Cowboys draft 2023: Defensive lineman Keion White prospect profile

Movie examine of a first-round prospect, Georgia Tech defensive lineman Keion White.

• By
  
  LP Cruz
  
• on February 26, 2023 1:00 pm

One go searching NFL mock draft circles and also you’ll see that there’s a big selection of opinion some on the place the Dallas Cowboys will go together with their twenty sixth choose. As an illustration, Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN mocked Dallas to pick out Texas star operating again Bijan Robinson. In the meantime, our very personal Tony Catalina, pegged the Cowboys taking Penn State cornerback, Joey Porter Jr. this April.

Nonetheless, one mock draft piqued my curiosity. Not too long ago, Daniel Jeremiah released his second mock draft on NFL.com and with the Cowboys’ choose, he chosen Georgia Tech defensive finish Keion White. It’s intriguing since is the primary time I’ve seen White mocked to the Cowboys in any capability, main on-line publication or in any other case.

It stands out much more so as a result of Dallas has a reasonably good rotation at move rusher within the type of celebrity linebacker Micah Parsons, a nonetheless productive DeMarcus Lawrence, a breakout performer final 12 months in Dorance Armstrong, and an up-and-coming Sam Williams.

Plus, on this mock draft the Cowboys bypass a necessity at extensive receiver, (Zay Flowers taken 29 to New Orleans) drafting White and in addition move on fellow defensive linemen Nolan Smith and Felix Anudike-Uzoma who have been nonetheless on Jeremiah’s board. This known as for a better have a look at Keion White on movie to see why Jeremiah may’ve come to this conclusion.

The Good:

Keion White has a superb dimension to play virtually anyplace alongside the line of defense. At 6’5” and 286 lbs., his body affords him the flexibleness to play a number of spots on a number of fronts. At Georgia Tech, he performed as a stand-up outdoors linebacker, and in a three-point stance, but additionally inside as a five-technique in a 3-4 entrance.

For his dimension, White has a quick first step and may beat inside linemen along with his quickness. Just a few occasions on movie, he collapsed performs so shortly that quarterbacks had no time to undergo their progressions or within the operating sport, destroying a counter run by assembly a pulling offensive lineman within the backfield.

White typically makes use of size to his benefit within the operating sport, stacking up linemen with one hand earlier than disengaging with a swim transfer to get to the ball provider. As a move rusher, his go-to transfer is a push-pull approach, the place he units up the lineman to arrange for a bull rush, earlier than throwing them ahead and utilizing their momentum towards them. The play proven above towards Clemson is a powerful snap for a participant of his dimension.

The Unhealthy:

White tends to get too upright on his get-off on the line of scrimmage and it permits offensive linemen to get underneath his pads, holding him from penetrating the backfield. Enjoying defensive finish, he wants to enhance on finding the ball on misdirection performs comparable to zone reads and bootlegs.

He additionally received overpowered greater than he ought to have. Enjoying with poor leverage, he received moved out of his gaps by inside offensive linemen pretty commonly, and at occasions was pancaked out of the play as proven under. As a move rusher, if he’s going to play the sting, he must develop a extra diversified arsenal of move rush strikes.

Conclusion:

The place White could be finest suited, if drafted by the Cowboys, is taking part in as an inside move rusher on passing downs, having traits extra aligned with being a disruptive underneath sort out. Whereas he does flash at occasions as a run defender, it’s inconsistent and he will get his shoulders turned perpendicular to the road of scrimmage often, creating huge holes behind him.

The flexibility is an efficient attribute, however he’s extra of a jack of all trades and a grasp of none. White is vaguely paying homage to former Cowboys defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford. He may not be able to play as a stand-up edge rusher.

So far as choosing White at 26, it’s a battle to see the reasoning for this choose in Jeremiah’s mock draft. White is an older prospect at 24 years previous, and nonetheless seems to be like a growing venture. Passing up on extra pure move rushers or a place of want like cornerback and extensive receiver to take White makes little sense, as White doesn’t show a defining trait to warrant being taken as excessive as Jeremiah did in his mock draft.

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