Following an impressive rookie campaign that saw Tre’Davious White lead all NFL defensive rookies with 1,052 snaps in 2017, rank second in interceptions (four), and third in pass breakups (11), expectations are sky-high for White’s second season with the Buffalo Bills.
On Tuesday, second-year head coach Sean McDermott told members of the media that White has been hard at work improving his craft, not content with an accomplished rookie season that saw Pro Football Focus honor him as its Rookie of the Year.
“What you see, at least in my opinion, kind of in a sophomore year, if you will… is players who had success in their rookie season, tend to take the ‘relaxation syndrome,’ particularly in the offseason between their freshman and sophomore years,” McDermott said of White, selected 27th overall out of Louisiana State University in 2017, the first pick of McDermott’s tenure in Buffalo.
But complacency hasn’t been a problem so far through the offseason for White, who compiled 69 tackles with 18 passes defended en route to a second-place finish in voting for the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year.
“Tre’Davious has been the opposite. The way he has prepared himself, he came back and he’s in shape when he came back to camp this year. He’s just picked up really where he left off in January. Not only on the field but what he’s doing off the field. So I’ve been very pleased with the work he’s put in to this point,” McDermott said.
According to Pro Football Focus, White was the 21st-best player in the league after allowing just 50.6 percent of passes thrown his way to be caught in the regular season. His overall grade of 92.0 was the highest by a rookie cornerback since the 2006 season.
Those successes from a year ago could cause some players to rest on their laurels, but not White, who along with free agent signee Vontae Davis should give the Bills a formidable 1-2 combination at cornerback in 2018.