Dallas Cowboys 2017 Draft: Five Cornerback Prospects

Tre’Davious White, DB – LSU

Strengths

Tre’Davious White has good length for the corner back position and long arms to boot.  He uses his long arms very well in press coverage, jamming wide receivers and forcing them in the direction of his choosing.  He also makes good use of that arm length to get his hands in the mix and break up a lot of passes.

White is one of the more agile corners in the 2017 draft.  He is very light on his feet and he moves them effortlessly.  His hips are very loose and he changes direction with smooth transitions.  He also hits his highest gear quickly after turning.  His resume is bolstered by the fact that he is also a very capable punt returner.

Weaknesses

The LSU corner doesn’t appear as comfortable when he is not in press coverage for a couple reasons.  White doesn’t appear confident in his route reading and recognition ability, which affects his reaction time.  Plus it appears as though he isn’t very instinctual, which would also slow his response to a wide receiver.  Considering White fields punts his interception numbers, relative to the amounts of passes he gets his hands on, are alarmingly low.

Tre’Davious isn’t the most willing tackler either, and that may be putting it lightly.  There are times were it seems that unless the ball carrier is in his face he would rather avoid getting in on the action.  A term used often when discussing White is “finesse player”.

Outlook for the Dallas Cowboys

I would bet money that White wont be taken in the first round, and he shouldn’t be.  Dallas shouldn’t even consider him unless he falls to their third pick; there will be better value elsewhere in the first two rounds.

A defensive back that avoids getting physical and lacks turnover production isn’t appealing.  He will be solid in the right scheme, but will often be a liability I believe.  Besides the Cowboys have suffered enough with secondary players that can’t tackle or catch.