• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar

San Francisco Sports Today

San Francisco Sports News Continuously Updated

  • Baseball
    • A’s
    • Giants
  • Football
    • 49’ers
    • Raiders
  • Basketball
    • Kings
    • Warriers
  • Sharks
  • Earthquakes
  • Colleges
    • San Jose State
    • Stanford
    • University of California, Berkeley

Tape Don’t Lie: Javin White will be missed

August 26, 2021 by Silver And Black Pride

NFL: AUG 21 Preseason - Raiders at Rams
Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

An explanation of White’s pass break-ups

A story that began to take shape as the preseason wore on was the emergence of Javin White as a potential backup weakside linebacker and matchup coverage piece for the Las Vegas Raiders defense.

White was undrafted out of University of Las Vegas and played high school football at McClymonds High School, so he has ties to both Las Vegas and Oakland. He entered the NFL as a converted linebacker from safety, a move that usually takes players at least one season of adding bulk and learning the NFL game in the trenches to acclimatize themselves. White hit the ground running in his second NFL season and was consistently showing up in coverage for the Raiders defense.

White has quietly put together a small resume of “teach tape” in various capacities as a coverage linebacker this pre-season. Of course the level of competition is a step down from the regular season, but it was looking as though he was ready for that jump given the way he was playing prior to being carted off the field with a knee injury late in the Rams game.

Impressive transition from Javin White in coverage. Wk Hook/Curl player has to carry 3 vertical. When the receivers tries to go under, White pivots off back foot and drives off front foot. DB background shows. pic.twitter.com/7fIYBmzL4C

— BD Williams (@BDWilliams18) August 18, 2021

In the above clip, White is the weak side hook/curl defender. The way modern defenses handle the possibility of three vertical routes on one side of the formation is asking the weak hook/curl defender to “carry” the third receiver vertical.

White does just that in this rep. But the wrinkle on the offensive side of the ball is for the receiver to convert his vertical route into a crossing route when he identifies the LB dropping deep. White slams on the breaks and make a clean transition to pivot 90 degrees without losing speed and make a pass break-up. This isn’t the easiest coverage to execute, but White accomplished it albeit against back-up players.

This is awesome coverage by Javin White on slot receiver JJ Koski

Rams line up in empty to isolate Koski on a LB running a choice route but White gets his hands on him and shows some great COD, stays in Koski’s hip pocket on the in-cut, and breaks up the pass.

Hope White is OK pic.twitter.com/8ozPKLrdsj

— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) August 22, 2021

Early in the Rams game White began to really take off. The above play he is isolated against a wide-receiver when the Rams come out in an empty backfield. Before you start asking “why is a linebacker on a wide receiver?” please understand this in the NFL and it happens every week. The key to performing in this situation is leaning on technique and playing the correct leverage.

The Raiders are playing “palms” coverage to White’s side of the formation. This means he will have help against out-breaking routes from the cornerback and vertical routes from the safety. All White needs to do here is deny any inside breaking routes. Notice his body positioning is inside leverage and he jams the receiver as soon as he starts to cut inside. This is exactly how you play it, and why it is possible for a linebacker to defend a WR in coverage: because if it’s zone or zone-match, he doesn’t need to defend the entire route tree. White finishes the play with a pass-breakup. It arguably could have been an interception, but the technique and change of direction ability is the most important part here.

Javin White ROBOTs off the back and falls back under the over route. He’s going to force the front office to make a tough decision soon. pic.twitter.com/TfFmGgcyWB

— BD Williams (@BDWilliams18) August 22, 2021

White wasn’t finished, he capped off his performance with a spectacular pass break-up in zone coverage against the type of route that kills this particular coverage call. The defense is in a zone blitz and there are 3 underneath defenders while the outside corners are locked in man. White’s responsibility here is to take away the hot route of number 2 to his side. The call is a blitz so the coverage is designed to take away the quick throws.

