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Boise State numerical roster countdown 2016: Day 53, Sam Whitney

By Casey Joplin
Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Back-to-back lineman! Let's keep it going with #53 Sam Whitney today!

#53, Sam Whitney, RS Freshman, DL

Sam Whitney

Stats

Height: 6' 2"

Weight: 234lbs (-1)

High School: Folsom High School, Folsom, CA

How'd he get to the Blue™?

While he was lightly recruited, Sam was definitely a steal. He passed on an offer from Sacramento State to come to Boise State. You will see from his film below that that was a HUGE boon for us. He's fast and relentless and I like both of those things in a pass rusher.

Nickname

"The Seeker"

Seeker

As in heat-seeker. If there is a QB on the field, he will find them and destroy them.

Look-a-like

French Stewart

French Stewart

Career Highlights

Rated as a 3-star recruit by Scout.com, we has listed as the #7 in CA and #18 in the West at DE. Selected to MaxPreps' California All-State Second Team and All-CIF Sac-Joaquin Section First Team in 2014. Named All-Metro Defensive POY and league MVP by the Sacramento Bee. Recorded 13 sacks and 47 tackles his senior season in which Folsom went 16- and won the CIF Division 1 State title. Named to first team All-NorCal.

2015 Prospectus

Honestly I don't know what they have in store for Sam. His size would lead me to believe that they might play him at traditional end, possibly STUD, but he's listed as a DL, which generally indicates an interior lineman. They very well could be positioning him here due to lack of depth and inexperience. He also may weight more than the 234lbs that Broncosports.com has him listed at.

Regardless, he is in a good position to see the field this year, whether that be on the interior or end. Traditional end has stiffer competition with Sam McCaskill, Austin Silsby and Miles Durrant out there. Again, McCaskill has dabbled at both, and he could continue to do that. Gabe Perez, Jabrill Frazier and Kaleb Hill are STUD guys, and that might be tough for Sam to break through there. Not to mentioned Curtis Weaver, Kayode Rufai and maybe Jabari Watson.

The least amount of experience exists on the interior, and his speed could be of huge assistance there. I'm not sure 234lbs will cut it on the inside though. He'd need to be in the 260-270 range at a minimum.

He has the motor and the speed for it, which makes me hope he is at end. He could afford to gain a bit of weight and probably not lose too much speed. If he can get up to 240-245, he'd be a beast. Fall camp will reveal a bit more of what they might be doing on the D-line.

Is he on Twitter?

Now this is adorable. Oh dear, it seems I have something in my eye...

Completely made up fact

Sam was a big fan of whittling when he was younger, but instead of whittling sticks, he whittled stones. He still used a pocket knife though. It worked out pretty well for him.

BSU sculpture