Why Devin White Should Be Defensive Rookie Of The Year
From North Webster High School, to LSU, and now Tampa Bay, Devin White has proved he's good at football.
In 2019, White was taken 5th overall in the NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, an amazing accomplishment on its own. But once White hit the field, you knew there was more to come.
This season, White reached two Buccaneer franchise records, while leading the entire NFL in two categories. He did this through some amazing plays, and some huge games. These records, and his season long stats, are both made even more impressive when you consider that White was forced to miss some time due to injury.
White's Tampa Bay franchise marks include "Most forced fumbles in a single game" when he tied the record of 2 on November 3, 2019 vs Seattle Seahawks. He then set the franchise record for "Longest fumble return touchdown" with a spectacular 91 yard sprint for a touchdown on December 29, 2019 vs Atlanta Falcons.
In 2019, White was the NFL league leader for "Fumble return yards" with 121, and was tied for the league lead with his 2 fumble recovery touchdowns.
On top of all of those records and league leading marks, White had two games where he reached the ten tackle mark, had 2.5 sacks, pulled down an interception, and ended the year with 91 total tackles...even though he was only able to play in 13 games due to that knee injury.
Even with all of these stats, White isn't even considered a Top 5 option for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Right now, odds makers give White the 7th best odds to win the award, with the best odds going to San Francisco rookie Nick Bosa. Other rookies with better odds than White include Pittsburgh's Devin Bush, Jacksonville's Josh Allen, and Carolina's Brian Burns.
Even though White is not in serious consideration for the award, his stats stand out against everyone else, even those with better odds to win the award. They also serve as a warning for what's to come with White's NFL career.