Nick Whiteside II (born May 1, 2000) is an American professional football cornerback. He played college football for the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals and signed with the Washington Commanders as an undrafted free agent in 2023.
| Personal information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | May 1, 2000 Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S. | ||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||
| Weight: | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school: | Avondale (Auburn Hills) | ||||
| College: | Saginaw Valley State (2018–2022) | ||||
| Position: | Cornerback | ||||
| Undrafted: | 2023 | ||||
| Career history | |||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2023 | |||||
| |||||
Early life
editWhiteside was born on May 1, 2000, in Auburn Hills, Michigan.[1] He attended Avondale High School in Auburn Hills and played three sports: football, basketball and track.[2] He won the OAA Scholar Athlete Award and was chosen to his football conference's all-league team.[2] He committed to play college football for the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals.[2]
College career
editAs a true freshman at Saginaw Valley State University in 2018, Whiteside played in all 11 games and recorded 15 tackles, four pass breakups and an interception.[2] He then received honorable mention All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) honors in 2019 while posting 46 tackles, nine pass breakups and five interceptions in 11 games.[2]
After no season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Whiteside appeared in all 11 games for the Cardinals in 2021 and had 40 tackles, eight pass breakups and four interceptions.[2] He was selected first-team All-GLIAC, the GLIAC Defensive Back of the Year and was selected second-team Division II All-American.[3][4] Whiteside suffered a torn Achilles tendon at the end of the 2021 season but returned in time for 2022 and appeared in 10 games, recording 30 tackles and two interceptions while repeating as an All-American.[5][6] However, he suffered a broken foot prior to the final game of the season.[6] He declared for the 2023 NFL draft, finishing his collegiate career with 131 tackles, 26 pass breakups and 12 interceptions in 43 games played.[6][7]
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
200 lb (91 kg) |
32+1⁄2 in (0.83 m) |
9+1⁄8 in (0.23 m) |
4.24 s | 7.09 s | 30.5 in (0.77 m) |
9 ft 11 in (3.02 m) |
8 reps | ||||
| All values from Pro Day[8] | ||||||||||||
Whiteside was signed by the Washington Commanders as an undrafted free agent on May 3, 2023.[9] He was released at the final roster cuts and then re-signed to the practice squad.[10][11] He was elevated to the active roster for the team's Week 17 game against the San Francisco 49ers and made his NFL debut in the 27–10 loss.[12][13] He was signed to the active roster on January 5, 2024, and was released on August 27, 2024.[14]
References
edit- ^ "NFL Draft Profile: Nick Whiteside, Cornerback, Saginaw Valley State Cardinals". Sports Illustrated. December 20, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "Nick Whiteside". Saginaw Valley State Cardinals.
- ^ Russo, Ralph D. (December 15, 2021). "Shepherd QB Bagent leads AP Division II All-America team". The Seattle Times. Associated Press.
- ^ "2021 All-GLIAC Football Teams, Player of the Year Awards Announced". Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. November 18, 2021.
- ^ Green, Brandon (August 30, 2022). "7-months removed from achilles surgery, Cardinals' Nick Whiteside is back on the field". WJRT-TV.
- ^ a b c Bernreuter, Hugh (May 1, 2023). "Detroit Lions, Washington sign SVSU standouts". MLive.com.
- ^ Ali, Sam (November 30, 2022). "Saginaw Valley State's Nick Whiteside declares for 2023 NFL Draft". WEYI-TV.
- ^ "2023 Draft Scout Nick Whiteside, Saginaw Valley State NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
- ^ Standig, Ben (May 3, 2023). "Ranking Commanders' undrafted rookies, including small-school QB, kick returner". The Athletic.
- ^ Selby, Zach (August 29, 2023). "Commanders release 20 players, place four on IR". Washington Commanders.
- ^ Trapasso, Chris (September 1, 2023). "2023 NFL practice squad tracker: Complete roster signings for all 32 teams ahead of 2023 season". CBS Sports.
- ^ Manning, Bryan (December 31, 2023). "Commanders place multiple starters on IR ahead of Week 17". USA Today.
- ^ "Nick Whiteside Career Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ Selby, Zach. "Commanders release 34 players; place 3 on IR, 1 on PUP list". Commanders.com. Retrieved August 28, 2024.