Bucs Draft Safety Jordan Whitehead in the 4th Round

The Bucs continue to build their roster on Day Three of the NFL Draft, beginning with their 4th round pick, overall 117, Safety Jordan Whitehead from Pitt.

College Career

While he’s a little undersized, Whitehead has been a playmaker at safety. While he didn’t have a lot of plays on the football, he was an enforcer as a hitter and plays the run well. Whitehead finished with 235 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions and 12 passes defensed in his three-year career with the Panthers.

What They’re Saying

Luke Easterling of draftwire.com describes him, “He may look undersized on paper, but there’s nothing small about Whitehead’s game, or the impact he’s had for the Panthers throughout his career. A consistent playmaker on both defense and special teams, Whitehead has been extremely productive, despite his smaller frame. A talented return man, Whitehead brings added value NFL teams will love, along with a well-rounded defensive skill set that should allow him to make an immediate impact at the next level. This year’s safety class has some heavy hitters at the top, which should make Whitehead a bargain in the middle rounds.”

Pro Football Focus: “Whitehead had a solid career at Pittsburgh, though his career grades decreased every year after an impressive debut as a true freshman. Tackling has been an issue where he missed 36 of his 265 career attempts.”

NFL.com says, “Whitehead is undersized which makes playing near the line of scrimmage a challenge and his instincts as a high safety were troubling as he allowed too many big plays. Teams may look to utilize him as a hybrid defensive back in sub packages with the ability to cover the slot and handle run support duties against teams who run the ball out of three wideout personnel groupings. Whitehead needs to run well because his lack of production will already hurt his draft cause.”

Trevor Sikkema of the Pewter Report: “Whitehead played both side of the ball in high school, and the reason he plays safety now is because Pitt wanted to get him on the field as early as possible in his career. Whitehead has 235 tackles in his three season with the Panthers.”

Highlights

Stats

DLT’s Thoughts

I was more of a Kyzir White guy here. I’ll lean on Mr. Licht and his team of scouts here. Seems to me that Whitehead won’t be much more than a special teamer and backup.