NFL Scouting Combine: My Favorite Linebacker

Ahead of the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine I had Devin White ranked pretty high on my mental list of player rankings (I don’t have a physical big board yet). I wasn’t quite sold on whether or not I’d like him for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the fifth pick though.

Since the New England Patriots started winning Super Bowls eleven linebackers have been drafted in the Top-10 of the league’s annual draft.

Of those eleven, four were taken in the Top-5 (A.J. Hawk, Green Bay Packers, 2006, No. 5 / Aaron Curry, Seattle Seahawks, 2009, No. 4 / Von Miller, Denver Broncos, 2011, No. 2 / Khalil Mack, Oakland Raiders, 2014, No. 5). Two of them went on to win Super Bowls (Hawk and Miller) and one is - well - Khalil Mack.

Now, I know what you’re going to say. Devin White isn’t Khalil Mack or any of the others. And for that, I thank you.

What he is, is the best inside linebacker prospect in this year’s draft class. A fact which was solidified during the combine week in Indianapolis.

While Bucs Nation readers made it very clear in earlier comments they don’t care about a players personalities, teams do. And if teams do, then so do I. And White has a great one.

Cool, confident and excited. Talking to the LSU product will leave you trusting this is a young man who knows what it takes to get the job done, and is willing to do it.

He’s former teammates with guys like Kendall Beckwith and Deion Jones who have found success on the field even though both were hampered or held out completely due to injuries in 2018.

Ask him about Kwon Alexander and despite the fact the two never got to play together, you’ll hear about how good their friendship is. Ask him if he wants to reunite with Beckwith and Alexander - which he was asked about - and you have never seen a guy light up so quickly.

If he was half as charismatic in his interview with the team, then he’s going to be a guy at or near the top of the draft board for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Entering the combine, White was my top inside linebacker for 2019 and I really hoped the Bucs would grab him after trading back to stockpile some other draft picks.

Leaving Indianapolis, he’s my clear favorite and while I will almost always support a trade back in the first round, I would not be disappointed at all to see White throwing on a Buccaneers hat after Jason Licht uses the fifth pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

For this reason, he was my favorite linebacker of the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine.