Positives: Has an adequate feel in man coverage, but shows excellent quickness, foot speed and fluid hip turn to stay close on the receiver's hip or recover and get back on the route when his man gets behind him...Has that second gear needed to get under the ball in flight on long routes (anticipation is poor, though)...Demonstrates good hip flexibility, foot quickness, and body control to backpedal, turn and run with receivers stride-for-stride...Possesses the range to close on plays in a hurry along the perimeter (will shy away from playing vs. the run, though)...Solid athlete who might get out-played for balls vs. bigger receivers due to his size, but shows good leaping ability and body control to adjust to passes...Has fluid change of direction agility coming out of his breaks...Might be a better fit to play the nickel, as he seems to make better reads when attacking plays in front of him (struggles to track the ball over his outside shoulder)...Shows good wrap-up technique and even though he will get reckless in his pursuit, he can hold on to a ballcarrier until help arrives...Uses his acceleration well to get downfield and cover on returns for the special teams...Has the hip swerve and quick feet to explode towards the ball coming out of his backpedal...Quick to close on the underneath passes, showing good range and acceleration on deep routes...Despite his slight frame, he will get very physical with the receivers in bump-and-run situations (just needs to use his hands better when attempting to reroute).
Negatives: Shorter than ideal and has just lean muscles on his physique with little room to add any more bulk without the weight affecting his impressive quickness...Struggles to retain plays and needs more than several reps to feel comfortable with them...Has just an adequate feel for the receiver throughout route progression and a savvy opponent can elude him with fakes and double moves (does have the second gear to recover, though)...Durability issues are starting to arise, as he has struggled with hamstring problems for two years...Sees the field and is able to locate receivers, but shows just adequate alertness and awareness to recognize routes and to break on balls...Gives effort in coverage and shows adequate willingness to led support vs. the run, but is not real fiery or scrappy taking on blockers...Lacks good toughness and courage in run support, preferring to let others make the play...Shows up and will do whatever is asked of him, but needs to be pushed and monitored by the staff (not a self-starter)...Needs to become much more competitive vs. receivers in a crowd...Often uses a false step and will open up too soon, allowing a two-way go route...Sees the field adequately and is sometimes slow to locate receivers in zone coverage, doing a poor job of handling the switch-off...Has good foot quickness and change-of-direction, but rounds out of his breaks...Displays a good back-pedal, but rounds out of his breaks and takes poor angles in transition...Possesses just adequate anticipation and burst to close...Shows only adequate hands and ball skills to come up with interceptions that he has an opportunity to catch and despite his timed speed, he lacks vision running with the ball (never gained any yardage on eight career interceptions)...Often gets caught on blocks and will struggle to shed...Has just marginal explosion on contact to get ballcarriers to the ground (affected by his lack of size)...Has problems tracking the ball in flight and needs to do a better job of looking the pass in over his outside shoulder...Needs to be more aggressive in press coverage and fails to keep a hand relationship on the receiver throughout the route...Must do a better job of attacking the ball, as he gets sloppy with his hands, resulting in a high amount of pass interference charges called on him...Despite good leaping ability, his lack of height sees him lose jump ball battles vs. the taller receivers...Has good quickness, but perhaps due to poor ball anticipation skills, he will get a late jump on the ball and must close with better urgency...
Has one off-field issue that might warrant further explanation.
Compares To: JAMAR FLETCHER-Houston...Outside of nickel and dime packages, Wilhite does not seem to be a player destined for starting at the next level. He has excellent speed, but lacks field awareness and seems very hesitant to make plays vs. the run. He lacks playmaking ability and even though he has eight interceptions, he lacks natural hands and struggles to track the ball in flight. He has good recovery speed when the receiver gets behind him, but poor anticipation skills and a lack of instincts make him a liability playing in the zone. Outside of his timed speed, he would have problems joining a team, even as a camp player.
Injury Report
2006: Had his wisdom teeth removed in May...Suffered a right hamstring pull, missing most of the Louisiana State game (9/16) and the entire Buffalo (9/23) and South Carolina (9/28) contests...Underwent surgery in early December after tearing his right knee meniscus in practice, missing the Cotton Bowl vs. Nebraska (1/01/07).
2007: Suffered a left shoulder AC joint bruise in March camp...Re-injured his right hamstring vs. South Florida (9/08), sitting out vs. Mississippi State (9/15).
