Gutierrez: Devin White finds new life and swagger in the Silver and Black

Oct 17, 2025 at 09:35 AM

Paul Gutierrez

Raiders Columnist

Many of you (yes, present company included) may have mocked Devin White to the Raiders with the No. 4 pick of the 2019 draft…even as he actually went to Tampa Bay one selection later, and (grits teeth) won a Super Bowl for the Buccaneers in his second year in the league.

So White signing with the Raiders this offseason had Silver and Black-clad fans of that old sci-fi show "Quantum Leap" reciting its main character Sam Beckett's mantra of making right, what once went wrong.

And with the way White has played thus far - his 48 tackles lead the team and, with six tackles for loss, he is one of just eight players in the NFL with 40-plus tackles and 5-plus tackles for loss - you would have thought Beckett himself leapt into the linebacker to author his Raiders renaissance.

The answer, though, has nothing to do with any make believe quantum leap accelerators. It's actually much more simple. A continually maturing White has stepped into a conscious decision to be consistent - win, lose or draw - and he leaves notes around his house and in his playbook to remind him of such.

"I just try to stay cool, calm and collected," White told me on the recent episode of the "Upon Further Review" podcast. "At the end of the day, you've got to make the play when it's presented to you and you can't dwell on the past. One thing about me, it can be bad and you can get in your own head, or it can be good and you can stay in the moment too long. So I try to just stay out of it and just live for right now.

"If you're consistent, you'll be rewarded."

It's a message - one rooted in taking advantage of every opportunity - he spreads not only to the Raiders linebacker room and defense, but throughout the entire roster. And the Raiders, even with a less-than-expected 2-4 start, are loving the now with White an eager, optimistic and, yes, consistent playmaker.

"I've got a lot of respect for him," said second-year linebacker Tommy Eichenberg. "Love the way he plays. Love the way he leads the room. Overall, just a really good teammate.

"It's definitely something I'm trying to incorporate into my game. He's just got a lot of energy and it's awesome playing next to him. … He never talks about anything he's ever done. Which is awesome."

Not even his game-sealing end zone interception of Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LV, which gave future Raiders minority owner Tom Brady his seventh ring?

Eichenberg shook his head.

"Every day he just comes to practice and works," Eichenberg said of White. "And I try to push him, he tries to push me."

Optimistic? Sure, that was White talking about how the Raiders could go on a winning streak…in the wake of the listless 40-6 loss at the Colts.

And yes, that was White who followed that seemingly whistling-by-the-graveyard prediction with a nine-tackle, strip-sack, interception showing against the Titans in the Raiders' 20-10 win that ended their four-game losing streak. In fact, White is just the third Raiders player since 1999 to have a sack, forced fumble and an INT in a single game, along with Khalil Mack (2016) and Trace Armstrong (2002).

White, though, grades himself on his effort on every play and on his missed assignments and missed tackles.

Against the Titans, he said he missed tackles because he wasn't "trusting" his leverage. He shares his postgame notes with teammates and his mother, he said, and, when appropriate, celebrates his personal highlights with his 5-year-old son.

Yeah, White is having fun playing football again, and it's showing. But it wasn't that long ago when he was lost. Injuries took their toll in a contract year while his father, with whom he had just re-established a relationship, passed away just before the Buccaneers played the Seahawks (with Pete Carroll as coach and Geno Smith at quarterback) in Europe in 2022.

"I slept on a 12-hour flight to Germany, didn't wake up," he said. "Just under my pillow, I had a cover over my head. Just crying. I couldn't eat. Got to the hotel and was throwing up. Just sad, bruh. Just didn't know what to think. Didn't know nothing.

"But I knew my brothers was my peace, and football was my peace so that's how I was able to go out there and play."

In the Buccaneers' 21-16 victory, which Brady called "one of the great football experiences" of his career, White had nine tackles, with two sacks and three QB hits.

Meanwhile, White has faced Mahomes and the Chiefs two other times and in three games he has a combined 35 tackles and the INT.

This will be his first visit to Arrowhead Stadium, though.

"We've got a really good defense," White said. "And we can play some really good ball. We've been facing a lot of adversity this season, with turnovers or special teams, stuff not going our way and being put in a lot of bad spots."

But, he said, he's stayed positive throughout, and with the Chiefs on the horizon, well…

"I think the No. 1 thing that gets me going is they've been a consistent, great team in the NFL," White said. "If you're a good competitor, you're a great competitor, you want to play the best. Whatever Mahomes is under, he's always able to bring it.

"I mean, it's my job, as the quarterback of this defense, to bring it, too. On the field, I show no mercy. I like my guys over them any time … and if we come in there and we do what we're supposed to do, I think we'll be happy with what we can do against them."

Kinda like making right, what once went wrong.

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Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Alex Bachman (81) during practice at Intermountain Health Performance Center.