Devin White deserved hype ?

[indifference]

...is out of this world. I keep seeing him listed as a top 5 prospect in the draft..from my teams forum. Does anyone else feel different? A+ ATH but i just dont see it from him on a mental aspect. RoQuan Smith blows him away as prospect. 

 

Thoughts

[BleedTheClock]

2 hours ago, indifference said:

...is out of this world. I keep seeing him listed as a top 5 prospect in the draft..from my teams forum. Does anyone else feel different? A+ ATH but i just dont see it from him on a mental aspect. RoQuan Smith blows him away as prospect. 

 

Thoughts

Roquan Smith and White both have some real serious flaws.

 

Roquan gets murdered when he engaged a blocker. How does he succeed in the NFL then? Elite pacing and angles. But he certainly isn't flawless and the Oklahoma-UGA playoff game last year illuminated some of Smith's major flaws. I'm not saying he sucks at all, but he's got some serious flaws within his game. He makes up for it with the other things he does to avoid eating blocks though.

 

White is not good with his pacing. He overruns things and isn't great when seeing misdirection plays coming at him. He's still an elite prospect, because of his ceiling and his ability to fix his mental flaws. He's a very young linebacker and hasn't had time to develop those instincts yet. He makes up for taking bad angles by being a freak of nature and ripping peoples faces off in the run game. He'll be fine despite a lack of refinement right now.

 

By the way, I think Roquan's block shed ability was more concerning than White's mental game. White isn't a complete buffoon out there, it's just not a strength of his. It'd be unfair to crucify him for this, as I don't view it as a glaring weakness like some others have suggested.

[Tugboat]

The thing with Devin White is...he has the potential to be an absolutely stellar LBer.  The athletic attributes are all there.  The competitiveness seems to be there, and the physicality along with it.  The question is...does he read the game like an elite LBer?  That's where i get real tripped up.  I just don't see it in his play.  Can you put him in a different system where he can simplify what he's looking at and just use those physical gifts to the max?  Maybe.  I think you can almost certainly find a place for him in your LBer corps where he can play to his strengths.  I just don't know if that's as the "anchor" and "green dot" guy that i'd want out of a 1st round LBer.

[Scoundrel]

I was a bit critical after White’s sophomore season about his mental processing. I didn’t see all the hype. I saw an athletic player but like bleed the clock said I saw some misdiagnosis. But I also saw some slow reactions at times. I saw a big improvement his junior year and I believe he will continue to improve in the league and become one of the best LBers in the game because I’ve already seen a big improvement. He isn’t a perfect prospect but he is going to be great in the league. If you need a difference maker in the middle of your D, who is intelligent, and passionate about the game, then I don’t see a problem with top 5 if you have met your pass rusher needs already. 

[MSURacerDT55]

With higher level coaching and teaching how to properly dissect film, I could easily see him be a consistently top 10 LB, all of his flaws are coachable IMO.

[JBURGE]

11 minutes ago, Counselor said:

I was a bit critical after White’s sophomore season about his mental processing. I didn’t see all the hype. I saw an athletic player but like bleed the clock said I saw some misdiagnosis. But I also saw some slow reactions at times. I saw a big improvement his junior year and I believe he will continue to improve in the league and become one of the best LBers in the game because I’ve already seen a big improvement. He isn’t a perfect prospect but he is going to be great in the league. If you need a difference maker in the middle of your D, who is intelligent, and passionate about the game, then I don’t see a problem with top 5 if you have met your pass rusher needs already. 

And this makes sense, because it's his what 3rd year as a linebacker?

[Scoundrel]

4 minutes ago, JBURGE said:

And this makes sense, because it's his what 3rd year as a linebacker?

I don’t really know the background. Just what he put on film and from interviews with him. 

[JBURGE]

15 minutes ago, Counselor said:

19 minutes ago, JBURGE said:

And this makes sense, because it's his what 3rd year as a linebacker?

I don’t really know the background. Just what he put on film and from interviews with him. 

Gotcha. He came to LSU as a running back

[Scoundrel]

9 minutes ago, JBURGE said:

Gotcha. He came to LSU as a running back

Play him both ways he tested better than all the RB for his size 

[Tugboat]

54 minutes ago, MSURacerDT55 said:

With higher level coaching and teaching how to properly dissect film, I could easily see him be a consistently top 10 LB, all of his flaws are coachable IMO.

It's easy to say this...but honestly...how many of the Top-10 LBers in the NFL didn't show +++ level instincts at the collegiate level?

[RuskieTitan]

7 minutes ago, Tugboat said:

It's easy to say this...but honestly...how many of the Top-10 LBers in the NFL didn't show +++ level instincts at the collegiate level?

It's what separates the athletic linebackers from an elite one like Luke Keuchly.

[vegas492]

He's gonna be on SportsCenter for his thunderous hits and sideline to sideline ability.  For every highlight he has there, there will be 10 other times in the game when he took the wrong steps or misread plays that led to longer gains.

I like him, and think he has immense physical tools to work with, but he needs some really good coaching.  When he "sees" it, no one gets there faster or with as much power as he does.  But his strength is not his instincts.

If he gets to my team (GB), I hope they pass.  But I wouldn't throw a fit if they picked him either.  There's much to like and a little to worry about.

[MSURacerDT55]

1 minute ago, vegas492 said:

.  For every highlight he has there, there will be 10 other times in the game when he took the wrong steps or misread plays that led to longer gains.

This is what OTA's, Training camp and practice is for, NFL linebacker coaches get paid rather handsomely to correct these issues. Teams know his deficiencies (as do all prospects) and will have a plan to correct those behaviors or at least lessen. This is no different than a QB to relying on his big arm instead of relying on their mechanics, its teaching the player to rely on technique than just their natural God-given talent, this is the issue him resisting the eye candy in the backfield and reading his keys

[vegas492]

1 minute ago, MSURacerDT55 said:

This is what OTA's, Training camp and practice is for, NFL linebacker coaches get paid rather handsomely to correct these issues. Teams know his deficiencies (as do all prospects) and will have a plan to correct those behaviors or at least lessen. This is no different than a QB to relying on his big arm instead of relying on their mechanics, its teaching the player to rely on technique than just their natural God-given talent, this is the issue him resisting the eye candy in the backfield and reading his keys

I very much agree, which is why I wouldn't throw a fit if my team took him at #12.  The physical tools are there and they are impressive.  Can debate all day long about "position values", but this kid has top flight athletic traits for that position.

I thought that Roquan last year had better instincts.  But I prefer White because of that great lower body strength that he has.  If White gets to Cincy in the draft, I don't see how they pass on him.  And getting there is a huge "if".

[Leader]

1 minute ago, vegas492 said:

I very much agree, which is why I wouldn't throw a fit if my team took him at #12.  The physical tools are there and they are impressive.  Can debate all day long about "position values", but this kid has top flight athletic traits for that position.

I thought that Roquan last year had better instincts.  But I prefer White because of that great lower body strength that he has.  If White gets to Cincy in the draft, I don't see how they pass on him.  And getting there is a huge "if".

In their top 100 listing, SI has him down at #5 - so cant be too bad

Devin White, STACK LB, LSU

Height: 6' 0" | Weight: 237 pounds
He doesn’t quite have the instincts of last year’s top linebacker prospect, Bears rising star Roquan Smith, but White is bigger and just as fast. He’s still learning the position—he was considered a top recruit as a running back before moving to defense full-time his freshman year at LSU—and made major strides as a junior. His football character will encourage NFL evaluators, and if he stays on this trajectory White has a chance to be a special player at the next level.