Football: UL’s White built for NFL success

Former UL cornerback Melvin White, shown here running drills during his Pro Day, is hoping to continue the program’s defensive back exodus into the NFL ranks. / Leslie Westbrook/The Advertiser

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser

He has the build, and has been working for it to be even better since UL’s 2012 season ended with a New Orleans Bowl win over East Carolina last December.

The result has been a transformed upper body, one that Ragin’ Cajuns cornerback Melvin White will help carry him to the NFL.

“This whole time during the break,” White said during UL’s Pro Day late last month, “that’s what I’ve been working on – not only play like an NFL player, but also look like one.”

The question now is if White has game to go with the body – and enough of it to hear his named called in the NFL Draft that opens with first-round picks tonight, continues with second- and third-round selections on Friday night and concludes with rounds four-through-seven on Saturday.

“He’s tall, he runs well,” Cajuns head coach Mark Hudspeth said. “I think for (NFL scouts), it’s just how productive do they think he can be.”

But that’s just one issue.

Another is at what position that game would be best-suited.

One website, Optimumscouting.com, has White as the draft’s No. 30 cornerback, one spot behind LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu.

The Brazosport (Texas) High product from Freeport, Texas, played cornerback throughout his career at UL, and he worked out as one at Pro Day.

But according to former Dallas Cowboys player personnel vice president Gil Brandt, writing for NFL.com, his audition in front of the scouts in late March came “with a notation that his best position is probably safety.”

Two seasons ago, White played cornerback opposite Bill Bentley, who was selected by the Detroit Lions in the third round of last year’s draft.

There were expectations of him going as high as Bentley, if not higher, going into last season.

But some suggest his stock may have dropped during a 60-tackle year with no interceptions in 2013, and mixed reviews from NFL talent judges made it uncertain just when, if it all, he’ll go.

On one hand, according to NFL.com during the season, “While White might not have Bentley’s sub 4.44 speed, his legitimate six-foot-plus build and physicality makes him an effective zone corner for the Ragin’ Cajuns – and an intriguing prospect for teams looking for length on the outside, or even at free safety.”

On the other, ESPN.com – whose draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. calls White “a versatile kid” – reports that while eh “possesses an ideal height, length and weight combination for the position,” he also “does not appear to have great playmaking instincts.”

Yet White has had at least one post-Pro Day private work with an NFL team, the Carolina Panthers, and he has spoken with at least a couple others.

Listed at 6-foot-3 and 191 pounds by the Cajuns, White actually measured 203 pounds and a quarter-inch over 6-1 at Pro Day. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.59 and 4.62 seconds, and improved his broad jump to 10-foot-2.

If that, his body of work (including an appearance in the East-West Shrine Game), and his new-look frame all are enough to warrant an NFL team spending a pick on him, even White himself is not certain.

“If it happens,” he said, “it happens.”