NFL Draft 2017 Scouting Report: CB Tre’Davious White, LSU

*CB grades can and will change as more information comes in from Pro Day workouts, Wonderlic test results leaked, etc. We will update info as it becomes available. 

I think Tre'Davious White is a bit of a (draft) victim of the new era cornerback prospects. This 2017 class is loaded with physical, genetic freaks unlike any class I've ever seen/any class ever. If you’re not 6'1"+ and run in the low 4.4s with crazy agility times and throw down 11'+ broad jumps…then you’re boring. A guy like Tre'Davious White gets lost in this class. He's only 5'11"/192 with a 'good' 40-time (4.47) and a solid three-cone (6.90). Lost in the analytics is the fact that White could be in the debate as the best pure cover corner in the 2017 NFL Draft.

More specifically, White might be the best press/man-to-man cover guy in the draft. Marshon Lattimore is a great cover prospect, and he uses tremendous instincts to almost run routes for receivers. Lattimore gives some space but closes fast and always seems to be in the right place at the right time. White just gets up on a receiver and goes to war. He might be the best mirroring cover corner, the best hand-to-hand combat CB.

In years gone by, White's NFL Combine measurables would have locked him into the first-round of any draft…4.4s for the 40-time, sub 7.0 three-cone, 'normal' CB size for the NFL, and very good tape from a respected school. In 2014-2015, White is hands down a first-round pick. Perhaps so in 2016. He's beginning to fall out of the first round in most mock drafts in March 2017. As much as football analysts want to make fun of the Combine and the focus on the measurables…many of the analysts are gravitating towards the physical freak DBs as in 2017, and White is not a physical freak in this class.

The two things that attract us to White…

(1) The tape shows traditional, physical cover corner skills. He's not 'out athlete-ing' helpless, inferior WR talents in college. He frustrated Josh Reynolds, top WR prospect for Texas A&M. Reynolds is really good, and White was all over him…when Reynolds lined up with White. Heisman winner Lamar Jackson had a terrible game against LSU in the Citrus Bowl due in some part to White and the LSU secondary.

(2) Here's the one thing that makes me wonder if White isn't a far superior player than his physical analytics would suggest…and something that confirms his tape and his output data – White returned 3 punts for a TD in his college career. A lot of the new age corners don't get near returning punts. White not only returned punts but was a success doing so.

White appears to be a solid citizen. He has no history of injury, nor off-field issues. He's already graduated. You hate to be cliché but 'football player' is the label that applies here. He's not going to win any traditional SPARQ or whatever awards…but he's just better at what he does than most every CB prospect in this draft. I love super-tall, super-agile, super-fast corner prospects as much as the next scout, but they may not be as good at covering WRs like White is…and that's what it is all about. He might not be a true #1, shutdown corner in the NFL but he may be a strong #2 CB for years.

Tre’Davious White, Through the Lens of Our CB Scouting Algorithm:

#3 all-time in Passes Defended (34) in the SEC and #8 in the NCAAs (since 2005).

18 PDs in his last 14 college games.

Josh Reynolds had 3 catches for 51 yards and a TD in their 2016 matchup. White bottled him up until a late game 35-yard TD off a slant pass where Reynolds caught the inside pass and just outran White right up the middle of the prevent=ish defense.

Heisman winner Lamar Jackson was 10-of-27 passing for 153 yards against the LSU pass defense in the Citrus Bowl.

Four bowl appearances for White, 3.5 tackles, 0.8 PDs, and 0.3 INTs per game.

NFL Combine data…

5'11.2"/192, 32.3" arms, 9.1" hands

4.47 40-time, 1.60 10-yard, 4.32 shuttle, 6.90 three-cone

32.0" vertical, 9'11" broad jump, 16 reps on the bench

White's college stats on CFB Reference:  http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/tredavious-white-1.html

The Historical CB Prospects to Whom Tre’Davious White Most Compares Within Our System:

White compares more with 'workmanlike' NFL corners. Not flashy or well-known, but always employed. Our data really points to White 'belonging' and then a debate on whether he will be more 'solid', 'good', or 'very good' in the NFL.

*The ratings are based on a 1–10 rating scale, but a prospect can score over 10.0+ and less than 0.0

OVERALL RATING -- We merge the data from physical measurables, skill times/counts from the NFL Combine/Pro Days, with college performance data available on pass coverage/tackles, etc. and grade it compared to our database history of all college CBs, with a focus on which CBs went on to be good-great-elite in the NFL. We found characteristics/data points that the successful NFL CBs had in common in college, that most other CB prospects could not match/achieve.

Scoring with a rating over a 7.00+ in our system is where we start to take a CB prospect more seriously. Most of the future NFL successful college CBs scored 8.00+, and most of the NFL superior CBs pushed scores more in the 9.00+ levels...and future NFL busts will sneak in there from time to time. 10.00+ is where most of the elite NFL CBs tend to score in our system analysis.

COVERAGE -- A combination of on-field data/performance and physical profile data

SPEED -- Measurables from a perspective of straight-line speed, burst, etc.

AGILITY -- Measurables for lateral movements, quick cuts, body type, speed, etc. 

POWER -- A look at physical size, tackling productivity in college, other physical measurables. One of the side benefits/intentions here, is to see which CBs may be more of a model for a conversion to playing safety successfully in the NFL. Also denotes CBs who are more physical/will have higher tackle totals...over pure speed/coverage CBs.

2017 NFL Draft Outlook:

I think White is going to fall to the early second-round, possibly middle-to-late second. There are too many radical/freak corners emerging like Obi Melifonwu, Kevin King, etc. to go along with the Ohio State corners, etc. It's a loaded CB class and I could see White getting lost a little bit. He'll go between picks #25-50.

NFL Outlook:   

Solid, underappreciated corner over his career. One of the guys that can start right away but doesn’t have the ceiling other CB prospects have. White won’t bust but won’t be known as a franchise guy either.

3/31/2017