The Case Against Kevin White

[Dynasty DeLorean]

So I studied (again) all the film I could find on Kevin White, but this time I wrote everything down as I went along.

In the 8 games I could find (on DraftBreakdown.com), Kevin White compiled 82 catches. 33 of those catches were from screens or shallow crosses, meaning a whopping 40% of Kevin White's catch total was from uncontested routes. That number is so high, I don't see how anyone doesn't find that alarming.

A breakdown of the rest of his catches to the best of my ability were of course 10 or so long balls he caught (both contested and uncontested), maybe 5 or so slants and 5 or so where he sat inbetween defenders in zone coverage and caught the ball. The large majority of the rest of his catches came from comeback routes and a few came from broken plays. I did not see him run a wide variety of routes (not well at least), I did not see him run a single out-route, back shoulder sideline route, nothing like that. It was mostly run straight ahead, or run straight to the side. Everything else inbetween was pretty bad imo.


The Good
- Run Blocking
- Run After Catch
- Win Contested Catches (although he did lose some as well)
- Can beat DB's with his speed.
- Good Hands
- Comeback route, worked well back to the ball most of the time.

The OK
- Lacked consistency beating coverage on go-routes. Did not see Perriman-like explosion on every play.
- Settles in-between zone defenders
- Keep defenders at bay with stiffarm in order to create or maintain separation before the catch.

The Ugly
- Limited Route Tree - Tons of screens and shallow crosses, zero out routes or back shoulder catches.
- Runs most routes poorly
- Does not routinely use his body to shield defenders from the ball
- Double move rarely fools anyone
- Does not gain separation on most routes
- Only subtle move to gain separation is stiff arm, not much else in his arsenal.


My Bottom Line
- Intriguing player who has great size and speed, but only showed out for one year with an estimated 40% of his catches coming from lame-sauce plays. Does not routinely get open despite possessing elite size, athleticism, and aggressiveness because of poor route running. Does not routinely display the WR intangibles i'm looking for such as creating separation in a variety of ways, showing an awareness of route concepts, running a variety of routes, and overall producing in a way that I think will translate to the NFL. I think Kevin White can certainly be a useful and productive player on the next level because he does do many things well, but in my opinion I think becoming a WR1 is a long shot for him.


Commonly discussed "Red Flags" for Kevin White
- "Old" for a rookie, 23 years of age
- Very late Breakout Age of 21.2 years old (29th percentile)
- 13.3 College YPR, which is extremely low for a player of his size and speed. Even everyone's favorite YPR punching bag Allen Robinsons' was higher (14.8).
- White only did "it" for 1 year


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Alabama (9 receptions)

https://youtu.be/FJ6fE2aY0Is?t=2m50s – Shallow Cross incompletion.

https://youtu.be/FJ6fE2aY0Is?t=2m40s – Screen Pass. He gets a lot of these, easy way to pad his stats.
https://youtu.be/FJ6fE2aY0Is?t=3m49s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/FJ6fE2aY0Is?t=3m59s – Screen Pass


https://youtu.be/FJ6fE2aY0Is?t=1m9s – If Kevin White doesn’t jog his entire route he might actually get past the defender and be in position to catch the ball.

https://youtu.be/FJ6fE2aY0Is?t=1m34s – Press coverage. Not what I would call a great release off the line, no better than Parker’s. Sloppy sloppy route, he should be sharply to the inside on the slant, instead he lazily runs sort of straightish-leftish. He’s at the numbers before the QB is about to release the ball. He should be by the hash marks by the time the ball gets to him and we see him in the camera shot (exactly where the ball is thrown) yet he’s late because his route is horrible.

https://youtu.be/FJ6fE2aY0Is?t=1m41s – Good play and this is what Kevin White does best. Win the contested catch. No separation which is par for the course, but not exactly his fault on this particular play since he was at the back of the endzone.

https://youtu.be/FJ6fE2aY0Is?t=2m17s – Again, good play, good leaping catch. He gets away with a nice little pushoff with his arm on the defender halfway down the field which worked so kudos to him.


