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To Be a First Round Pick, Keion White Needs to Dominate the Combine

The former Georgia Tech defensive lineman stood out in 2022 - he'll need to do the same at the NFL combine.

Rohan Raman

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Alongside his former teammate, linebacker Charlie Thomas, former Georgia Tech defensive end Keion White is set to go through drills at the 2023 NFL combine. He'll be meeting with multiple teams throughout the week, all of which are interested in adding him to their defensive line in the upcoming NFL Draft.

They'll likely have to do so with a premium pick. 

NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah, in his second mock draft of the year, predicted White would go to the Dallas Cowboys in the first round at 26th overall. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr, a long-time draft analyst, also sees White as a first-round player and his colleague Matt Miller had this to say about White:

"More than half a dozen of the scouts I polled at the Senior Bowl say he's the top-ranked prospect in Mobile this week. The buzz around White is that he'll be a first-round pick, with one scout for a playoff team even wondering if he'd still be available when it selects in the later parts of Round 1."

Keion White
White lines up in the National vs American game at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL / Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia Tech has not had a first-round pick since having both Demaryius Thomas and Derrick Morgan were selected in 2010 but he needs to show out in his drills on Thursday. Why?

White's 7.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss certainly stood out for the Jackets in 2022. Per Pro Football Focus, he also recorded a solid 72.6 overall grade for his pass rush and run defense. However, the national media wasn't going to give White the time of day until he was in a position with a little more attention than Tech games. 

That position turned out to be the Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL.

Throughout the event, White showed excellent power, speed, and bend against some of the most refined college players in the country. Even though his plan of attack wasn't always there, the physical skill that he demonstrates is rare. 

As an example, take this rep against former Michigan tackle Ryan Hayes. 

Starting from an outside alignment, White's hands shoot into Hayes's pads as he gets skinny coming around the bend. Hayes simply isn't fast enough in his slide to catch up to White and establish leverage. White then just takes him for a ride with a vicious rip move and gets a pressure that forces the QB to step up. This is just a taste of the special potential that he has. 

 Sometimes, he can just out-muscle his opponent. Going up against Hayes again, he dumped him on his back with a simple bull rush. 

However, to convince NFL scouts he's worthy of a first-round grade, he needs to display some elite testing numbers. 

Let's look at last year's draft - and its first-round edges - as an example. Both Travon Walker and Aidan Hutchinson played on larger stages, had better traits, and had better production. Ditto Kayvon Thibodeaux. If White makes it into the first round, his path will likely be closer to that of George Karlaftis or Jermaine Johnson II. 

Johnson had 11.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss at FSU, which is better than White's numbers. However, the gap between his skillset and White's isn't all too large. What propelled Johnson to the first round was his combine performance. He had the second-best athletic score of any edge rusher at the combine last year and a relative athletic score of 9.86 out of 10.00. This metric, devised by Kent Lee Platte, compares players to other draft prospects at their position to provide some context to their numbers. 

Elite size and great speed made up for Johnson's relatively mediocre explosiveness - I'd expect White to best Johnson in the size department, considering he's 6'5 and 280 lbs. That physical profile is the source of a lot of debate among league scouts, who see White as someone who can move inside in more of a defensive tackle type of role or stay out on the edge. One of White's best traits is his first step, which could reflect in a similarly good explosion grade. 

Karlaftis, just like White, was also known for his great first step and capacity for power. 

However, Karlaftis was a bit more refined with his power and variety of different moves. White currently doesn't have the same technique level that Karlaftis had, but he's also newer to the position. If he can test like Karlaftis or Johnson, there's a very good chance that a coach will talk themselves into a first-round investment. 

In terms of drills to watch out for, White's 10-yard split, three-cone drill and short shuttle time will be especially important. 

His 10-yard split is a good measure of explosiveness and short-area quickness while his three-cone time is a good predictor of bend capacity. The short shuttle is the main indicator of agility, which hints at how White will be able to move against stronger offensive linemen and win with his body control rather than pure strength. 

Tech fans should be watching White's performance with bated breath. He profiles as a versatile, powerful defensive lineman that could serve as the best NFL representative of GT football since Calvin Johnson. Hearing his name called early in April would be a special moment for both the player and the program. 

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Rohan Raman
ROHAN RAMAN

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