When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent the No. 5 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft on Devin White, they were hoping to get the kind of franchise-defining linebacker they’d previously enjoyed with the likes of Derrick Brooks, Lavonte David and Hardy Nickerson.
Instead, they got a flash in the pan who peaked at the best possible time during the team’s Super Bowl run in 2020, but was otherwise an inconsistent performer who never lived up to his potential in five seasons.
White didn’t get a long-term contract extension from the Bucs, and instead signed a modest one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency this offseason.
Bleacher Report recently put together a list of the most overrated players in the NFL at each position, and White was their pick at linebacker.
Here’s part of the explanation from B/R’s Alex Kay:
White tends to be a liability in coverage, which contributed to those brutal marks. He allowed completion rates of 75 percent or higher in each of his first four seasons, including 70 catches on 84 targets in 2020 and 64 completions on 78 targets in 2021.
White, who has missed plenty of key tackles and gives up big plays as often as he makes them, was even benched for the first time in his career at the tail end of last season.
White will likely get plenty of chances to prove himself on an Eagles team that fielded one of the league’s worst linebacking corps last year. Relying on him to play a key role could come back to burn the Eagles, though.
White was never able to recapture the magic of his first two seasons in the league, and his demand for a trade last offseason couldn’t have been received well by a locker room that had previously voted him as a captain.
Now, he’ll have a chance to resurrect his career in Philly, where Eagles fans will hope he can finally bring the consistency that has eluded him throughout his NFL career up to this point.
[lawrence-related id=86894]