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Maryland (13 receptions)

https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=8s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=2m13s – Screen Pass, 45 yards of production from a single screen pass
https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=4m30s – Screen Pass

https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=16s – Shallow Cross
https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=3m40s – Shallow Cross


https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=39s – Off his hands in the endzone. Would have been a great catch, but I mean people are drafting him because he’s supposed to make all those catches, right?

https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=1m12s – Fairly certain he’s supposed to cut inside but gets stymied by a defender. Broken play because of White’s screw up, he sees QB rolling right and cuts back right resulting in a catch.

https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=1m55s – Catches a slant, route not shown.

https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=2m41s – Go route. No separation at all (doesn’t he have 4.35 speed?), in fact the defender has far better position on the ball than White does. White commits offensive pass interference to prevent an INT.

https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=3m30s – Sat in a good spot against zone

https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=3m52s – Contested catch against 2 defenders. Amazing play, but will this work consistently in the NFL??? Probably not

https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=4m51s – Go route, no separation as defender is draped all over him. Defender called for PI at the end of the play, looked like it didn’t really affect the final outcome of the play to me.

https://youtu.be/vzsD8Zu17Ds?t=5m25s – Another amazing contested catch after defender hilariously misplays the ball. Great catch, but the defender is RIGHT THERE. Does this guy ever get any separation?



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Oklahoma (10 receptions)

https://youtu.be/m6cXkf5VMBk?t=20s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/m6cXkf5VMBk?t=4m58s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/m6cXkf5VMBk?t=5m9s – Screen Pass - Look MA, I’m padding my stats!

https://youtu.be/m6cXkf5VMBk?t=39s – Completely schools some tard on some sort of bizarro hesitation move. First actual good play I’ve seen him make where he gains separation and makes a catch. I would feel much better about White if this wasn’t the first good play I’ve seen him make in 3 games.

https://youtu.be/m6cXkf5VMBk?t=1m49s – Slant route. Again this is one of my main beefs with White. He starts his cut around the 30 yard line. He should be hitting the hash marks and catching the ball at the 35 yard line. Instead he rounds off his route and at the point of the catch (since he’s late) he is leaning back towards the defender around the 37 yard line during the catch instead of creating separation and coming towards the ball at the point of the catch. Again, if he ran the route correctly he would be at the catch point faster and the ball wouldn’t be getting behind him and therefor closer to the defender which is draped all over him at the point of the catch.

https://youtu.be/m6cXkf5VMBk?t=2m13s – Another slant route. In order to run the correct route shape which he did on this play, he has to almost come to a complete stop, take a few stutter steps to turn his body, and then run forward again in the correct direction. It’s just weird, like he has the turning radius of a tractor-trailer.

https://youtu.be/m6cXkf5VMBk?t=2m35s – Again, another slant route and instead of making a sharp cut and exploding towards the middle of the field and working back to the ball at the catch point, it looks like there is an invisible current dragging him off his route and straight into the defender at the point of the catch. The defender is hovering around the 31 yard line as the ball is being released, White SHOULD be ending up around the 35 yard line at worst giving several yards of separation. Instead he ends up at the 32 yard line (exactly where the defender is!) at the catch point resulting in another contested catch situation, this time resulting in an incompletion. Ball looked a bit high, but if he runs his route like he should have he would have been there on time and ready to use his leaping ability. Instead he’s late getting to the ball, has a defender draped all over him, and can’t leap in time.

https://youtu.be/m6cXkf5VMBk?t=4m39s – Haven’t been including comeback routes in this analysis because they are super boring, but this was nice sideline awareness on White’s part so I threw it in there.



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Kansas (6 receptions)

https://youtu.be/dSYtndEo8Oo?t=5m27s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/dSYtndEo8Oo?t=5m47s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/dSYtndEo8Oo - Screen Pass gives him 40 yards production


https://youtu.be/dSYtndEo8Oo?t=21s – The rare triple-coverage

https://youtu.be/dSYtndEo8Oo?t=1m3s – Great catch, but again… he runs in a straight line, outjumps someone for the ball. Show me something different! Show me something that will translate!

https://youtu.be/dSYtndEo8Oo?t=1m41s – Allows himself to be pushed off his route, resulting in yet another contested catch situation, drops the ball this time.

https://youtu.be/dSYtndEo8Oo?t=1m55s – Playing press against White without trying to bump him off his route is a recipe for disaster. Seriously what is the defender doing here. Once again White does what he does best, run in a straight line, catch ball. Great play all around by White though, he did his job on the play. Stays away from the sideline to give his QB plenty of room to throw the ball.

https://youtu.be/dSYtndEo8Oo?t=3m42s – Attempts double move, does not fool anyone.



