Tre White has been nothing short of lockdown throughout his career thus far. However, the torn ACL sustained on Thanksgiving of last season ended his season. Will White be able to continue his dominance for the game’s top-rated defense when he rejoins the team?
The Injury
With six minutes and twenty seconds left in the second quarter of a Thanksgiving premier game in New Orleans, Bills’ star cornerback Tre’Davious White was forced to make a quick stop on a dime which he wasn’t anticipating while guarding Saints’ Marquez Callaway, and perhaps after not feeling it immediately due to the adrenaline.
White quickly fell to the ground, called for the trainers, and came out of the game while showing an abundance of emotion, clearly knowing something wasn’t right. After the game, tests confirmed what Bills fans worldwide were dreading. White had torn his ACL, abruptly ending his season and perhaps altering the entirety of his career.
Tre The All Pro
White, who turned 27 in January, has already earned Pro Bowl honors twice, became an All Pro for the first time in 2019, and was the Defensive Rookie of the Year runner-up to Marshon Lattimore in 2017.
When you look at his career statistics, the numbers are quite blank however, and there is a very good reason for that. Since stepping foot in the league, White has made his money on forcing fumbles, making plays on the football, and essentially taking the wide receiver he is responsible for out of the game.
It has made opposing offensive coordinators and quarterbacks so weary that they decide not to throw in his general direction at all. Therefore, White may not rack up as many interceptions as a Trevon Diggs or a J.C. Jackson, because while teams throw at Diggs, White has a knack for blanketing his assignment throughout the game, making them irrelevant, which is his greatest strength.
Week One Hopes?
After his ACL injury, Tre’Davious had surgery in late December. While many believed the lockdown corner would begin the 2022-23 season on injured reserve, there have been reports indicating he has a chance to play in week one.
Specifically, Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News explained that there have been several players able to come back from a torn ACL in nine months or less. With that in mind, White would be able to rejoin his teammates for the season opener at SoFi Stadium on September 8.
“It’s not out of the question that White starts Week 1 in Los Angeles,” Gaughan wrote. “Former Broncos star cornerback Chris Harris tore an ACL in January 2014, recovered, and played all 16 games of the 2014 season. And he made the Pro Bowl. Rams’ receiver Cooper Kupp had ACL surgery on Nov. 15, 2018, and played all 16 games in 2019.”
Elite Status?
The real question however still looms. Will White be able to return to elite status when he is back, suiting up for the Buffalo Bills, whenever that may be? I believe the answer is yes, and a resounding yes at that. White has always been a player who plays with everything in front of him.
He doesn’t have the best speed for a cornerback, however, can hit with accuracy and efficiency, also utilizing his strong hands to break up passes and force fumbles. His pure ability to make plays with his mind and being two steps ahead of the receiver before the play even transpires practically gives it away that this injury won’t be something that he cannot recover from, from a playing standpoint.
Bills’ Pro Bowl safety Micah Hyde has said multiple times that he has complete confidence in White and has even stated via video conference “I’ll put every single penny I have on Tre’Davious coming back a better player,” “I’m that confident in him.”
White has been touted on multiple occasions as a top five cornerback in all of football, and even without playing a healthy portion of last season, he is still a top 100 player of 2021-22. The ability to knock the ball free from receivers and bump them at the line of scrimmage, essentially taking them out of the play before it starts is something not many defensive backs can do, and one that White has mastered in his young career.
While questions still emerge on whether the two-time Pro Bowl cornerback will play at the start of the season, there seems to be no debate on whether he will come back with more motivation and exhilaration than ever to re-establish himself in the top-rated overall defense from a season ago.
