UL’s Peanut coming out of his shell

By Darrell Laurant  |   Tuesday, April 17, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

Louisville Cardinals
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Two interesting things about the University of Louisville's rising sophomore defensive end, the 6-foot-6, 260-pound Deantwan Whitehead.

First of all, he wears No. 8, a jersey more suited for a quarterback, wide receiver or defensive back than a lineman.

And his nickname is "Peanut," backed by a tattoo of Mr. Peanut on one arm.

A four-star prep All-American coming out of West End High School in Birmingham, Ala., Whitehead spent part of last year learning that he was no longer the biggest, strongest player on the field. Then he put those lessons to good use, learning how to finesse the opposing linemen he could simply bull-rush in high school.

"If he makes a mistake, he's eager to learn how he made it and what he can do to not make it again," Cardinal DT Earl Heyman told Will Graves of the Associated Press late last season. "And Amobi (Okoye), myself and Zach, we've been tutoring and teaching him by showing him the ropes and he's accepted that and done real well with it."

Whitehead and Heyman got extra playing time last season when DE Zach Anderson missed a few games with an injury. Now, Anderson and Okoye are gone to the NFL, and Whitehead is ready to assert himself.

Which is a little scary for Louisville's opponents. Whitehead is the size of a power forward, with unusually long arms (the better to grab you with) and 4.6 speed off the edge. He didn't make all that many tackles as a freshman (16), but he got maximum mileage out of them -- five tackles for loss and four sacks.

On one memorable play against Syracuse, Whitehead burst into the Orange backfield, pursued Syracuse quarterback Perry Patterson (himself a 235-pounder) toward the sidelines, and shook him like a rag doll as Patterson threw the ball out of bounds.

This spring, he's been one of the players receiving the most praise from new coach Steve Kragthorpe.

Kragthorpe's predecessor, Bobby Petrino, used Whitehead as the poster boy for Louisville's muscular new recruiting. As a senior at West End High, the big guy had 125 tackles and 25 sacks. That's probably where he got the No. 8 jersey -- he took it off a quarterback he had just flattened.

Signing Whitehead meant stealing a prized recruit out of SEC country, and Petrino called Peanut the centerpiece of his recruiting class. Then, when the Cardinals' high-profile 2006 season was over, Petrino bolted for the Atlanta Falcons.

Louisville had the top sack master in the country a couple of years ago in Elvis Dumervil (now a pro), but Dumervil was a stocky Tasmanian devil, a Dwight Freeney type. Whitehead is more like Reggie White on Slimfast.

With Anderson and Okoye gone, Whitehead is one of the Cardinal players who will be watched closely by NFL scouts over the next two years. He already has the size and speed he'll need -- all he needs to improve on are the strength and savvy.

And when he finally signs with an NFL team, it won't be for peanuts.

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