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Texas Tech (13 receptions)

https://youtu.be/InX0BAQJ0aU?t=47s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/InX0BAQJ0aU?t=1m33s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/InX0BAQJ0aU?t=2m47s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/InX0BAQJ0aU?t=5m15s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/InX0BAQJ0aU?t=6m24s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/InX0BAQJ0aU?t=6m31s – Screen Pass

https://youtu.be/InX0BAQJ0aU?t=2m54s – Shallow Cross


https://youtu.be/InX0BAQJ0aU?t=1m24s – Broken play, nice use of sideline

https://youtu.be/InX0BAQJ0aU?t=3m3s – Runs double move, not fooling anyone as he is still blanketed by the defender.

https://youtu.be/InX0BAQJ0aU?t=6m59s – Nice play. Gets downfield position on defender, outstretches arm to keep him away and catches the ball.

https://youtu.be/InX0BAQJ0aU?t=7m34s – Defender makes a bonehead move. For reasons unknown to man, White slows down and so the defender thinks White is about to catch the ball but he’s not, so he panics. Because White slowed down now he can’t catch the ball. Both are losers in this scenario.



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Baylor (8 receptions)

https://youtu.be/K65dZqHEuuA?t=3m37s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/K65dZqHEuuA?t=4m5s – Screen Pass - Have to get those catch totals up somehow. Nevermind he dropped it.


https://youtu.be/K65dZqHEuuA - Again, that weird stop/start thing when making a cut. Stop, stutter step while turning body, start again. It’s just so weird…

https://youtu.be/K65dZqHEuuA?t=22s – Weird stutter steps on short slant against press coverage.

https://youtu.be/K65dZqHEuuA?t=42s – Burns the DB. Underthrown ball resulting in contested catch. Well played.

https://youtu.be/K65dZqHEuuA?t=1m – Looks like a pathetic attempt at a double move, resulting in no separation and another contested catch scenario.

https://youtu.be/K65dZqHEuuA?t=1m28s – Gets slowed down on his slant by press coverage. Again, my main beef with White is that he simply cannot run these routes correctly. At the point of the catch he is fading backwards giving the defender an opening to stick his arm in there. What he should be doing is keep his body between the ball and the defender which would have resulted in a catch.

https://youtu.be/K65dZqHEuuA?t=1m55s – Generally pretty good at working back to the ball on comeback routes, this time when a defender is actually near him he does not and it results in an INT. I mean the ball is thrown right where White is supposed to be…

https://youtu.be/K65dZqHEuuA?t=2m5s – Good play. His cuts are still slow but he simply out-runs the defender to the ball.

https://youtu.be/K65dZqHEuuA?t=2m23s – Doesn’t fool a soul with his double move resulting in a defender draped all over him (and defensive PI)

https://youtu.be/K65dZqHEuuA?t=4m16s – Can’t shake defender loose because he can’t make a sharp cut at speed. Defender draped all over him resulting in an incompletion (and defensive PI flag)

https://youtu.be/K65dZqHEuuA?t=5m33s – Good play. I’ve noticed he tends to stick his arm back against defenders and grab or push their arms/hands (since he can’t separate) and push them away right before the catch. It’s a good trick, one I didn’t notice the first time I watched his tape.



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Texas (16 receptions)

https://youtu.be/230pFD52olc?t=1m27s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/230pFD52olc?t=2m9s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/230pFD52olc?t=2m22s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/230pFD52olc?t=3m52s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/230pFD52olc?t=4m59s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/230pFD52olc?t=5m58s – Screen Pass

https://youtu.be/230pFD52olc?t=3m40s – Shallow Cross


https://youtu.be/230pFD52olc?t=10s – I feel like a broken record at this point but this is not how the route should be run. He runs his route like a giant semi-circle (and incidentally directly into a defender) instead of making a sharp cut and taking a direct line to where he should be for the catch. Somehow ends up making a contested catch anyway.

https://youtu.be/230pFD52olc?t=32s – Probably one of the best slant routes I’ve seen him run. Pretty good.

https://youtu.be/230pFD52olc?t=1m39s – Including this just to mention he is decent at finding a good spot in zone to sit

https://youtu.be/230pFD52olc?t=2m37s – AWFUL rounded route resulting in his QB intercepted. Look at all the green grass in front of White, THAT IS WHERE HE SHOULD BE! Instead he has once again successfully run himself directly into a defender. Did not use his body to shield defender from the ball, did not even get in front of the defender in the first place! White does not attack the ball on slants and it showed on this play. Defender read the play well, but it should have ended in an incompletion and not an INT if White plays it correctly.



