Jordan Whitehead Has Skills
May 7th, 2018
Serious skills.
Here is something upbeat to think about.
When the Bucs drafted Jordan Whitehead in the fourth round ostensibly to play safety, more than a couple of Bucs fans shrugged their shoulders. Some may have yawned. Others grumbled about the Bucs picking a player from a second-rate ACC program.
(For the folks who were irked the Bucs picked a guy from the ACC, Joe knows who you are.)
Well, a few years ago, Whitehead was anything but second-rate. When he was coming out of high school, Whitehead was ranked by Rivals as the No. 1 prospect in the state of Pennsylvania, an area rich in football talent.
Yeah, Whitehead was ranked better than Saquon Barkley and D. J. Moore, two guys who were drafted in the first round last month.
So it seems while Whitehead was drafted in the fourth round, he may have first round athletic skills.
Joe wonders if Mike Smith and his entourage can tap into these skills and use them appropriately?
May 7th, 2018 at 12:10 am
Does anybody remember Tarnard Jackson undersize and a late round draft pick
May 7th, 2018 at 12:22 am
Wow, real blue-chipper. Now can he harness that raw talent and make a difference?
Let’s hope so.
May 7th, 2018 at 12:28 am
those high school rankings are wrong a lot… most of the 4 star & 5 star kids flame out while the 3 star guys flourish in college & the NFL… think Licht calls it the 5 star virus
May 7th, 2018 at 12:33 am
J. Whitehead and C. Davis will be the steals of this draft bank on it. I think they will be day one starters. I like the ability for Whitehead and Stewart to rotate from safety and corner. The coverage will be blanket like this season and it seems like they can tackle too. The secondary now looks like this right now:
Safety: K. Tandy, C. Conte, J. Evans, J. Whitehead.
Cornerback: Grimes, Hargreaves, C. Davis, MJ Stewart
Reserves: J. Elliot, R. Smith
Now that’s a solid corps for a secondary. Deep in depth and at least four of those guys can play safety or corner. Good drafting and the development can now be affoded instead of forced which is what Hargreaves and Smith have dealt with. Whitehead can now sit and develop in rotation as well as Stewart but Davis and Whitehead will start I think and Tandy will probably move around the defense as well as R. Smith. Conte will be a durable backup in case of injury to allow the rest to shift in and out at corner. Elliot will turn into a serviceable reserve as well which is where he should be. Elliot can play but shouldn’t be relied on as a full time starter. Whoo I can see the DB flying around in training camp and competing to get to the ball
May 7th, 2018 at 12:35 am
Hopefully he has fully recovered from the Tanard Jackson syndrome that he was battling in college.
May 7th, 2018 at 12:39 am
Shares of J. Lynch.
Think the ‘D’ has got better talent.
The coaching, big, big,(huge, really), question marks?????
May 7th, 2018 at 12:51 am
I feel like some of these articles are meant to coax us into believing. LOL. Anyway, let’s hope these 2 random 2nd round picks surprise everyone because there were definitely “better” options available when we picked them in the 2nd rounder as far as comparing college careers go.
I don’t really buy into the #1 ranked player out of Penn stuff as we have many elite college players that turn mediocre in the pros. Let’s wait and watch.
May 7th, 2018 at 12:52 am
Looks to me like licht drafted himself a kick returner cuz nfl safety he is not at least not yet.
May 7th, 2018 at 1:10 am
Good info JOE!
May 7th, 2018 at 3:25 am
I still think our new D-line is the most valuable addition to our defensive backfield. I feel some of the guys the so-called fans threw under the bus because of last year’s performance will shine coming fall – as will the new draft picks.
May 7th, 2018 at 3:36 am
Grafix,
I don’t believe that it’s %100 accurate to say that about 4-5 star recruits.
Last year, of the 80 players who were selected to go to the pro bowl, 35 were 4-5 star recruits. 43% of the pro bowl players is a substantial number especially considering how few 5 star recruits there are in total. The number of 4 star recruits is larger but both 4-5 star recruits combined is still a tiny fraction of the nation’s 3 star or below rated recruits.
