All-Twenty Tuesday: Bucs LB Devin White

I wanted to start off this film review with the Tennessee game and work our way towards present day because I believe that’s the best timeline to really appreciate how White has progressed. Before the Titans game, White was either really green as a rookie or hurt with the knee injury to the point where, even when on the field, he wasn’t himself.

I chose the play above as the example to start because it embodies why we’re even still having the conversation of White as a potential D.R.O.Y. candidate: effort.

In the play above, the Bucs were defending the run as the Titans had their backs against the wall at their own goal line. In the play, White did his job correctly as he attacked the open A gap as the zone blocking from the Titans line began to move. Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, the zone scheme worked to perfection and Suh (93) was washed out of his gap by the push of the double team. This opened the hole for running back Derrick Henry and he found it.

But the play wasn’t over for White after that. Most players, especially ones in as much clutter attacking the A gap like White did, would watch or maybe jog down the field hoping the secondary players could trip the back up.

But not White.

Instead White got back up on his horse after being knocked down and tracked Henry down himself. That may only count as one tackle in the stat sheet, but we all know it was worth more than that – it might have been worth keeping six points off the scoreboard.

Though the effort and drive from White was always there, the health was not. In the clip above, you could tell that White wasn’t right. The Devin White we know wouldn’t have been beaten to the sideline line that.

That’s why it’s so tough to judge White’s stats this season, and why even though he likely won’t win D.R.O.Y., the people who watched the film know why and know that’s okay moving forward.

White might not have a forced fumble on his stat sheet this year, but Bucs fans or anyone who watched the Titans game knows that’s a load of crap. The ball came out and an inadvertent whistle by the official nullified a legitimate scoop and score by Andrew Adams that could have won the game for Tampa Bay in Nashville.

This play above, like the example of effort, showed that even though White couldn’t move on that knee with that brace the way he wanted to, his mind was still as sharp and as fast as ever. In those moments where he could break through the clutter to make a play, he did, and the play above was his best of the day that week.

That should’ve been a forced fumble returned for a touchdown that likely would’ve been the catalyst for a Buccaneers win. That’s more than the stat sheet can show you, and White was robbed of that moment – even while playing on a knee that he was still rehabbing.

The following week in Seattle, White still had that knee brace on, and you could tell he was thinking about it.

The play above just does not happen from White very often. Running back Chris Carson is a strong dude. He’s not a player who goes down easy, but White has brought down plenty of tank running backs in his day. He has the mentality and the physical strength to do so. Missed tackles happen all the time, but that one shouldn’t have. I honestly think it’s because White was holding himself back in his mind. He wasn’t playing free.

Now here’s a play I liked to see, even if White was unsuccessful at it this time around.

The Bucs were kind of screwed on this play because whatever the defensive call was it left them with uneven numbers in there right spots. Seattle had trips right with three receiving options to the right side of the line of scrimmage. But when it came to secondary players, there were only three on that side while there were two to occupy just one player on the left. That alignment didn’t add up in the defense’s favor. The strong safety was in more of a robber role instead of a deep role, which makes me think White’s responsibility was more of a match coverage that had him either playing short zone in the middle if the tight end ran a crosser or a man coverage role if the tight end went up the seam.

Because of this, White was forced to follow the tight end running free up the seam and deep down the field. I actually think White did a decent job trailing the tight end, but at the end of the route White got worried he wouldn’t keep up and got too physical. Though this ended up costing the Bucs in the form of six points due to the penalty on White, this kind of rep was good for him.

With White’s speed, he’s going to be asked to go up the deep middle of the field from time to time, especially in things like Tampa 2 coverage shells. He needs experience doing that. This was his first real taste. Taking the knee brace into account, I think he’ll fare better next time.

We’ve talked about this play at length already, but I still have to highlight it.

You know how college football fans talk about guys having a “Heisman moment” when it comes to winning the award. This would be Devin White’s “D.R.O.Y. moment,” if such a thing existed.

The effort, the speed and the strength to get off the block, see the running back already at full speed, have no hesitation at all to go chase him, get to 22 MPH, then punch the ball out at the end is nothing short of incredible.

Fast forward to the Arizona Cardinals game and this was our first look at White without that knee brace.

I myself used to ask the question, “How much does a knee brace really limit a player?” That answer changes depending on position and play style, but for White specifically, it really limited him. You could see that in clips like the one above where he was reading, reacting and flying to the ball quicker than he had all season.

That free speed also showed up in coverage.

As the player responsible for coving the running back out of the backfield, White’s athleticism to just flip his hips and stay stride-for-stride with a guy who had a head start on him was extremely impressive. That’s the kind of movement that allows me to believe that, if faced with that seam pass like the one in Seattle again, White could keep up, wouldn’t panic, and would defend such a route cleanly.

So maybe White won’t win Defensive Rookie of the Year this year. I still have flashes like the one above that make me think “if this is what we’re getting from him just nine games into his career, this kid could be special.”

This play was so impressive to me, not just because of how well White moved laterally, but because of how he covered this play with his eyes. As White dropped back into his zone, you could see him peeking to his left at the slot player. Once he knew that player was going to be a potential threat in his zone, he looked back at the quarterback. If you pay attention, you’ll see that White then broke on the ball path and the route without even looking at the receiver. He was look at the quarterback the whole time. White was able to read that route without even looking at the target – and he nearly tipped it away.

That’s next level football instincts from the young linebacker.

But I guess we’ll have to wait until next year to see those instincts really pay off, right?

WRONG.

White saved his best performance of the season for his most recent performance (which is a sign that these last four Bucs games might be really fun).

When I was watching this play live, I thought it was just a terrible throw by Foles. Don’t get me wrong, it still wasn’t a great decision by Foles, but when you see how White intercepted this pass from the quarterback’s point of view you have a little more appreciation for how White did it.

This play was the evolution of the Cardinals play where White just missed it – this is why film and especially all-22 angles matter when evaluating a player.

In the game against Arizona, the play where Murray threw that touchdown pass over White’s arm went down as no stats for White and some stats against him if you charted coverage assignments. However, as we explained, there were building block traits from that rep that honestly made it more encouraging that disappointing.

The reason all of that is true is because of the play above. Watch once again how White was able to read the quarterback’s eyes to determine the ball path. This allowed him to first bait Foles into the throw and then jump in front of it, this time for the takeaway.

White’s mental processing, his gain experience and his healthy athletic ability are all starting to line up. The result is increased production.