Rising star
To say that Tre’Davious White‘s rookie season was a success would be a massive understatement. The Bills were ridiculed for passing on the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Reuben Foster in favor trading down to the bottom of the first round to fortuitously pluck the LSU product. Much like Dawkins, Bills brass became smitten with White at the Senior Bowl because of his lateral quickness on the field and his infectious positivity off of it.
With Stephon Gilmore deciding to go to the dark side and sign a lucrative deal with the perennial divisional power New England Patriots, a starting cornerback spot was very much up for grabs. With an entirely new defensive backfield in Buffalo, White would assuredly need some time to gel with his new secondary mates. Not so much.
White proceeded to become a day one starter and firmly held down the fort throughout the remainder of the season. Recently an area of weakness, the rookie was instrumental in making Buffalo’s secondary undeniably the team’s main area of strength. As the season progressed, “Tre Day” blossomed into the shutdown corner that the organization has been void of for the longest time. Had it not been for Marshon Lattimore‘s equally stupendous freshman campaign, White would have likely taken home the league’s Rookie of the Year award.
Despite not taking home that particular piece of hardware, White’s stellar season did not go unnoticed. He received numerous accolades, highlighted by grading out as Pro Football Focus’ highest ranked rookie overall.
Tre'Davious White ends the regular season as our top rookie!https://t.co/gPG9BDy8TO pic.twitter.com/suArd7gTlL
— PFF (@PFF) January 3, 2018
Suffice it to say, White is not satisfied and wants more from both himself and the Bills secondary this season. “We want to have 20 picks between us,” White recently told The Athletic. “If each of us can get five, they’re not going to be able to hold us back. If we get 20 picks on the back end, we’ve got those dogs up front and those linebackers, we can easily get 30 takeaways. If you get 30 takeaways in this league, you have a chance of winning a lot of games.”
Considering that the Bills have made marked improvements to their pass rush and middle linebacker position in the off season, White’s caliber of play and statistics will likely continue to ascend. A scary thought for opposing offenses.