Ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills made headlines when general manager Brandon Beane signed cornerback Tre’Davious White to a one-year contract. The former All-Pro is one of Bills Mafia’s favorite players — the first player drafted by head coach Sean McDermott back in 2017.
White has been through a lot in eight NFL seasons — including two back-to-back devastating lower body injuries — but he’s back to prove that the Tre’ White Goalie Academy is still going strong in year nine. Of course White needs no introduction, but it is worth wondering what exactly we might be able to expect from him in 2025. Is he still playing at a starting level, and will he push to do so against the likes of rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston?
Let’s jump right in with some film of White facing a familiar opponent, and where the stakes couldn’t have been much higher or White’s play time any more recent.
Play 1 — Tre’Davious White’s reaction time
The elephant in the room with White is the reason for his split with the Bills in the first place. Have injuries robbed him of his ability to play at a high level? When the body can’t do what it used to, sometimes the mind can help you keep up.
Right out of the gate with this play we see good signs of White’s ability to react still being at a high level. About two frames after we see physical movements that indicate deceleration; White is reacting in kind.
Play 2 — A little bit of everything
I know I close the caption here surmising that White might have been cooked if Allen had more time, but let’s be clear that we’re talking several seconds before making the decision and tossing a pass very deep. In other words, White held up pretty well thanks to some hand fighting and good shadowing.
Play 3 — Defensive Pass Interference?
With this play, there was some chatter on whether it was offensive or defensive pass interference. In my postgame recap, I leaned toward defensive pass interference for what it’s worth, but watching this full speed I can see both sides of the fence.
That said, the case for White’s DPI is that he was restricting the arm of Keon Coleman. If a player is restricting the arm of the receiver, that often means he’s in the right spot. This is tight coverage from White and he had his head around to track the ball to boot.
Play 4 — Routine
This play is pretty routine and Tre’Davious White was pretty routine on it. That’s not a bad thing. You want to see a player handle the routine things routinely.
Play 5 — Disruptor
I’ll keep this one pretty short. White was in good position again. There’s a case to be made of some contact that shouldn’t be happening, but White was the reason this is incomplete.
The Final Straw
There’d be no question about his ability to play if it were the Tre’Davious White we remember from his peak years with the Buffalo Bills. Injuries do seem to have added up though, and White was never the most athletic player on the field to begin with. There’s some hope that another offseason of conditioning will help him recover a bit of athleticism, but we can’t do much with hope.
White’s cerebral nature of play was a big reason for his success with the Bills and he seems to have retained that. White should minimally be reasonable depth or even a nice floor at the position should our hopes bear fruit — and Maxwell Hairston need more time to settle in to his rookie season. No matter what though, we can look forward to shenanigans once again.