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| EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Nikita Whitlock had 18.5 sacks in his college career as a defensive tackle at Wake Forest, including nine in his senior year of 2013. But by the summer of 2015, when he was in training camp trying to make the New York Giants as a fullback, Whitlock had given up on the idea of ever collecting a sack in the NFL. "I did. I honestly did," Whitlock said Thursday. "There have been a few times where I've been talking to my wife and said, 'I might just go to Canada and play defensive line up there.'" But playing fullback in the NFL held more allure than maybe playing defensive line in Canada, so Whitlock stuck it out. And Sunday in Buffalo, his dream came true. Inserted into the fourth quarter of the Giants' 24-10 victory over the Bills, Whitlock beat guard Richie Incognito and brought down quarterback Tyrod Taylor for a 14-yard loss. "Being a defensive lineman, sacks are what you live for," Whitlock said. "Just having one is so great. I can't describe it." .... |
But he's going to be effective in certain situations, the same way a linebacker or a safety would be... except he's more likely to overpower a running back or a full back trying to pick him up.
Let's not go crazy with Whitlock. He's a change up to throw at the offense once in a while; he's not an every down lineman or even close to it; the more he used, the less effective he will be.
Sure, it's the U of R., but relatively speaking, 205 puts him 70-90 pounds under what the rest of the guys are on his O-line, and in their league, he's giving up at LEAST 45-50 pounds across the way, and many times much more.
And he is doing VERY well.
You are probably way off re his strength. I think he did about as many BP reps at his pro day as Flowers did at the combine - 37, which is a ginormous number for any human. Now we know Flowers is a weight room junkie, as was Linval Joseph, I haven't heard as much about Whitlock.
Anyway the proof is in the pudding and so far he's performed great as purely a pass rushing, penetrating DT. Homer Jones is guessing out his ass as usual, as is most everyone here. I'll bet this much: we will see more and more of him at DT if his current success continues.
Even big guys wear down if they play too many snaps at DT, so I wouldn't fault him for being a situational player. His arm length is prolly more a detriment to playing the position well than his height. But there are in fact techniques to negate the arm length disadvantage, prevalently used in martial arts. Pugh has prolly studied those this summer in the MA/football cross training center he attended.
One example would be - a bigger guy with longer arms gets his hands on you, with his arms extended, so you can't reach to his body... you attack his arms that are grabbing you. I don't know if NFL DL coaches teach this stuff, but to some extent it would definitely work.
LT quite frequently dominated OL who were 3 inches taller than him and outweighed him by 50 #s or more. With leverage and speed and "natural strength."
I remember the preseason game against the Patriots when Dan Klecko was unstoppable. He must've had a bazillion sacks against the Giants in that game. He was literally running after our QB on every snap.
Never turned into much of anything though, as far as a DT.
Well anyone who saw LT play knows he was absolutely freakish (at his time moreso, but he would still be among today's roided and HGHed up OL beasts...)
The analogy was meant to go only so far as to say that some (very few) exceptional guys have the ability to overpower people much larger than themselves.
Whitlock might be one of those guys. Even LT got handled occasionally, I could cite at least one game... The bitch for Whitlock is, the days he gets handled someone is bound to say or think it's because he's undersized. The greatest DL of all time in the NFL might get 20 sacks in a season once or twice in a career.
Here's the thing - it's durability and longevity. The thing that a lot of people don't realize with line play is that success or failure has a ton to do with who breaks first. You or the guy across from you always breaks. It happens sometimes in the first quarter - sometimes in the third - sometimes in the two minute. But it ALWAYS happens. Anyone who has played at an advanced (beyond HS) level will tell you this is true. As you progress in your skill set, the breaking point is pushed further down the timeline during a game. But it's always there.
A 5'10" interior DLman - 240 or so - will get broken rather quickly in professional football. And the OL knows it. They will hammer him into the ground and play extra aggressive - bordering on dirty - to make it happen. I've seen it happen and I still see it now.
