Devin White

LB·

Detroit Lions

UNDERPAIDTier 4Round 1, pick 5 in 2019

Updated November 13, 2026

91.7

Model Score

Up from 84.5 last year

Trade value ·a 6th

Player comps Be the Lions GM →

Devin White is an LB for the Detroit Lions on a deal paying $1.3M a year through 2026, a $707K cap hit in 2026 (updated November 13, 2026).

Model Score by season

A career-high 91.7 this season, up from 84.5.

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

STM Take

A boom-or-bust linebacker chasing another spike.

The case for

Super Bowl LV ring plus 2020 Pro Bowl plus 2023 tier 1 (#4) STTM peak plus LSU 2018 Butkus Award establishes elite career résumé.
5th overall draft pedigree plus seven years of NFL survival gives him real veteran market value.

The worry

Career STTM volatility (tier 2 in 2020, tier 7 in 2021, tier 5 in 2022, tier 1 in 2023, tier 4 in 2025) confirms the ceiling is highly team-fit and scheme dependent.
Multi-team late-career chapter plus the Raiders' broader defensive identity instability puts continued White production partly outside his control.

What to watch: Whether White returns to tier 3 (top 25) in 2026 with the Raiders, the threshold for confirming the 2023 ceiling can be recaptured.

Full take and bio

Super Bowl LV ring plus 2020 Pro Bowl plus the 2023 tier 1 (#4) STTM peak puts White in the rare bust-with-elite-spike LB class. The LSU 2018 Butkus Award plus the 5th overall draft slot established the highest expectations of his class. The 2026 question is whether White returns to tier 2-3 territory with the Raiders or whether the structural mid-career instability returns.

White came out of LSU as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 1st-round pick (5th overall) in 2019 after winning the 2018 Butkus Award. He won Super Bowl LV with the Buccaneers plus the 2019 LSU CFP National Championship and made the 2020 Pro Bowl. He has bounced through the Buccaneers, Eagles, Texans, and now Raiders across seven NFL seasons. His STTM career runs tier 2 (#16) in 2020, tier 7 (#53) in 2021, tier 5 (#39) in 2022, tier 1 (#4) peak in 2023, and tier 4 (#28) in 2025.

Comps

Coming out: Duke Riley, Roquan Smith, Reuben Foster.

Of his 20 closest coming out: 4 stars, 4 starters, 9 backups, 3 didn't stick.

Devin White Injury StatusIR

Devin White is listed on injured reserve (Forearm), reported Oct 17, with a return date of Nov 22. Source: the official NFL injury report, refreshed daily.

Draft & College

Round 1, pick 5 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019, out of LSU (SEC). He went about where consensus had him.

Taken#5

Consensus board6th

Our college model#8 LB

In college, 2016-2018, 38 games: 286 tackles, 29 TFL, 8.5 sacks, 1 INT. (partial record) Coming out: 4.42s 40 yd, 22 reps bench, 39.5" vertical, 118" broad, 7.07s 3-cone, 4.17s shuttle.

What this pick usually becomes. Of the 100 players taken as a top-10 pick between 2012 and 2021, 82% earned a second contract and 75% became starters. The median one started 81 career games.