Doing Some Film Evaluations...

[IrishInOntario]

A kid that jumps out to me as being criminally underrated is Drew White. Is he Jaylon Smith? Not even close. Am I crying for him to be ranked as a 4 star player. Nope. What Drew is, however, is a cross between James Onwualu and Danny Spond. He's going to make a nice SAM or WILL linebacker at 6'1, 235lbs. He has good instincts and is a fluid athlete. Would likely be rated higher had he not been injured last year... The type of kid you see starting on a highly ranked MSU defense, wondering where he came from...

In case people think this is an out-of-left-field offer from Notre Dame, Drew is a 2/3 star with offers from...

Notre Dame
Ohio State
LSU
Michigan
Stanford

It might alarm people that he doesn't have a Miami, FSU or Florida offer, but that doesn't surprise me at all. Drew doesn't generally fit the profile that those schools recruit.

This kid will play at ND and more importantly, make plays.

Watch the highlights. Kid loves contact and that film is vs top 3 high school competition nationally. Enjoy!

 

[Irish Duck]

I'm not a talent evaluator at all but it was almost 2:20 before I saw him have to fight through a block. I appreciate that he is quick and hits the ballcarrier hard but I would like to see if he can fight through blocks and still make the tackle.

 

[MTIrish98]

He must not have attended any camps.

With a cohort list like that, it is safe to say that the coaches saw something that the recruitniks did not.

 

[tkirish]

IIO good call. He definitely has a nose for the ball and good quickness. You know, he reminds me of Harrison Smith. He seems to have that type of body. Do you think he could be a strong safety? I mean 6'1 230 is great size for a safety. He obviously loves to hit. Maybe they will have enough linebackers. But I can see this kid getting on the field somewhere.

 

[IrishInOntario]

IIO good call. He definitely has a nose for the ball and good quickness. You know, he reminds me of Harrison Smith. He seems to have that type of body. Do you think he could be a strong safety? I mean 6'1 230 is great size for a safety. He obviously loves to hit. Maybe they will have enough linebackers. But I can see this kid getting on the field somewhere.

Doesn't have the athleticism to play safety in modern football. You need some real foot speed to cover off the hash with the way teams chuck it around today.

Harrison Smith is a lofty comparison. He was a 1st round draft pick and although he struggled early in his career, athleticism was never the problem. He was a freak athlete in many respects.... I could buy Drue Tranquil as a comparison, but even that is tough. I think Drue runs better (even on two bummed knees) and can flip his hips. I doubt White has that kind of fluidity.

For the record, I think Tranquil would be better suited at SAM in ND's defense. He would be a fairly elite backer in coverage and he's one of ND's best pressure guys. He plays in the low 220lb range as is and could be 230+ fairly easily if he wanted too. That's how I hope (and am pretty sure) White will be used. We need athletes at SAM in this defense. Tranquil, Bilal and White should all be there, IMO.

 

[stu4don]

Zeke Motta?