Situationally, I think Whitlock is awesome and he's just what the DL needs once the OL gets a bit tired in their butt and legs causing lapses in technique. He's got a great motor, shoots well, gets skinny, avoids exchange, and uses good leverage technique to gain ground. I hope it continues and the Giants continue to be innovative with some of their personnel. Love seeing that stuff in the pro game.
Thanks Lou. How's the vino game going? And where can we buy your gear?
Here's the thing - it's durability and longevity. The thing that a lot of people don't realize with line play is that success or failure has a ton to do with who breaks first. You or the guy across from you always breaks. It happens sometimes in the first quarter - sometimes in the third - sometimes in the two minute. But it ALWAYS happens. Anyone who has played at an advanced (beyond HS) level will tell you this is true. As you progress in your skill set, the breaking point is pushed further down the timeline during a game. But it's always there.
A 5'10" interior DLman - 240 or so - will get broken rather quickly in professional football. And the OL knows it. They will hammer him into the ground and play extra aggressive - bordering on dirty - to make it happen. I've seen it happen and I still see it now.
Situationally, I think Whitlock is awesome and he's just what the DL needs once the OL gets a bit tired in their butt and legs causing lapses in technique. He's got a great motor, shoots well, gets skinny, avoids exchange, and uses good leverage technique to gain ground. I hope it continues and the Giants continue to be innovative with some of their personnel. Love seeing that stuff in the pro game.
B that's prolly why they play him in the 4th Q - for fresh change of pace against linemen who have already been playing all game
It's funny, because it's actually somewhat innovative by the Giants. Strange.
But it is not a conversation if he's not making plays. And he is. So keep deploying it.
"This man is a freak of nature .... a genetic accident".
Description of LT from the SHOWTIME documentary of his life.
Which can be viewed for free - just google it. I recommend it if anyone has not seen it.
Quote:
He was two generations ahead of anyone who played OL in his era. Not sure that's quite the right line to draw.
"This man is a freak of nature .... a genetic accident".
Description of LT from the SHOWTIME documentary of his life.
Which can be viewed for free - just google it. I recommend it if anyone has not seen it.
p.s - I think they also said that Left Tackle on the OL became the highest paid player on offense (besides QB) because of Lawrence Taylor. Teams needed a very good athlete blocking for the QB's blind side. The man was phenomenal ...
It's funny, because it's actually somewhat innovative by the Giants. Strange.
But it is not a conversation if he's not making plays. And he is. So keep deploying it.
B - i think Spags is the innovator - and that he talked TC into this
Here's the thing - it's durability and longevity. The thing that a lot of people don't realize with line play is that success or failure has a ton to do with who breaks first. You or the guy across from you always breaks. It happens sometimes in the first quarter - sometimes in the third - sometimes in the two minute. But it ALWAYS happens. Anyone who has played at an advanced (beyond HS) level will tell you this is true. As you progress in your skill set, the breaking point is pushed further down the timeline during a game. But it's always there.
A 5'10" interior DLman - 240 or so - will get broken rather quickly in professional football. And the OL knows it. They will hammer him into the ground and play extra aggressive - bordering on dirty - to make it happen. I've seen it happen and I still see it now.
Except that Whitlock has already done it for 4 years against these same guys who are now in the NFL, and he didn't get broken, he kicked their ass.
Against the run just as much as the pass. Nothing personal against you or the undersized guys you played with, but they weren't All-ACC for their entire career, and close to ACC DPOY his senior year, playing against future NFL Olinemen. Whitlock is the exception to the rule, and he has proven it. Regardless of people always saying he will wear down, his actual performance has proven to be far superior than anyone else the Giants currently have on the Dline.
This is universally understood.
Those P5 programs are who Whitlock was primarily playing against for 4 years, and he was the entire focus of their blocking game plan (double and triple teamed on almost every play) as a 3-4 NT, yet he still trashed them.
He has succeeded on the field at every available opportunity, against both the run and the pass. The only time he has not succeeded has been off the field with the guys in the office suites who won't give him a chance to play. Hopefully Coughlin and Spags are beginning to realize that is a bad idea.
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