Keion White’s Brand Of Defense Lined Up For The New England Patriots In The Second Round

Keion White did not recall having any contact with the New England Patriots leading up to the 2023 NFL draft.

But the organization did have reason to call him.

The 24-year-old’s straightforward brand of defense broke through at Georgia Tech after a collegiate career that began on offense at Old Dominion. It lined up at No. 46 overall, too, following invites to Mobile for the Reese’s Senior Bowl, Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine and then Kansas City for the night of the first round.

He had returned to Atlanta by the night of the second and third rounds.

“They’re getting somebody that’s willing to improve their game,” White told reporters during his introductory Patriots conference call. “And I feel like that’s all I can ask for, for myself, is somebody who’s constantly wanting to get better every day. Whether it be practice, whether it be film, whether it be taking notes, getting better than that. So I just want to get better in every aspect of the game and just become more knowledgeable in every way possible.”

A former tight end who caught 11 passes for 124 yards as a redshirt freshman at Old Dominion, White converted to defensive end as a redshirt sophomore. Second-team All-Conference USA honors were the result after he tied a school record with 19 tackles for loss to go with 3.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, one interception and one blocked kick.

When the 2020 Monarchs season was canceled due to Covid-19, White entered the transfer portal.

“There’s still so much stuff I have to learn from technique-wise, from just the game-wise, everything,” White said of playing on the other side of the ball. “The transition was for the best. It got me to this point now. But I’m still working, I’m still improving because I feel like we all are. No matter if you’re an All-Pro player or a rookie, we’re all improving day by day. Because when you’re not improving, you’re getting worse.”

White arrived at Georgia Tech in 2021 and an offseason ankle injury limited him to four appearances that fall under then-head coach Geoff Collins. Yet his final year of eligibility brought 12 starts as he led the Yellow Jackets with 7.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss through a total of 54 stops.

New England had kept an eye out, whether or not the third-team All-ACC selection knew it.

“Keion’s a guy that really came on this year at Tech,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said during his mid-draft video conference last Friday. “You know, he was injured last year, had a pretty productive career at Old Dominion then transferred in and missed part of the season last year. But had a really good year this year in ‘22, even though there was some head-coaching change and all that in midseason.”

The Patriots were among the clubs in attendance for White’s pro day in March. A tweaked hamstring on his second 40-yard dash held him out of drills after being clocked in 4.79 seconds.

“We’ve had interaction with him,” Belichick confirmed. “I think when you get so many scouts like the college players do, it’s hard to keep track of them all. But we had plenty of interaction, Coach Collins and his staff down there. We have familiarity with the Tech staff, as well. Maybe we know him better than he knows us. But we’ll get to know each other soon.”

The length at 6-foot-5 with 34-inch arms fits New England’s mold. So does the strength at 285 pounds with 30 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press. And there’s the athleticism to pair those traits with a 34-inch vertical and 9-foot-9 broad jump.

From the interior to the exterior, White projects to have a hand from first down through third down. He was charted by Pro Football Focus for 108 snaps over the tackle, 499 snaps outside the tackle and 44 snaps in the B-gap during his Georgia Tech tenure.

Built like a 3-4 defensive end with the power to set the edge as one, comparisons can be drawn to another throwback type in Patriots captain Deatrich Wise Jr. But the rookie’s scheme flexibility also can provide a rotation behind outside linebackers Matthew Judon and Josh Uche, who both enter contract years having combined for 27 sacks last campaign.

“They do a really good job of developing their players,” added White. “So being a part of that, knowing that I have an incredible amount of things I can improve on and learn for the game of football, I feel like there’s no better system I can go into.”