The Cardinal Countdown: 49 Days Until Kickoff

#49 Boosie Whitlow

Class: RS Junior

Ht/Wt: 6-3/214

Position: Linebacker

Hometown: Oelika, AL

Twitter: @BoosieWhitlow

Thoughts: Over the last 50 days you’ve heard me cover a number of different topics, but one of my reoccurring themes/concerns has been the depth and the turnover among the defensive front seven. So many new faces will be occupying starting spots in 2018, and even more new faces will be seeing the field for the first time as a Cardinal. Quandeski “Boosie” Whitlow will be one of those new faces (Boosie joined the Cards last year as a transfer from South Carolina). The hire of Muschamp at USC and his new defensive approach wasn’t the best fir for Whitlow, so after seeing no live action in 2016 and now having sat out his transfer year in 2017, Whitlow is two seasons removed from Division I football. The good news is that if Whitlow can get back to what we saw of him his freshman year, he will be a solid piece of the defense for the next couple years.

As a true freshman Whitlow saw action in all twelve games the Gamecocks played back in 2015, and actually got three starts that season as well. He had five tackles for loss (4^th on the team) and grabbed a sack to go along with 4 QB hurries and 14 tackles. He wasn’t an afterthought by any means and showed signs of developing into a great player as a true freshman. For whatever reason 2016 didn’t pan out as Boosie had hoped and the Cards will look to reap the benefits of talented player with two season of eligibility remaining.

If Boosie doesn’t wind up earning a starting spot up front I just can’t envision a scenario where he isn’t on the field the majority of the time in one role or another. We’ve got some talented players up front but with the clean slate approach of having a new defensive coordinator and having some open spots to fill I tend to lean on experience and thats something Whitlow, three years removed from high school, has an upper hand on right now. After missing out on some defensive recruits the last couple years the Cards picked up a few solid players on the transfer market, now we finally get to see what they can do.

Sweet Tweet:

For you annual countdown readers….you already know what time it is. What do we do when we can’t sleep?!? Infomercials, on top of infomercials, on top of infomercials, on top of infomercials, on top of, wait for it……infomercials. Break out the credit card, it’s about to get crazy.

Me: Babe, look at this thing, I can practice my putting from the comfort of my own toilet seat.

Mrs CardinalStrong: No, not a chance. We are not putting a piece of cheap green carpet with a little flag on it in my bathroom.

Me: Ya know, the kids have really killed my golf game. No time to play or practice anything since I’m busy being ‘Dad of The Year’ and all every weekend.

Mrs CardinalStrong: I’m crying for you, I really am. Oh, and not to mention…I don’t even want to think about how much pee would be on that thing the first 5 minutes you had it since for some reason you can’t seem to hit the toilet, like, ever.

Me: Well, it sounds to me as if you’re saying I need to work on my aim. What better way to improve that hand eye coordination than with a…potty putter. ORDER IT!

***

Me: Umm, honey. Not sure how we’ve both made it through 30 plus years of life without this thing but, here we are. Got to get it.

Mrs CS: That’s ridiculous. Those are for people with back issue or the elderly.

Me: Know what else is for the elderly? Those classes that teach people how to use technology, but yet somehow you, not an old person, still can’t work the TV. See, you could get some use out of them as well…just like this beautiful telescoping shoe horn.

Mrs CS: You know what, how about I DO look into some of those stupid classes, and while I’m checking them out I’m gonna see if they have any about fiscal responsibility. I’m sure blowing through $100 a month on dumb crap on TV isn’t great for our budget.

Me: You know how to SLIDE right out of impending debt? With….a telescoping shoe horn. ORDER IT!