White Blazes Unique Trail from Tight End to Defensive Stud to Predraft Visit

Georgia Tech’s powerful and potential-packed Keion White had a predraft visit with the Green Bay Packers.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Apr 17, 2023 9:53 AM EDT

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Keion White arrived at Old Dominion as a tight end with no real NFL dreams.

“I was not recruited at all coming out of high school. When I got to go to college, I just planned on working in the workforce and being like one of y'all, just a normal person,” he said at the Scouting Combine.

Six years later – six “long as (excrement) years” later, to use his phrase – he’s one of the top edge-rusher prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft. A source confirmed a report that White had a predraft visit with the Green Bay Packers over the weekend.

White’s story is incredibly unique. At ODU, he redshirted in 2017 and caught 11 passes in 2018. During the spring between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, he moved to defense. During that debut season, he had a whopping 19 tackles for losses.

When COVID canceled ODU’s 2020 season, he transferred to Georgia Tech. After sitting out that season, he missed most of the 2021 season due to an ankle injury sustained playing basketball.

“It was a freak accident,” White recalled. “I jumped up in the air. I came down, and there was a T-shirt on the baseline. I slipped on the T-shirt into the wall. My ankle went sideways. I actually put it back in place myself right there, because I thought it was just dislocated. 'OK, it's dislocated, just put it back.' And it was more than dislocated, for sure.”

Much more than dislocated. To fix the injury required 14 screws, a plate and a tightrope. White was advised to sit out the 2021 season but instead returned for the final four games at far less than 100 percent.

“I needed to get on the field and (struggle) so I could get better,” he told The Atlanta Journal Constitution at the Senior Bowl. “I needed to (struggle). It pushed me to work more.”

Back to full strength in 2022, he burst onto the scene with a final season of 7.5 sacks and 14 tackles for losses to earn third-team all-ACC.

His knowledge of offense helps him on defense.

“As a tight end, you practically have to be a second quarterback,” he said at the Combine. “So, you know route concepts and blocking schemes. So, taking that and going to defense, one, it made defense seem way easier, because all defense seems like just play tight/go left/go right/go straight. But it makes you understand how they want to block you and the things they didn't want you to do. And I just did those. That really showed when I moved to defensive end.”

At 6-foot-4 7/8 and 285 pounds with 34-inch arms, he’s a physical specimen. He is strong (30 reps on the 225-pound bench press), explosive (34-inch vertical) and athletic (4.76 in the 40).

“My game is all about being physical, playing with physicality and power. And just being a dominator out there,” he said at the Senior Bowl.

White played all across the defensive line in college. That would be his role for the Packers, with the athleticism to play as a big outside linebacker but the strength to move inside on passing downs. Think of the old “elephant” position manned by Julius Peppers.

White might not be an option at No. 15 but he certainly would be if he were to last to Green Bay’s spot at No. 45. Or, they could maneuver somewhere between those picks.

“For me, I feel like at this point, I’m playing with house money,” White said after Tech’s pro day. “First round, second round, third round, I don’t care. Just to have the opportunity because I was so close to not playing college football is big for me. So, wherever I get drafted, I’m not going to be one of those guys who’s disappointed because I fell or because I didn’t get drafted where everybody else thought I was.”