d represent a relative outlier for the way teams have valued the off-ball linebacker position in the past decade. Before the Bears selected former Georgia star Roquan Smith with the eighth overall pick last year, you’d have to go back to 2012—when the Panthers took Luke Kuechly with no. 9 overall—to find another non-rush linebacker inside the top 10. As for the top five? The last off-ball linebacker taken that high was in 2009 when the Seahawks took Aaron Curry with the fourth overall pick. That, uh, did not work out.
But as it is with Oliver, the evolution of the game is working in White’s favor. Offenses are finding more ways to use running backs as receivers and as teams spread out and get more players involved in the passing game, defenses need faster, rangier linebackers in coverage. White projects as a prototype of that modern linebacker: He’s still capable of delivering big hits in the run game, but his true value at the next level will come as a pass defender."
