Why Isaiah Foskey Over Keion White in the Second Round? (13 Viewers)

[RJ in Lafayette]

I have not seen this question addressed on this forum or heard it discussed on WWL radio. In the second round, the Saints picked Isaiah Foskey passing on Keion White from Georgia Tech, who was picked a few spots later by New England. The two seem comparable, but White is bigger and was ranked higher in most media draft reports. I am not being critical of the Foskey selection--I am just trying to understand why the Saints opted for Foskey over White. Any insight?

 

[gavinj]

I don’t have any insight as to why they went Foskey over White, but go check out the videos of each of them getting the call when drafted. Pretty different reactions. Like night and day. Could show an insight into their personalities. One of them was visibly thrilled and pumped up while the other looked like he barely gave a flip.

 

[Jesse Custer]

I don’t have any insight as to why they went Foskey over White, but go check out the videos of each of them getting the call when drafted. Pretty different reactions. Like night and day. Could show an insight into their personalities. One of them was visibly thrilled and pumped up while the other looked like he barely gave a flip.

Think that was because Foskey genuinely hoped the Saints would call him and White got some bad advice and his agent told him he'd be a first round pick. White is also older, had an injury that only let him play four games in '21, and is raw. He has problems figuring out blocking schemes and lets OLs get into his pads.

NFL Draft Buzz had some pretty good analysis of them both:

Keion White is a classic player to scout, he is an inexperienced high upside low floor athletic freak. His strength and speed are off the scale given his size (280lbs) and he should make himself some serious money at the combine. He however is still very raw as a player having just two full seasons of college football and it shows in his play where his technique needs major development.

Should White manage to take the next step at the next level and continue to develop a much-improved feel for the game he could be elite, however, he may never put it all together and end up just as a third-down bit player. White most likely will hear his name called on the second day of the draft, but there's an outside chance a team will fall in love with his upside and gamble on making him a first-round selection.

Isaiah Foskey is an outstanding edge rusher who combines supreme athletic ability, outstanding overall technique, and an excellent recent resume of production at the highest level. He doesn't come without reservations though, the main one being his average strength which while not a major issue still limits his upside as a complete player. Despite this Foskey is still a quality talent and an excellent pro prospect who has first-round skills, although due to the abundance of top-class edge rushers in this year's class will likely drop to the second day of the 2023 NFL draft.

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but White's profile reads like what we saw of Davenport, who only went as high as he did because it was a weak edge class.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

I have not seen this question addressed on this forum or heard it discussed on WWL radio. In the second round, the Saints picked Isaiah Foskey passing on Keion White from Georgia Tech, who was picked a few spots later by New England. The two seem comparable, but White is bigger and was ranked higher in most media draft reports. I am not being critical of the Foskey selection--I am just trying to understand why the Saints opted for Foskey over White. Any insight?

I kind of had same thought, especially if they are going to bulk him to 285. If they are going to play Foskey as a Sam LB or primarily deploy him as a stand up edge then it makes sense.

Also getting Bresee reduces the need for double a gap blitzing and interior blitzes(in theory)

So Foskey would make sense

 

[Owen305]

Yea i been trying to figure it out but a lot of internet scouts and analyst i watch seem to not like Kion white much. i think its his rawness at the age he is.

 

[Joodas Avila]

I have not seen this question addressed on this forum or heard it discussed on WWL radio. In the second round, the Saints picked Isaiah Foskey passing on Keion White from Georgia Tech, who was picked a few spots later by New England. The two seem comparable, but White is bigger and was ranked higher in most media draft reports. I am not being critical of the Foskey selection--I am just trying to understand why the Saints opted for Foskey over White. Any insight?

In my opinion, Foskey is the more pro ready player. He also has a more defined role as a defender. He’s an EGDE rusher out of a 2 & 3pt stance. Foskey is also a super athlete whose testing numbers match up w/his onfield product. He also has years worth of consistent production.

