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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
Leading the SEC in tackles with 59 total stops through just 4 starts (over 6 appearances), sophomore LSU linebacker Whit Weeks has quickly become one of the game's best linebackers.....already a true difference maker, impact player, and decisive on-field leader for Blake Baker's younger / inexperienced defense, it's no wonder LSU are undefeated when Weeks starts for the Tigers (7-0).
Many Tiger fans, who desperately pleaded with former defensive coordinator Matt House to play him all throughout his breakout freshman year, aren't surprised at all by his production, but it's the sheer volume that is mind blowing:
18 Tackles, 2 TFLs, 2 QB Pressures, 1 PBU, 1 Sack, 1 forced fumble all during 1 masterclass performance vs Ole Miss where the world was finally introduced to the renegade Georgia-born linebacker's high octane brand of do-it-all ultra violence.....and the public don't seem to be able to get enough of the sophomore Tiger, hell, even the refs threw away their usual "dramatic targeting ejection" script just to keep the entertaining specimen in the game....
Weeks' devastating showing vs Ole Miss was one of the greatest linebacking outings LSU fans had witnessed in years...truly a game-changing talisman for Baker's defense, supplying key plays on most snaps, while also fueling the success of his teammates, namely linebacker partner Greg Penn III.
Success at an early age is nothing new to Whit, a young man who led the team in tackles on his freshman starting debut (8 overall) last fall on the road @ Mississippi State (in what was LSU's best defensive performance in 2023).
Due to starting veteran LB Omar Speights' ankle injury, Whit also started & succeeded during a few other early season victories over Arkansas (9 tackles, ranking 3rd on the team), as well as another SEC road win against Missouri.
Unthinkably, inexplicably, after incredible, all action performances, the freshman Weeks was benched for the first half of the Ole Miss game, where LSU fell down to an early double digit deficit, before allowing a record 700+ yards and 55 points in a close loss that firmly unraveled the Tigers' 2023 season.....a year where Jayden Daniels won the Heisman leading an unstoppable offense....losing 3 games where the raw, but undisputed Weeks stood on the sidelines without complaint.
There was a reason his benching drove fans like myself crazy....why is this kid, an incendiary freight train of a player, kept on the bench when everyone understood this freshman made LSU's defense better?
"Whit elevates the players around him," Head Coach Brian Kelly complimented Weeks during a midweek press conference where questions about his sensational young linebacker dominated proceedings.
"Elevates the players around him...." that is precisely why his absence last fall drove teammates, fans and smart media members insane.....taking off a player of this magnitude during a season where LSU was led by a historic, championship-level offense, needing just a slight improvement from their 109th ranked defense in order to win 2 close losses to Ole Miss and Alabama....it is a decision that looks worse by the day.
But we're not here to harp on the past, only to take a few lessons from its cold stark realities:
Whit Weeks, even as a raw freshman, could have helped LSU contend for something much more than individual awards last season.....
....Now cast as a supernaut sophomore talent & playing with more swagger & confidence than ever before, Whit Weeks is at the forefront of LSU's defensive renaissance, 5-1 record, and current top 10 ranking....flying around the gridiron from hash to hash like a madman on the loose, frothing at the mouth for his next kill.
Watching Weeks play football isn't just voyeuristic bloodsport, it's participatory, sending fans up & out of their seats, descending into a raging din of noise echoing off the cavernous Tiger Stadium like a barbarian war call.....these are people who understand Weeks on a primal, visceral level.
There are times it's easy to confuse Whit for a cross between Bruce Willis' John McClain character from Die Hard and Matthew McConaughey's eternal role as Wooderson, circa Dazed and Confused, but there's something about the LSU sophomore that appears to be unlike anything else in college football today....
Carved straight out of a college football magazine from 1986, while blessed with all the new age athleticism, versatility, and decisive aggression of his current era, Whit Weeks is a linebacker who's out of step with the times....and yet his skill set & mentality might make him a linebacker for all times........an on field savage built of special stuff by parents Erin and David, perfect for an LSU defense in need of elevation, ripe for an unforgettable campaign with nothing but the opposition in his way.
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
©️ 2024 Uninterrupted Writings Inc
He is literally the standard for excellence at his position. He has strengths against all offensive strategies.,