July 10, 2011
Dirk Knudsen
WashingtonPreps.com Editor
Well let’s say this. He is good enough that Portland State has made him an early offer and they clearly love him.
In full contact one on one drills this fast Falcon explodes and in a burst he can be by you. He is 6’4″ and 220 pounds and his frame is all muscle and bone.
Wide and angular he makes a very intriguing frame from which to build a high performance speed rush D’end upon. There is little doubt that he can be 240 to 250 and still maintain his agility and edge.
But there is something more with Sawyer. Call it the “Eye of the Tiger” is you will but even against the likes of Zach Banner and Josh Garnett he seemed to enjoy the collisions. He attacks with a hunger and reckless abandon that you want in this new era of speed versus size.
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| Dirk Knudsen, WashingtonPreps.com | |
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| At 6’4″ and 220 pounds Whalen is a perfect speed rush D’End for any school looking to fill that role |
Add to that the fact that he is pretty quiet. That is always a sign of a thinking man that is figuring out your weaknesses. All and all Whalen is amongst the top 3 or 4 athletes in the Pacific Northwest who can lay claim to be the best.
He joins Oregon’s Sam McCaskill, Marcell Frazier, and Jacob Nallin that elite group.
All of them have offers. We think Whalen is under the radar still.
“I am hearing the most from WSU and the U of W and Idaho. But Cal is calling me weekly too,” said Whalen trying to assess where things could go from here.
“PSU is a great school and I love it there. So having that opportunity is a great feeling as well,” he added.
No doubt it is. Coach Nigel Burton is doing a superb job of rebuilding and recruiting this year. And Jeld Wen Park is going to be fantastic is a City like Portland where Football has had some great success.
What about this year versus last year for his team?