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Texas A&M (7 receptions)

https://youtu.be/IpSm5JEDTiI?t=10s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/IpSm5JEDTiI?t=4m58s – Screen Pass
https://youtu.be/IpSm5JEDTiI?t=5m38s – Screen Pass


https://youtu.be/IpSm5JEDTiI?t=2m17s – Torches some DB, nice play but shows little in terms of route running as he ran in a straight line against off-coverage.

https://youtu.be/IpSm5JEDTiI?t=3m18s – Again, nice play but blows past a DB in a straight line playing press coverage who didn’t attempt to jam (DB was backpeddling at the snap). Really silly coverage but to his credit Kevin White took advantage. Kevin White is good at running in a straight line and catching the ball, we know this… we can only hope to see him do something different eventually.

https://youtu.be/IpSm5JEDTiI?t=6m – Missed opportunity. Ball was a little high, but always leaning backwards at the point of the catch on slants. If he attacks the route/ball more aggressively maybe that’s a catch.

[ericanadian]

I'm not super high on White either. This is a great analysis.

[henry1jg]

Wow! I'm very impressed by the work you put into this! I too am not enamored with White at his ADP and put my money where my mouth was by taking Yeldon over him in my standard league. I see the size & workout numbers, but the tape is very lame.

I think Chicago may have fallen for the WVU trap like StL did a couple years ago.

[Dingram]

Jeez darkness. Um with this type of effort maybe you should try to collect a paycheck! Haha anyway incredible job, & your making me 2nd guess my choice of grabbing him in a couple leagues

[Phaded]

I recently drafted White in a start-up because I felt that he was the "value pick" at that point because of where the community perceived him.

I have since moved him in a trade because I was never really that high on him for most of the reasons you discussed.

Very good and detailed write up. Well done.

[Bo Jackson]

I know White had a better season, but he seems like another Cordarrelle to me... No? His route running and need for specialized plays is a big red flag. I passed him in all of my drafts and haven't looked back

Good Work Darkness

[FiremanEd]

Another Darkness vs Kevin White post. I feel I see one every other day or so. Nice effort on the analysis.

I don't recall specifically, but what was Watkins screen pass % at Clemson? I recall a bunch of discussion about that last year and would like to understand how much higher White's is.

[Titus Young's Lawyer]

If white has fell a few pegs recently due to missing the start of training camp I would be buying low right now.

[Novacane]

This is some very thorough analysis and much appreciated. But i dont think this changes much in the rankings. I have always felt that there was a legitimate debate to be had between white and parker for the number 2 WR but i still dont think you can put any of the other receivers ahead of white. They all have flaws and risks. And in total rankings, I cant fault anyone who has White, Parker and Gordon in any combination of 1.03, 1.04 and 1.05. So, again, this doesnt really change anything from where I stand.

So what are you proposing we do with White in light of these stats? Who would you take ahead of him other than (I presume) Parker and Gordon?

[SoShady]

Oddly enough he's falling like a rock so far in one of my rookie drafts. A lot of these picks don't make much sense to me. Normally these guys are easy to figure out. This year they are all over the place. I'm trying to move up but maybe I should just sit back and take whoever falls to me out of White, Parker or Agholor.

1.1 - Gurley
1.2 - Winston - has Brady
1.3 - Gordon
1.4 - Cooper
1.5 - Mariota - has Stafford
1.6 - Yeldon
1.7 - Abdullah

[Dynasty DeLorean]

So what are you proposing we do with White in light of these stats? Who would you take ahead of him other than (I presume) Parker and Gordon?

Good question. I think the easy answer for me right now is at 1.03/1.04 i'd rather take Gordon or Parker. And if you don't like either of those guys I would trade back and be happy taking a shot on Perriman, Agholor, David Johnson or Winston for the lesser price. I'm not terribly enamored with anyone else in the draft where I would be comfortable investing a 1st round pick in them.

