West Virginia's Kevin White says teams facing a choice at wide receiver should choose him over Alabama's Amari Cooper because "I think I bring a lot more to the table."
White (6-foot-2 5/8, 215 pounds) and Cooper (6-0 7/8, 211) generally are considered the top two wide receivers in the draft, in some order. White made his case as the No. 1 guy on Monday night's edition of "Pro Football Talk" on NBC Sports Network.
"Amari Cooper is a great receiver, a great competitor, but I think I bring a lot more to the table," White said. "He's at Alabama with Nick Saban. They have a whole bunch of other tools that help him out where he's not getting double-covered. A lot of attention is not just strictly on Amari Cooper. ... On West Virginia, it's just, 'OK, let's shut Kevin White down.' They have a lot of attention toward me."
While White's words likely caused some cringing at WVU, they mostly ring true: Cooper did have more surrounding talent than White, though WVU did have some other weapons -- and a more pass-happy offense.
WVU coach Dana Holgorsen's version of the spread gave White more opportunities than Cooper had at Alabama; the Mountaineers threw the ball on 48.7 percent of their offensive plays, while the Tide was at 44.3 percent passes.
Cooper led the nation with 124 receptions and was second with 1,727 receiving yards and 16 TD receptions. White was third nationally with 109 catches; his yardage total of 1,447 was sixth and his 10 TD receptions ranked tied for 20th.
White also said his junior-college background left him a little behind Cooper on the development curve. "I haven't learned or been taught the little secrets" about being a wide receiver, said White, who spent two years at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa., before moving on to West Virginia.
Regardless of which receiver goes first, both are going to go relatively early. NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah has White as the No. 2 player and Cooper the No. 3 in his ranking of the top 50 prospects.
Fellow analyst Mike Mayock says White "has the highest ceiling of any wide receiver in the draft." Mayock also said Cooper "has the highest floor. That means you know what you're going to get from him and he's going to play at a high level."
All six NFL Media analysts who have done mock drafts have both receivers going in the top 16; actually, three analysts have both going in the top 10 and five have both going in the top 12. Four have White being selected first, and the other two have Cooper being the initial wide receiver selected. All six analysts have the first receiver being picked by the Oakland Raiders at No. 4.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
