What does losing Darius White mean for ISU?

Darius White won’t play football for Iowa State this fall. 

The 6-foot-1-inch, 233-pound defensive end will forgo his senior season of eligibility and enter the job world after graduating. He recorded nine tackles while seeing action in 11 games as a reserve defensive end last season. White tallied 15 tackles, one for loss, two quarterback hurries and a pass breakup during his sophomore year. The former Florida all-state selection in the state’s biggest class also recovered a fumble in during his redshirt freshman season in 2013.

What does this mean for Iowa State?

Well, that’s a question that will be tough to fully answer until Northern Iowa rolls into town on Sept. 3. But depth is the biggest thing hurt by White’s departure from the program.

We haven’t seen any kind of depth chart from Matt Campbell and his staff, but it was pretty well known that White and Gabe Luna were the only players on the roster that were slated to play the Leo spot.

That is until JUCO transfer Justin Stewart announced his intention to continue his career with the Cyclones in late-June. The 6-foot-3-inch, 235-pound, transfer from Golden West C.C. told AllCyclones.com last month that he would be arriving in Ames in mid-July.

It could just be a coincidence, and note that Stewart is not yet listed in the Iowa State directory, but it looks to me as though it might have been becoming clear to White that he wouldn’t be getting a great deal of playing time in 2016.

Stewart is an absolute freak on film and appears to have the tools to get on the field immediately this fall.

I don’t know what was going through Darius White’s head while he was making this decision. It could just be a guy that’s ready for the next stage of life, and it’s hard to blame him for that.

It just seems like an odd time to decide not to play football.