Friday Night Files: Len'Neth Whitehead
Recruiting is a strange game. Even for those that follow it closely, it is perhaps the strangest aspect of all sports at any level. Things will make complete sense on paper, like a nationally rated player being in the backyard of national powerhouse school, playing a position of need.
It must be a slam dunk that the hometown team would be pursuing their local prospect the hardest, right? Not so fast. Remember, recruiting is weird, and that is perhaps the greatest truth for those that are involved or following recruiting. It was certainly the case on a Friday night in Athens, Georgia, where a small, orange press pass elicited a, “Go Dawgs,” from multiple locals. The reason for the visit was to watch a stud linebacker, Len’Neth Whitehead of Athens Academy, play during his senior campaign. Whitehead is a four-star prospect, some services grading him as a linebacker, some as an athlete since he plays running back for the Spartans as well. Whatever he plays at the next level, Whitehead is a top priority for a team in the SEC East, but it is the Tennessee Volunteers, not the hometown Bulldogs, that are pursuing Whitehead so ferociously.
Georgia, with their recent success under Kirby Smart, has focused more nationally with each recruiting cycle. While most elite teams do some level of national recruiting, the teams often at the tops of the polls engage in battles for the most highly-rated players in the country, wherever they hail from. The Bulldogs have followed that track more and more in the last several recruiting cycles, but that can mean that they overlook some elite talent in their back yard. The state of Georgia has emerged as one of the hotbeds of quality high school football players in the nation, not only producing excellent talent but talent across all positions. Georgia could never sign all the top talent in-state even if they only recruited within their borders, and as a result, other schools can land high-end talent out of the Peach State. When Georgia’s new propensity for national recruiting is factored in, there is some serious talent that the Dawgs can overlook, and that can potentially getaway.
Enter Len’Neth Whitehead.
Whitehead is listed at six-foot-one inch and two hundred and thirty pounds, though he looks closer to two hundred and forty in person. Whitehead is a thick football player with a well-muscled frame. As a senior in high school, Whitehead already looks the part of a starting SEC linebacker. He is built to take the punishment that comes between the tackles in the SEC, with the size and strength to play through traffic and drop ball carriers, whatever their size.
Whitehead is not afraid of contact, throwing himself into the pile with reckless abandon, sound tackling form, and bad intentions. In short, Whitehead looks and plays every inch the part of an inside, thumper, SEC linebacker. That ability alone would make him a coveted prospect, but that is only part of the story.
The speed Whitehead shows at running back shows up when he plays linebacker as well. He is absolutely a sideline-to-sideline tackling machine.
The best phrase to describe his performance after seeing him in person was that, “For about a half of football, when he was on defense, he hit everything that moved.” Whitehead was in on every tackle. Every, single tackle. If he wasn’t the man at the bottom of the pile, he came tearing in to finish a stubborn ball carrier off. At times Whitehead shot gaps and led the charge to the ball carrier, stopping him with a sharp, cracking tackle. At other times, he was the cavalry, the man that finished off a ball carrier while a teammate held on and waited for help to arrive. To say that Whitehead has a nose for the ball does not give him near enough credit. He reads his keys quickly and correctly, trusts what he sees, reacts, and explodes into ball carriers. Whitehead is fast for a player his size, particularly for a linebacker, but he is capable of a burst to close on a ball carrier that contributes to him being in on so many tackles. That size and speed are combined with Whitehead’s tackling form to make for a complete, impressive linebacker. Perhaps the highest compliment that can be paid to a linebacker is that, “When he gets his hands on someone, they go down.” When Len’Neth Whitehead gets his hands on a ball carrier, the play is over shortly thereafter. He is a sound tackler, with good form supplemented by his size and pop created by his burst as he closes out on a ball carrier. Again, if this were the end of the analysis on Whitehead, he would be a prized linebacker, but there are still further dimensions to his game.
Whitehead takes the signals for the Spartan defense and calls the plays for his teammates on the field. Most middle linebackers are the quarterbacks of the defense.
That means that to play the position well, much more than athletic ability is required. Mental ability and high football IQ are of paramount importance for an aspiring linebacker, and Whitehead displays these traits as well.
Whitehead knows his assignments and everyone else’s. He also knows what his opponents are looking to do, and has the awareness, athleticism, and trust of his coaches to exploit it. Whitehead is often playing as an inside linebacker, though at times he is capable of bumping out to the outside as well. Against Stephens County, Whitehead saw something that he had picked up on in film study and slid outside on the line of scrimmage, just off the right tackle’s outside shoulder. At the snap, Whitehead displayed another use of his impressive burst, with a first step that was shocking to watch. The right tackle was barely out of his stance by the time Whitehead was by, and he came up with a crushing sack that brought the quarterback completely off the ground.
It was a punishing hit and a big play for the defense, and it was made possible by Whitehead’s combination of strength, speed, and intellect. Whitehead displayed that he is capable impacting every play for his defense, as well as making game-changing plays. His speed and fluid hips make him an every-down linebacker as he is very good in pass coverage as well. He can play the run between the tackles, run players down to the boundary, drop in coverage, shoot gaps, rush the passer, and call a defense, all with impressive size, speed, and strength. Still, there is more to Len’Neth Whitehead.
This young man plays both ways for the Spartans and is a decorated running back. He obviously has the size and power to be a bruising back that runs through defenders, but he also has excellent feet. Whitehead is a fluid athlete with the ball in his hands. He sees the field well and has the quickness to cut and bend runs to get the most out of every carry. If he gets into the secondary, Whitehead has the speed to finish a long run with a score. Some schools, like Wisconsin, are recruiting Whitehead primarily at running back, while others see him more as a linebacker. Whitehead said after the game that Tennessee has given him the option of play either spot for them and that offer makes sense. Whitehead is just a football player, and he will be a boon to whatever team he chooses to sign with. Still, at the next level, Whitehead will no longer be playing Ironman football at two of the most physically punishing positions on the field.
That alone will allow his play at his chosen position to take a step forward.
On a night where Whitehead had over fifty rushing yards and a touchdown in less than a half, it was on defense that he shone brightest. Whitehead turned in one of the best performances in the first half I have ever seen by a linebacker. He was in on every, single play, seemed to be a part of every tackle and found a way to make game-changing plays as well. I came away hugely impressed and feeling that his Top 200 player rating in the nation on the 247 composite was too low. This is a special athlete, one that it is stunning to not see Georgia pursuing harder. Recruiting is strange, and with Whitehead considered a heavy Volunteer lean at this time, Tennessee is glad of that. Whitehead is good enough to be an immediate starter for the Vols, and with Daniel Bituli in his senior season, a spot in the middle beside impressive freshman Henry To’oto’o is going to be up for grabs. The prospect of To’oto’o and Whitehead in the middle of a Tennessee defense would change the complexion of what Derrick Ansley could expect of his unit.
Whitehead is an incredible athlete and a long-term impact player. It is rare to hear a four-star, top 200 player a sleeper, but that is exactly what Whitehead is. He is going to be a player a defense can be built around wherever he chooses to go.