Nikita Whitlock

Nikita Whitlock
No. 49 New York Giants
Position: Fullback
Personal information
Date of birth: (1991-05-16) May 16, 1991
Place of birth: Wylie, Texas
Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight: 250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High school: Wylie (TX)
College: Wake Forest
Undrafted: 2014
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status: Injured reserve
Career highlights and awards
  • 2× Second-team All-ACC (2012, 2013)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2015
Total tackles: 5
Sacks: 1.0
Rushing yards: 0
Receiving yards: 0
Total touchdowns: 0
Player stats at NFL.com

Nikita Nehemiah Whitlock (born May 16, 1991) is an American football fullback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He played college football at Wake Forest. Whitlock has also been a member of the Dallas Cowboys practice squad.

Whitlock had a standout high school career at Wylie High School, earning AP Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2008. After playing defensive tackle and linebacker throughout high school and college, the undersized Whitlock switched to fullback in the NFL. He won the starting fullback job for the Giants in 2015 after strong special teams work in the pre-season.

Personal

Whitlock is the son of Raymond and Genny Whitlock.[1] Whitlock was originally going to be named Sergio Nehemiah Whitlock, but his grandmother did not like the name. His father, who worked for Yellow Pages, opened up a phone book to a random page and put his finger down to select his name, ending up with Nikita.[2] Whitlock graduated from Wake Forest with a Health and Exercise Science major.[1]

High school career

Whitlock attended and played football at Wylie High School.[1] He was named the AP Texas Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year in 2008.[3] The Dallas Morning News named him the All-Area Defensive Player of the Year.[1] Whitlock's height made it difficult for him to get noticed by college recruiters.[4] As a freshman, he was 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m), 175 pounds (79 kg). He grew to 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), 240 pounds (110 kg) by his senior year.[4] His high school coach said, "If he was 6-foot-3, he'd be the No. 1 defensive lineman in the country".[4] Mesquite Horn coach Rodney Webb called Whitlock "the best defensive player he had seen at the high school level".[4] Whitlock set the school bench press record at 405 pounds (184 kg) as a senior.[4] Dallas Morning News sportswriter Matt Wixon called Whitlock "one of the most dominant high school linemen" he has ever seen.[5]

He was offered scholarships to play football for SMU and Northwestern State, and also received interest from TCU and Utah State, before committing to Wake Forest.[4][6]

College career

External image
Whitlock at Wake Forest tackling a player during a November 2012 game

Whitlock played college football at Wake Forest from 2009 to 2013. At Wake Forest, Whitlock played nose guard. Whitlock redshirted his freshman year in 2009, practicing as a linebacker.[6]

As a redshirt freshman, he was named second-team freshman All-American by College Football News and Rivals.com.[1] Phil Steele named him fourth team All-ACC in 2012, as well as second-team pre-season All-ACC in 2013.[1][7] He earned second-team All-ACC defensive honors in 2011 and 2012.[1] In 2013, he was on the Bednarik Award watchlist.[5]

College statistics

from Wakeforrestsports.com[1]

Year
Team
TT
Solo
Ast
TFL
Sack
PDef
INT
FF
FR
2010 Wake Forest 44 20 24 10½ 3 3 0 2 0
2011 Wake Forest 64 26 38 14 3½ 1 0 1 0
2012 Wake Forest 51 27 24 5½ 3 0 0 0 0
2013 Wake Forest 81 56 25 18 9 3 0 1 0
Career Totals 240 129 111 48 18½ 7 040

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP
5 ft 10 in 251 lb 4.82 s 1.69 s 2.81 s 4.34 s 6.91 s 33 in 9 ft 0 in 43 reps
All values from his Pro Day[8]

Cincinnati Bengals

External image
Nikita Whitlock catches a pass during warmups before a 2014 pre-season game with the Bengals

On May 12, 2014, Whitlock was signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals.[9][10] Upon signing with the Bengals, Whitlock was moved from defensive tackle to fullback.[10] At 5'10", 250 pounds (110 kg), Whitlock was considered too small to play defensive tackle at the NFL level.[11]

He was released by the Bengals on August 30, 2014.[12]

Dallas Cowboys

After being released by the Bengals, the Dallas Cowboys signed Whitlock to their practice squad on September 1, 2014.[13] He was then released on September 9.[14] The Cowboys resigned Whitlock to the practice squad on September 16.[15] He was then released again on November 3.[16][17]

A week later, Whitlock worked out for the Baltimore Ravens but was not signed.[18] While a free agent, Whitlock was suspended by the NFL for four games on November 21; the league did not announce why he was suspended.[19]

New York Giants

On December 17, 2014, Whitlock was signed to the New York Giants practice squad.[20] He worked as both a fullback and a linebacker during practice.[21] On December 29, 2014, Whitlock signed a futures contract with the Giants.[22]

