Defensive lineman tackles new challenge

Dewayne White has produced results after moving from end to tackle.

By ROGER MILLS
Published December 8, 2004

TAMPA - At various stages of the season, the Bucs lost defensive tackles Anthony McFarland, Ellis Wyms and Damian Gregory to season ending injuries.

The void forced the Bucs, who originally seemed to have a deep supply of defensive linemen, to be a bit creative.

So they turned to second-year end Dewayne White, who showed flashes as a rookie and major strides during his second training camp, and asked a lot.

Drafted in the second round to play end, the Bucs challenged White to move inside to the under tackle position. Now, with four games left in a season not yet playoff dead, the move is proving a resounding success.

"I'm trying to help the team and I'm happy that I'm getting the opportunity," White said. "I have to make plays and that's the simple way to look at it. You can make it more complicated, but I want to make it simple. ... I'm playing now, that's how I know I'm progressing. That's all I really want."

In each of his last six games, White has at least a half sack. He enters Sunday's game in San Diego with 51/2 sacks, and he had another Sunday against Michael Vick negated by a penalty.

"When you're only getting 10 snaps, it's hard to get a rhythm when you're going in for one snap here, come out for a series or two and then go back in for another series," White said. "You can't get a rhythm. But once you can play some consecutive series in a row, you get a chance to make plays and find your rhythm that way."

Playing time has obviously benefited him, but the Bucs likely would not have had the confidence in White had he not shown a gradual maturation in his conditioning and approach to the game.

"You kind of go back and watching (former end) Marcus Jones grow here, if a guy really likes football, really loves football, you can see it and you have to keep working with him," defensive line coach Rod Marinelli said. "Some guys get it fast, some guys a little slower. But if you like football it eventually happens for you. You can see his confidence growing right now. Hopefully, we can keep working him and getting him in situations to keep getting better."

White's turnaround cannot be understated. Woefully out of shape in the early months of his rookie career, he seemed a player a few seasons away from realizing his potential. The game was too fast, the requirements of the Bucs' one-gap scheme quite demanding.

"He's come a long way," defensive end Greg Spires said. "That first year in the league, you're just getting used to what's going on and learning the pace. Probably, everything was coming at him so fast and he got really tired. But that happens to all of us. We all go through that."

McFarland said White's development is a product of the time he has put in on the field and the film room.

"It starts with his maturity as a player," McFarland said. "Any time you continue to do the same thing over and over, you either get tired of it and quit or you get better at it. And in his case, he's gotten better. He's done a real good job of adjusting to the speed of the game at this level and doing the things he needs to do to continue to get better."

Sometimes, too, a player has to get it for himself.

"I think I understand how important each game is now, more so than a year ago at this time," White said. "I might not have seen it that way a year ago. It's the most important thing."

But the Bucs have not only asked White to become a major contributor, they have asked him to do so at a position he hadn't played since his college days at Louisville. The task of banging on the inside is Herculean for White. At 6 feet 2, 273 pounds, he is considerably smaller than most tackles, who average close to 300 pounds.

The Bucs think White's smaller frame and quicker feet give him an advantage.

"I think as he lifts and matures, he's going to be a big man," Marinelli said. "But he's very athletic and has great balance, instincts and awareness. He's got that stuff that rushers have. You can work some guys to death, but some guys just have a feel.

"I think playing inside highlights that. If you move guys, you want to move them closer to the ball because now you get more athletic inside. You don't want to move them (outside)."

The Bucs aren't abandoning White's place on the end, but they do admit that time spent playing on the inside will affect going back to the outside.

"It hurts you a little bit as a pass rusher because they are different," Marinelli said. "An end has got to gain ground before contact, a tackle does not. So the timing of your rush is different. The run, you can tie in together but the rush is different."

"It starts with his maturity as a player. Any time you continue to do the same thing over and over, you either get tired of it and quit or you get better at it. And in his case, he's gotten better. He's done a real good job of adjusting to the speed of the game at this level and doing the things he needs to do to continue to get better." - ANTHONY McFARLAND, Bucs defensive tackle, on Dewayne White

[Last modified December 7, 2004, 23:48:19]