Undrafted UNLV LB Javin White a ‘pleasant surprise’ for Raiders
It’s like Javin White was meant to be a Raider. He grew up in Oakland and then attended UNLV for college. After the draft, his choice of where to sign was clear. But signing to a team that has been in his backyard in each phase of his life is one thing. Making the team is another.
Thus far, the undrafted rookie linebacker is well on his way to doing that.
First off, he survived the team’s cut down from 90 to 80 players in which half the undrafted free agent class was let go. Then unprompted, head coach Jon Gruden praised White.
While speaking of the team’s starting linebackers Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski, Gruden brought up White, saying “there’s a young kid out of Las Vegas, Nevada, a young undrafted free agent, Javin White, who is doing some good things as well.”
Lest you should think this was just Gruden promoting his young local product, Paul Guenther kicked the praise up a notch Thursday.
“White has been a pleasant surprise,” Guenther said from training camp. “This guy…we made a living in Cincinnati getting undrafted linebackers to come in and be a big part of what we do. Dan Skuta, Vinny Rey, Vontaze Burfict, Emmanuel Lamur, the list goes on. And this guy, to me, is as good a prospect from a college free agent that I’ve seen in a long time. He communicates, he can run, he’s really understanding the defense, and again, once he gets the pads on and he gets in there in the briar patch, we’ll see how he can do.”
Right now one of the few spots up for grabs on this team in the third linebacker spot. The team will spend much of its time in nickel, which would typically utilize just two linebackers. But not all the time. And those times they aren’t in nickel, that third linebacker is crucial. Often times it’s a starting position.
The Raiders drafted Tanner Muse out of Clemson in the third round, but he is a former safety who will take some time to acclimate to the linebacker position in the NFL. That means the top contenders for that third linebacker spot are Nicholas Morrow and Javin White.
