Kevin White Makes His Case to Be Draft's Top WR with Huge Combine Performance

West Virginia's Kevin White isn't guaranteed to be the first wide receiver off the board in April's NFL draft, but he's done everything in his power at the NFL combine to claim the spot. 

White entered the weekend in a three-way race with Alabama's Amari Cooper and Louisville's DeVante Parker to be considered an elite wide receiver prospect. 

All three should be chosen within the top 15 picks, but White separated himself—both literally and figuratively—with an outstanding combine performance. 

The combine isn't usually viewed as a make-or-break scenario, but those three wide receivers were so closely graded that one of them needed to display a quality that provided an advantage over the other two. 

White came through with an exceptional time in the 40-yard dash. 

The West Virginia product ran an unofficial time of 4.35 seconds and blew everyone away—except his former head coach: 

Cooper and Parker didn't exactly hurt themselves either. 

Alabama's all-time leading receiver registered a 4.42-second 40-yard dash, while the Louisville product posted an unofficial time of 4.45 seconds. 

Both fell just short of White, though. 

Prior to the combine, White was already building momentum as the draft's top prospect at his position. However, the wide receiver admitted during his media session at the combine, per SI.com's Doug Farrar, that teams questioned his top-end speed: 

Those questions have been answered. 

White isn't simply a workout warrior either. 

West Virginia's leading receiver finished his senior campaign with 109 receptions for 1,447 yards and 10 touchdowns. 

It became obvious when watching White during the season that he could easily separate from any defensive back. His 40 time only confirmed what was already seen when viewing West Virginia games. 

White's combination of size, speed and production already had some—such as NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah—slobbering over him as a prospect: 

In fact, one of the biggest selling points for White is overall upside. The New Jersey native is far from a polished prospect, as SmartFootball.com's Chris Brown suggested: 

Even when White wasn't competing against anyone and worked his way through the combine drills, Brown noted his overall attitude is apparent:

Cooper and Parker still have their redeeming qualities to remain in the conversation. 

The Alabama product's production cannot be denied. Cooper caught more passes than any wide receiver in the nation. His 1,727 receiving yards were second best among all players. And he did so in a pro-style system instead of a variation of the "Air Raid" offense like the Mountaineers employ. 

Cooper is a more precise route-runner compared to White, and his short-area quickness to separate from defenders is dynamic. 

However, White claims prototypical No. 1 receiver size, while Cooper appears to be better suited as a Z-receiver.

White is impressively built at 6'3" and 215 pounds. Cooper, meanwhile, falls a little short at 6'1" and 211 pounds with arms that are over an inch shorter. 

Parker is the same height as White, but he isn't quite as thickly built. However, the Louisville product does have slightly longer arms and a bigger overall catch radius. White's production dipped late in the season. Parker, on the other hand, was dominant. 

There is give-and-take with all three of these prospects. White, though, proved at the combine he is the complete package, while the other two didn't impress to nearly the same level. 

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL draft for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.