The Rams however have a great counter in the form of play-action and max protection. Combination of which slows down the pass rush. Nevin Lawson is in a tough spot because he’s playing a technique where the ball needs to come out quick but now that the quarterback has extra time, the crossing route has time to develop all the way on the opposite side of the field.

White’s man is the RB in this formation and when he identifies the back staying in to protect, White swivels his head to look for the deep over route coming his way. He puts his head down and takes the perfect angle to intersect where the receiver is headed. Again his background as a defensive back shows up because he plays through the hands and comes up with yet another pass break-up.

Conclusion

There is still hope that White returns this season. The Raiders have yet to place him on injured reserve and he has a buffer as long as Cory Littleton remains healthy the Raiders will have little need for his services. If he does come back, he will be a year ahead of Divine Deablo who made a similar position switch from safety to linebacker this off-season. White struggled last year and it is safe to assume so would Deablo, but White has already shown the game is slowing down for him and if healthy should be ahead on the depth chart. Raiders fans will have to wait and see the severity of the injury.

Filed Under: Raiders

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Upcoming Trade Deadline For A’s — Quiet Or Splashy?
  • 7/19 Gamethread: Giants @ Blue Jays
  • Sharks Have Reasons for Optimism & Pessimism Heading Into 2025-26
  • Gage’s return to Giants was a decade in the making
  • Winnipeg Jets sign forward Gabriel Vilardi to six-year, $45 million extension

Categories

  • 49'ers
  • A's
  • Earthquakes
  • Giants
  • Kings
  • Raiders
  • San Jose State
  • Sharks
  • Stanford
  • Uncategorized
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • Warriers

Archives

  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021

Our Partners

All Sports

  • San Francisco Chronicle
  • San Francisco Examiner
  • The Mercury News
  • 247 Sports
  • Bleacher Report
  • Forgotten 5
  • Golden Gate Sports
  • The Sports Fan Journal
  • The Spun
  • USA Today

Baseball

  • San Francisco Giants
  • Oakland A's
  • Last Word On Baseball - Oakland A's
  • Last Word On Baseball - San Francisco Giants
  • MLB Trade Rumors - A's
  • MLB Trade Rumors - Giants
  • White Cleat Beat
  • Around The Foghorn
  • Athletics Nation
  • McCovey Chronicles

Basketball

  • Golden State Warriors
  • Sacramento Kings
  • A Royal Pain
  • Amico Hoops - Kings
  • Amico Hoops - Warriors
  • Blue Man Hoop
  • Golden State Of Mind
  • Hoops Hype - Warriors
  • Hoops Hype - Kings
  • Hoops Rumors - Warriors
  • Hoops Rumors - Kings
  • Lets Go Warriors
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball - Golden State
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball - Sacramento
  • Pro Basketball Talk - Warriors
  • Pro Basketball Talk - Kings
  • Real GM - Warriors
  • Real GM - Kings
  • Sactown Royalty

Football

  • San Francisco 49ers
  • Las Vegas Raiders
  • 49ers Gab
  • Just Blog Baby
  • Last Word On Pro Football
  • NFL Trade Rumors - San Francisco 49ers
  • NFL Trade Rumors - Las Vegas Raiders
  • Niners Nation
  • Niner Noise
  • Niners Wire
  • Our Turf Football
  • Pro Football Rumors - 49ers
  • Pro Football Rumors - Raiders
  • Pro Football Talk - 49ers
  • Pro Football Talk - Raiders
  • Raiders Wire
  • Silver And Black Pride
  • Total 49ers

Hockey

  • Blades Of Teal
  • Fear The Fin
  • Last Word On Hockey
  • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Talk
  • The Hockey Writers

Soccer

  • Center Line Soccer
  • Last Word on Soccer
  • MLS Multiplex

College

  • Busting Brackets
  • California Golden Blogs
  • College Sports Madness
  • College Football News
  • Rule Of Tree
  • Saturday Blitz
  • The Daily Californian
  • The Stanford Daily
  • Zags Blog

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in