Devin White’s LSU career is over. The junior from Springhill, Louisiana, announced he is forgoing his senior season and entering the 2019 NFL draft.
His announcement is no surprise due to the fact he was a consensus top-10 player heading into the 2019 NFL draft. Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller has the 6-foot-1, 240-pound, linebacker ranked as the No. 4 overall prospect, while ESPN had him at No. 3.
There was an underlying thought leading up to White’s announcement that he may stay for his senior year. He originally hinted at returning for his senior season in the days following LSU’s 29-0 loss to Alabama on Nov. 3.
“It’d be very disappointing [to finish career against Alabama 0-3],” he said on Nov. 5. “I had the same thing in high school with my rival team Haynesville. They beat me every year, but my senior year, we beat them by over 21. I’m just going to let you put that in your head.
“Like I said, my senior year everything changed. More leadership, more guys that have been in the system longer. Everybody knew what to expect. There weren’t any underclassmen, everybody was upperclassmen, and we got the job done.”
However, the pull to the NFL was too great for White to resist, despite having LSU fans chanting “one more year,” when White was shown on the jumbotron during LSU’s basketball game against Alabama on Tuesday.
In 2018, White led the Southeastern Conference with 123 total tackles and added 12 tackles for a loss and 3 sacks in 13 games. For his efforts he was honored as first-team All-American and All-SEC, and he became the first LSU player to be given the Dick Butkus Award, which has been awarded to the best linebacker in college football since 1985.
White ends his time at LSU with 286 career tackles, 29 tackles for a loss and 8.5 sacks.