Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Three things to know about Jordan Whitehead

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PITTSBURGH, PA – NOVEMBER 07: Jordan Whitehead #9 of the Pittsburgh Panthers reacts after scoring a touchdown in the second half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the game at Heinz Field on November 7, 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) /

2. He was Pennsylvania’s Top Player in High School

Given his past success, it’s not surprising at all to see Jordan Whitehead headed to the NFL. If anything, it’s somewhat of a surprise that he even made it to the fourth round. At Central Valley High School, he was the top prospect in the state of Pennsylvania, according to Rivals. His ESPN.com recruiting profile rates him as a four-star prospect and lists offers from Ohio State, Alabama, Penn State, Michigan and Notre Dame, among others. Instead of going elsewhere, he stayed home to play at Pitt.

He played on both sides of the ball for Central Valley. As a senior, he finished with 35 touchdowns, scoring on the ground as a runner, through the air as a receiver, on defense and on kick and punt returns. He had 97 tackles and seven interceptions that year to earn a variety of honors. From his bio on Pitt’s website:

"Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Beaver County Times Player of the Year…selected All-State Class AAA by the Pennsylvania Sports Writers…Pennsylvania Football News first team All-Class AAA…Pennsylvania Football News Class AAA Defensive Player of the Year…named to the Pennsylvania Football News 2014 #TeamPA, which recognized the best players in the state regardless of school classification…recipient of the Pittsburgh Athletic Association Mercury Award, honoring the top high school football player in Western Pennsylvania…selected to play in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl…rated the nation’s No. 6 cornerback by Rivals, No. 11 by ESPN, No. 17 by Scout and No. 20 by 247Sports…named to the Rivals 100 (No. 75), Scout 300 (No. 128), ESPN 300 (No. 142) and Top247 (No. 163)"

You don’t even have to read all of that to tell that Whitehead was special at the high school level. He went on to have similar success at Pittsburgh, finishing his three seasons with ACC Rookie of the Year honors (2015), an All-ACC second team selection (2016) and an All-ACC honorable mention (2017).

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