Is West Virginia’s Kevin White a top receiver in the nation?

There are quite a few wide receivers who are looking like superstars after the first week of the college football season that will begin to fall away as early as the second week of the year. Sometimes players get lucky and find themselves with big games that have no business putting up those types of numbers, and there are other receivers that put up big numbers against bad competition early on in the year. One player that caught many eyes from analysts was West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White, who put up a huge game against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

White caught nine passes for 143 yards and a touchdown, and made a handful of diving catches and highlight plays. The Mountaineers were able to stick with Alabama until the late stages of the game, and ended up losing by a final score of 33-23. Without White on the field, they likely wouldn’t have even been in the game, and quarterback Clint Trickett wouldn’t have looked nearly as impressive.

As you can see from the below video, White has the ability to make plays in a big way.

There are no arguments that can be made about White playing against lesser competition or taking advantage of a lesser role that turned into something bigger. He was getting coverage thrown at him each and every play that he was targeted, and was playing against one of the most talented defensive units that college football has to offer. White simply outplayed the competition and proved that he is an elite target.

Standing at 6’3″ and weight in at 210 pounds, White can cause an issue for most defensive backs. Having a pair of hands that simply don’t know how to drop a football is another problem on top of his already mismatched height. The Mountaineers have plenty of talent on the offensive side of the football, but White is a senior leader that is leading by example.

So what is the future of White this season and his potential NFL Draft stock at the end of the year?

After last week he has become a very interesting prospect to keep an eye on on as he looks to tear up Towson’s defense on Saturday night. Trickett appears to have turned into a more than average quarterback, and it was more than obvious that White is his favorite target. West Virginia may not be the type of team that can make it to a major bowl game, but they definitely looked like a team who could compete for a middle of the pack selection.

All of that being said, the Mountaineers will only go as far as their star wide receiver can take them. Without him, they would have been blown out by Alabama and wouldn’t be getting any type of look from the media. White has the talent to carry an offense on his back, and that is exactly what he is going to have to do all season long.

It’s hard to judge a player off of one game for the most part, but White’s performance against Alabama was a different story. He kept his team in the game against one of the top teams in the nation, and made play after play against a talented defense. There will be much more talk about White’s game as the season continues to progress, but he proved himself to the college football world last Saturday.