Blue White Illustrated

Penn State coach James Franklin and defensive coordinator Brent Pry nearly built an entire secondary in two days last April, landing defensive backs Kalen King, Jaylen Reed and Zakee Wheatley. Wheatley is a four-star prospect, and it's not just his talent that's impressive; he's also a great 8t with the other players the Nittany Lions landed during their spring recruiting surge. With the speed, ball skills and versatility to play multiple roles, Wheatley is the perfect free safety to roam the middle of Penn State's de- fense. STRENGTHS COVERAGE INTELLIGENCE Making plays on the ball is not as easy as it seems. It takes intelligence to know where the ball is going, plus the con8- dence in what you see to make a snap decision. Wheatley makes this look easy roaming the secondary. His drive to the ball and the subsequent ability to time his arrival properly are traits that defen- sive coaches covet. He also shows an awareness of when to come o: his man and break on underneath routes. With the other skills we'll outline below, Wheatley has the potential to be a turnover machine. The added bonus is that he has reps at cornerback, too. The ability to play in man coverage adds signi8cantly to his pro8le and makes him a matchup weapon in the secondary. If he's not limited to lining up exclusively in deep coverage, Penn State will be able to de- ploy him as a slot defender or in matchup-zone coverages. BALL SKILLS There's a healthy debate as to whether or not Wheatley should be a safety prospect at all. His hands and ball skills are phenomenal. Whether it's simply playing the ball in the air, con- tested-catch situations or one-handed grabs, Wheatley shows that he's more than a center 8elder catching pop 9ies. That talent, combined with his coverage intuition, makes him the kind of de- fender who can change games if he can get to the football. TACKLING While he's got a thinner frame at 6-foot-2, 183 pounds, Wheat- ley hits hard. Whether he's peeling o: his man in coverage to converge on an underneath route or 8lling the alley as a deep safety, Wheatley shows that he's a physical presence on the football 8eld. This gives him the ability to play at every level of the defense and further in- creases what he can be asked to do by his coaches. AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT STRENGTH Explosive speed and power come from a well-developed lower body. If there is one area that Wheatley will need to improve upon, it's this. He's tough and is clearly strong, but he will have to add weight and power to play the same way at the Division I level. The good news is that he will have every opportunity to do so in the Penn State training program. At 6-2, his frame can support as much weight as he can sustain without losing speed and movement skills. With that in mind, he could potentially develop into a truly complete defender who can make standout plays at every level of the field. SPEED Wheatley is such a 9uid athlete that he makes most of what he does look e:ortless. Those silky movement skills, combined with his talent for recogni- tion, put him in position to make plays. They also make it hard to tell just how fast he is without a timed 40. There are no examples of him blowing by defend- ers as a receiver, or making recoveries as a defender to make up ground and show o: high-end speed. To be clear, he's plenty fast enough to accomplish what he wants to do on the 8eld. This is simply a gauge of what his ceiling would be as a football player. Even if his 40 time was not blazing fast, he's clearly a great athlete and it should not be seen as a hindrance. POSITIONAL PROJECTION FIELD SAFETY This is a no-brainer. Wheatley has the ball skills, coverage in- stincts and movement skills to be a great coverage safety in college. When you add his ability to play man coverage, you have the prototype of the modern free safety. His willingness and e:ectiveness in the running game mean the only thing standing in his way of becoming a com- plete safety is how his body naturally develops over time. Even if he doesn't reach that point, his ability to make plays on the ball will make him an in- credibly valuable player with a great blend of skills. Every recruit brings tal- ent to the table, but if things break right for him, Wheatley has the potential to be special. ■ importantly, he epitomizes what Spald- ing football is all about and was a model for his younger teammates. Those same qualities make him a great fit for Penn State." PHIL'S TAKE A;er viewing Wheatley's junior highlight video, I'm con8dent he is capable of playing the boundary corner- back position or the 8eld safety spot, as well as the Z-wide receiver position on o:ense. But there is no doubt in my mind that Wheatley will begin his Penn State football career at free safety. He has loose hips and is fully capable of playing press man-to-man defense from either the safety or cornerback position. He's very aggressive with his run support but must improve his tackling technique. At 6- foot-2, Wheatley has the frame to play at 200 pounds. He will most likely redshirt his freshman season. ■ S C O U T I N G R E P O R T B Y T H O M A S F R A N K C A R R S T R E N G T H S A R E A S O F D E V E L O P M E N T P O S I T I O N A L P R O J E C T I O N

• Cover