White, on the other hand, is all projection & is a developmental player. Sure, he’s big w/athletic traits, but he’s a tweener w/tweener skills. He’s both a DT & a DE, but neither at the same time. I believe we went w/Foskey simply because he fits what we do & has the athletic traits & production to match.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

I would think Foskey is a pure defensive end whereas White could play inside as well as outside. White is bigger--at the combine, he weighed 285, and Foshey 264 (though Foshey may have come to the combine on the lighter side because he participated in all of the combine drills). For the sake of comparison, Davenport and Turner should weigh in the 265-270 range, and Cam Jordan must be in the 285 range. Foskey had an excellent 40 time at the combine (4.58), so I would hope the Saints would not try to bulk him up too much. (At his pro day, White ran between 4.65 and 4.75, which is a great time for a lineman his size.) Both players had very high and nearly identical RAS scores. Given that the Saints tend to place greater emphasis on size than speed in their defensive front, I was curious as to why Foshey. The Draft Buzz evaluation above is interesting.

 

[Pensacola]

Might have come down to a coin flip, and I think we won.

 

[Spec]

And don’t forget the cerebral aspect of the game. Foskey is a very intelligent man, a leader, and he will continue our pursuit of a strong locker room.

 

[DSnfla]

I kind of had same thought, especially if they are going to bulk him to 285. If they are going to play Foskey as a Sam LB or primarily deploy him as a stand up edge then it makes sense.

Also getting Bresee reduces the need for double a gap blitzing and interior blitzes(in theory)

So Foskey would make sense

Do you think that Grantham had any influence on that since he's been primarily a 3-4 guy and maybe worked with smaller edge guys?

 

[Belfast Saint]

One of the things Dennis Allen said in his interview, and take it with however many grains of salt you wish, is that we have traditionally had a number of bigger, 'hulking' DE's and Foskey's more agile and fast profile while still remaining within the general prototype reflects a desire to cope better with the trend of more mobile QBs.

 

[DeuceMcAllisterFan]

Isn't he pretty similar to Payton Turner in profile and upside?

 

[JackDiesel]

One of the things Dennis Allen said in his interview, and take it with however many grains of salt you wish, is that we have traditionally had a number of bigger, 'hulking' DE's and Foskey's more agile and fast profile while still remaining within the general prototype reflects a desire to cope better with the trend of more mobile QBs.

I always assumed White cause of the big hulking profile we tend to target but that quote from Allen was pretty revealing and it makes sense for a weak side DE. Both were great prospects but after seeing Foskey's reaction to us drafting him, I'm glad we made the decision we did.

Now if only Turner can develop behind Jordan then we'll be set at DE for the future.

 

[saint_drago]

Isaiah Foskey is an outstanding edge rusher who combines supreme athletic ability, outstanding overall technique, and an excellent recent resume of production at the highest level

Keion White is a classic player to scout, he is an inexperienced high upside low floor athletic freak

This is the age old dilemma. Highly productive, polished, prospect who dominated the collegiate level or the raw, big time traits, high upside prospect. I've seen the Saints hit on both types of prospects. They have gambled on traits and won. They have gambled on production and won. They have also infamously missed on both.

Time alone will tell if they got this one right. I'm just happy we have Foskey. Seems like a really good human being and his get off is preternatural on film. Same with Bresse. Our run defense might take a hit but by god we're going to get after the passer!

 

[kennydfresh]

I have not seen this question addressed on this forum or heard it discussed on WWL radio. In the second round, the Saints picked Isaiah Foskey passing on Keion White from Georgia Tech, who was picked a few spots later by New England. The two seem comparable, but White is bigger and was ranked higher in most media draft reports. I am not being critical of the Foskey selection--I am just trying to understand why the Saints opted for Foskey over White. Any insight?

Simple. The last time you heard the word "raw" to describe a player we drafted especially at DE was Davenport and Turner. How did that turn out?