In the 2015 NFL season, Whitlock defeated incumbent Henry Hynoski for the fullback spot after surviving final cuts.[23] Whitlock won the roster spot by his special teams play, as well as being younger and less expensive than Hynoski.[24] In the final preseason game, Whitlock took snaps at both fullback and defensive tackle. He performed dual duty again during the Giants game against the Washington Redskins on September 24, 2015.[25][26] On December 23, 2015, Whitlock suffered a knee injury in the week 15 game against the Carolina Panthers, and was placed on season-ending injured reserve.[27]

He finished the season playing 132 offensive plays, 61 defensive plays, and 276 special teams plays.[28]

On August 30, 2016, Whitlock was waived/injured by the Giants and placed on injured reserve.[29]

On September 15, 2016, Whitlock was suspended for 10 games while on IR for violation of the NFL's PED policy. The suspension was issued while he was on the Giant's IR.[30]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Nikita Whitlock Bio – The Official Site of Wake Forest Demon Deacon Athletics". wakeforestsports.com. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Tom Rock (7 September 2015). "The naming of Nikita Whitlock was a real page-turner". Newsday. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Wilkinson takes all-state honors(subscription required) 31 January 2009. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Morris Communications
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Matt Baker (2 October 2008). "Wylie nose guard doesn't ask much, gives all he's got". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  5. 1 2 Matt Wixon (19 September 2013). "Where are they now: Former Wylie star nose guard Nikita Whitlock, one of the best Texas high school football players ever". Dallas Morning News High School Sports Blog. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  6. 1 2 Scott Hamilton (28 March 2014). "Whitlock embraces new challenge". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  7. ↑ Steele, Phil, Phil Steele Pre-season All-ACC 2013. 30 May 2013. Accessed 25 March 2016
  8. ↑ "Nikita Whitlock – Wake Forest, FB : 2014 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  9. ↑ Currie McFayden (12 May 2014). "Whitlock, Jackson and Thompson Sign Free Agent Deals". wakeforestsports.com. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  10. 1 2 Ed Valentine (25 July 2015). "Giants 90-man roster breakdown: FB Nikita Whitlock has made interesting switch". Big Blue View. SB Nation. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  11. ↑ Ed Valentine (28 August 2015). "Converted nose tackle Nikita Whitlock making himself noticed with Giants". Big Blue View. SB Nation. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  12. ↑ Josh Kirkendall (30 August 2014). "Bengals release Nikita Whitlock and Orson Charles". Cincy Jungle. SB Nation. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  13. ↑ Jason Marcum (1 September 2014). "Cowboys sign Nikita Whitlock to practice squad and waive Ahmad Dixon". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  14. ↑ "Cowboys Sign WR To Practice Squad, Release FB Whitlock". Dallas Cowboys. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Notes: Lawrence Not Focused On Target Date; FB Re-Signed". Dallas Cowboys. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "Dallas Cowboys on Twitter". Twitter. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  17. ↑ Schuyler Dixon (3 November 2014). "Romo first-class priority as Cowboys go to London". FOX Sports. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  18. ↑ Aaron Wilson (12 November 2014). "Ravens sign tight end Konrad Reuland to practice squad". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  19. ↑ Josh Kirkendall (22 November 2014). "Former Bengals and Cowboys FB Nikita Whitlock suspended for four games". Cincy Jungle. SB Nation. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  20. ↑ Jordan Raanan (17 December 2014). "Giants roster moves: Tight end Jerome Cunningham added to active roster, RB to practice squad". NJ.com. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  21. ↑ Fantasy not part of NY Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr.'s reality Samuel, Ebenezer. New York Daily News, 18 December 2014. Accessed 25 March 2016
  22. ↑ Ed Valentine (29 December 2014). "New York Giants sign 11 players to reserve/futures contracts". Big Blue View. SB Nation. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  23. ↑ Matt Wixon (10 September 2015). "Former Wylie star Nikita Whitlock, told he was too small to play major college football, is now a member of the New York Giants". dallasnews.com. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  24. ↑ James Kratch (7 September 2015). "Giants' fullback Nikita Whitlock ready to 'just try to crush everybody I can'". NJ.com. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  25. ↑ Traina, Patricia (26 September 2015). "Breaking Down the Play of Nikita Whitlock, New York Giants' 2-Way Threat". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  26. ↑ Kratch, James (25 September 2015). "Giants' Nikita Whitlock on playing defensive tackle: 'That's my dream'". NJ.com. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  27. ↑ Eisen, Michael (23 December 2015). "Two-way player Nikita Whitlock to IR; Brandon Meriweather signed". Giants.com. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  28. ↑ Ed Valentine (23 December 2015). "Giants' FB Nikita Whitlock headed to IR with knee injury, per report". Big Blue View. SB Nation. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  29. ↑ Eisen, Michael. "Giants announce first round of roster cuts". Giants.com.
  30. ↑ "Nikita Whitlock suspended 10 games for violating NFL's performance-enhancing drugs policy".
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