I think that another way to look at is if a player who is not a star rated recruit what is his chances of becoming a pro bowler vs the chances of a 4 or 5 star recruit. What is the chance of a 3 star recruit vs a 5 star.
The fact that there’s so few 5 star recruits in total, there is much less chances of success than say3 star recruits. I don’t know the difference in totals but I don’t believe it’s outrageous to guess that there’s less than 400 5 star recruits combine d this century vs 3000 3 star this past decade. The odds are w the larger group.
May 7th, 2018 at 5:58 am
Hr was highly rated coming into this season as well. Rob Rang had him as the #2 FS
There were some off field issues last year.
May 7th, 2018 at 6:23 am
Thanks Joe, that’s last sentence gave me a good laugh to start the day.
May 7th, 2018 at 6:32 am
Oh you guys, lol. Jordon is a 4th round draft pick. With just a few minutes with google, you can find statistics of the percentage of time 4th round picks make it to starter status (Hint: its less than 7% of the time). All that really means is don’t get to far ahead of yourselves with blue chip talent or “steal of the draft” because the odds are stacked against him. Sure he might be a diamond in the rough, a brilliant find by JL, but there is over a 93% chance he will be a backup and if the Bucs are lucky he can provide some good depth for a few years.
May 7th, 2018 at 6:55 am
Oh yea, this guy was not a 2nd rounder. But, the jury is still out on both 2nd rounders and this guy. But, at least I have lowered expectations now that I realize he was the 4th round pick. It just seems that every pick after RoJo is a work in progress. You’re not really sure what you’re getting.
But, I will keep the Licht on as Beckwith and Evans were a pleasant surprise as well. I do like Watson though. I think he’s going to be a steal eventually.
May 7th, 2018 at 7:37 am
There is actually a lot to be excited about with this team but you just wouldn’t know it on this site as everything is always dome and gloom on this website.
May 7th, 2018 at 7:59 am
Ndog hit the nail on the head
May 7th, 2018 at 8:19 am
No kidding, Ndog. Optimism is not the overriding sentiment on this blog, to say the least. These guys wouldn’t know Jordan Whitehead if he walked up on him, but they can doubt his abilities without question. Whatever. Negativity drives this site.
May 7th, 2018 at 8:35 am
Ok so we are going to call Pitt a second rate ACC program. Fair, but they have sent some of the best players to league. Larry Fitzgerald, Darrell Revis, Shady McCoy, Aaron Donald, all at least close to the top player in the league at their position. Don’t sleep on Pennsylvania football, it’s as much of a religion the as it is in SEC country.
May 7th, 2018 at 10:10 am
…Dan Marino, Tony Dorsett, Hugh Green, Mark May…
May 7th, 2018 at 10:20 am
I’ve been hoping for a Tanard Jackson replacement ever since we lost him to banned substances….
Man, I loved him as a safety. If Jordan Whitehead could be a Tanard Jackson-type of safety, that would be awesome…
May 7th, 2018 at 10:31 am
@Ndog
Not from Teacherman!!
I am always spreading the Love around.
I said it day 1 after we drafted Jordan.
He is an elite athlete and will become a starter in year!
He may start at nickel or FS.
Go Bucs!!!
May 7th, 2018 at 10:56 am
Hargreaves was ranked number one in the 2013 class out of Florida – https://n.rivals.com/state_rankings/2013/florida
May 7th, 2018 at 11:25 am
Joe Montana was a Pennsylvania product as well.
May 7th, 2018 at 12:10 pm
…as was Namath, Kelly, Unitas….
May 7th, 2018 at 12:18 pm
Not for nothing, but the guy is from Aliquippa! i.e. Mike Ditka, Ty Law, D. Revis, Jonathan Baldwin, Tony Dorset just to name a few. Tampa is known for producing legendary baseball greats. My []_[] is known as a the same for football and Aliquippa has the same rep. You are a product of your environment. I am excited about this kid and Carlton Davis from the Miami area. Plus Ronald Jones is from Texas. I love the football environment these kids grew up in. Let’s see if it all translates to this next level. And Vita Vea is a big Pacific Island kid that grew up in that same type of tough football environment. It’s a real grassroots culture change in mentality, and I love it!