Tampa Bay Buccaneers select linebacker Devin White with fifth overall pick

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hope to have landed their next Derrick Brooks by drafting Louisiana State linebacker Devin White with the fifth pick in the draft.

With the fifth pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have selected Louisiana State linebacker Devin White. After losing Kwon Alexander to the San Francisco 49ers during free agency, general manager Jason Licht wasted no time finding his replacement.

The Butkus award winner for the LSU Tigers in 2018, White becomes the first linebacker off of the board to the Buccaneers. White was named an All-American, and now a top-five pick in this year’s draft.

Totaling over 120 tackles over the last two seasons, White has a nose for the football, and has tallied 25 tackles for loss throughout that span as well. White has also recorded seven and a half sacks, and three forced fumbles over the last two years. Picking off one pass, defending an additional nine passes, and forcing four fumbles in his career, White is a game-changer on the defensive side of the football.

White burst onto the scene at the combine, running a 4.42 second 40 yard dash, hit 22 reps on the bench press, ran a 7.07 second 3-cone drill, and hit nearly 40 inches on his vertical jump. It would be hard to find more than five more athletic players in this year’s draft class.

Adding White allows the Buccaneers to utilize newly signed free agent Deone Bucannon in a roaming role from sideline-to-sideline while White will pair with Lavonte David in the middle of Todd Bowles’ 3-4 defensive scheme. Looking to overhaul the defensive side of the football, this is only the beginning for the Buccaneers.

Tampa Bay added an immediate impact player and day-one starter in White. Hoping to add the next great linebacker in this year’s class, the Buccaneers will look to unleash White right away and allow him to take over the Tampa Bay defense.