5 early top Texas football prospects to watch for 2023 NFL Draft
Jordan Whittington, WR
While there’s a good chance that Texas will get back the former elite five-star recruit and rising redshirt junior wide receiver Jordan Whittington for the 2023 season, a solid 2022 campaign could lift his draft stock enough to declare early next offseason. Whittington is definitely going to be one of the more interesting Longhorns players to watch this year in terms of how he’s able to move the needle for his draft stock.
The 6-foot-1 and 205-pound Whittington has more than enough speed, versatility, and elusiveness to be a stud wide receiver at the next level. His agility and straight-line speed will allow him to be a good fit with most of the modern NFL offenses.
The main battle for Whittington will be staying healthy this fall. Whittington has yet to come even close to staying healthy for a full season in his three years in college to date. But the good news in this regard is that Whittington is trending up in the last few years.
Whittington went from playing in one game in 2019 to five in 2020, and then a career-high seven last season.
Some other factors that could contribute to Whittington upping his draft stock this fall are his ability to make opposing defenders miss in the open field, run crisp and clean routes, and his usually sure hands in the receiving game. Whittington did have a career-high four drops last season.
Yet, Whittington was pretty sure-handed in the last three seasons, posting a drop rate of just around seven percent. That is one of the best drop rates on the team in the last three seasons combined.
Whittington has also shown the ability to burn opposing defensive backs on routes at all levels of the field. He’s excelled when he gets the ball with space around the line of scrimmage as well as on intermediate routes out of the slot and on deep balls where he gets some separation on the outside.
Another factor that works in Whittington’s favor is the fact that he’s so efficient in hauling in contested catches. He’s come down with all five of the 50/50 balls that went his way in the last three seasons.
All in all, the real battle for Whittington this fall will be staying healthy. If he can do that, his draft stock should soar ahead of next offseason.