Now if you're asking if I would take any of those guys at 1.05 over White... yeah I probably would if I was forced to pick and my top 4 were gone. Perriman probably has a bigger downside because of his hands but he jumps off my screen with his explosiveness. Agholor isn't too flashy but I think he's a better bet than White to be a consistent producer, consistent WR2 material, maybe low end WR1 if the stars align. David Johnson is a prototypical RB who can do everything. I think Winston will be a top 5 QB in a couple of years.

That's just my own crazy theory anywho...

Oh and I do plan on doing a Parker analysis tonight. Originally planned to do it last night along with White but White took me over 4 hours so I ran out of time lol...

[voiceofunreason]

I don't own him anywhere, because of how my drafts went and the fact that I hate the situation. Cutler, Fox and Jeffery make for a very bad combination for the start of his career. It was enough for me to put Gordon, Cooper and Gurley in a tier ahead of him.

However, at least for me these stats are unconvincing. He did what he was asked to do at a very high level and he's got elite measurables. Cossell talked a lot about this in the offseason. Basically every single wr college is raw and not polished at the wr craft. There are holes in all of their games and they have a lot to learn when they hit the NFL.

[Dynasty DeLorean]

I don't own him anywhere, because of how my drafts went and the fact that I hate the situation. Cutler, Fox and Jeffery make for a very bad combination for the start of his career. It was enough for me to put Gordon, Cooper and Gurley in a tier ahead of him.

Very true and it's part of the reason i'm avoiding, they don't have to force targets to him if he's not very good (unlike a Kelvin Benjamin situation)

However, at least for me these stats are unconvincing. He did what he was asked to do at a very high level and he's got elite measurables. Cossell talked a lot about this in the offseason. Basically every single wr college is raw and not polished at the wr craft. There are holes in all of their games and they have a lot to learn when they hit the NFL.

While every WR has flaws, that is a really intellectually lazy and thoughtless thing for Cossell to say. Not all "problems" are equal, and all WR's do not have the same problems or the same amount of problems. Not to mention White is 23 already, he doesn't exactly have a ton of time to figure things out.

[49ersFaithful80]

I understand that you put a lot of time into this but the point of a film study is to let the film determine the outcome and not let your biases clearly skew the results. You went into the study clearly looking for a case against white.

I'm not sure how you did it but you even made "the good" sound like negatives and discredited his good plays through critiques of the defensive backs.

If I didn't know this study was done on white ahead of time I would have guessed it was about some undrafted free agent people were taking a flier on as opposed to an elite prospect taken in the top 10.

Luckily for his owners, those who are paid millions to evaluate talent emphatically disagree with you. I obviously disagree with your take, and am baffled by how you could think he doesn't have WR1 upside.

[Cowboysfan33]

So what are you proposing we do with White in light of these stats? Who would you take ahead of him other than (I presume) Parker and Gordon?

Good question. I think the easy answer for me right now is at 1.03/1.04 i'd rather take Gordon or Parker. And if you don't like either of those guys I would trade back and be happy taking a shot on Perriman, Agholor, David Johnson or Winston for the lesser price. I'm not terribly enamored with anyone else in the draft where I would be comfortable investing a 1st round pick in them.

Now if you're asking if I would take any of those guys at 1.05 over White... yeah I probably would if I was forced to pick and my top 4 were gone. Perriman probably has a bigger downside because of his hands but he jumps off my screen with his explosiveness. Agholor isn't too flashy but I think he's a better bet than White to be a consistent producer, consistent WR2 material, maybe low end WR1 if the stars align. David Johnson is a prototypical RB who can do everything. I think Winston will be a top 5 QB in a couple of years.

That's just my own crazy theory anywho...

Oh and I do plan on doing a Parker analysis tonight. Originally planned to do it last night along with White but White took me over 4 hours so I ran out of time lol...

Good analysis on White. I'm not very high on him, part of it is he basically had just one big season and the other reason is, I just don't like his situation. I actually like Parker and Agholor over him. I know I probably take situation into consideration more than most but it means alot. I've seen tons of very talented players go to waste because they've went to a bad team(situation) or have bad coaching, etc.