The Ceiling Is High For The Bucs’ Devin White
By Will Cinelli, The Scouting Academy
On most Thursdays FirstDown PlayBook brings you a special treat here on the Coaches Community website. We feature a breakdown of personnel and technique provided by our friends over at The Scouting Academy who are our go to experts in this field
The Wide Zone scheme has seen an explosion in popularity in recent years across the NFL and as with any offensive trend, defenses have to adapt. With running backs racing to the edge, inside linebackers now have to play sideline-to-sideline frequently to stop the offense’s favorite run play.
One linebacker with tremendous athletic ability and range is Tampa’s Devin White. But, as we often see, it isn’t enough just to have the athletic traits. You have to play fast, too. That requires good mental processing and the ability to diagnose what you’re seeing.
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Here, Green Bay is running a Zone Insert play to White’s right. He recognizes the fullback inserting into the C gap, understanding that there is now an additional gap along the offensive line. In order for the defense to be gap sound, White knows he needs to take on the fullback’s outside shoulder.
White settles to take on the contact and maintain good position. He isn’t perfect here, as we see he’s a little off balance and turned after contact. But what we do see is a quick disengagement from the block with a nice use of hands.
He also deploys some high-level athletic ability in recovering and bursting to get to the back and bring him down for a minimal gain. It’s a really nice play from an excellent young player.
