Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Devin White top threat in NFC South to win DROY

Devin White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Devin White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Devin White, fifth overall pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last April, has been named the most likely NFC South rookie to win Defensive Rookie of the Year.

NFL Spin Zone’s Michael Johnson named one rookie per NFL division with the best chance at Defensive Rookie of the Year in a recent article. For the NFC South, Johnson named the pewter and red’s rookie linebacker Devin White, the fifth overall pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as the rookie with the best chance to win the award.

White was the Butkus Award winner and was named a consensus first-team All-American during his junior year at Louisiana State in 2018. He hopes for this to be just the beginning of the awards to stock in his trophy case; could Defensive Rookie of the year be the next award in his case?

Currently White has the fourth-best odds in Las Vegas to win the award, behind only Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers, Quinnen Williams of the New York Jets, and Josh Allen of the Jacksonville Jaguars. In the division, White tops the likes of Carolina Panthers’ first round pick Brian Burns and the New Orleans Saints’ Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.

Starting from day-one, White will have plenty of opportunity to stuff the stat sheet for the Buccaneers’ defense as a rookie. Given his prowess against the run and the pass, White could potentially record a number of passes defended and interceptions in addition to tackles for loss and solo tackles.

The Buccaneers used a top-five pick on White to play him right away and give them instant gratification. White is a good bet to put together a productive rookie year and position himself well to win Defensive Rookie of the Year.

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