Every Monday and Thursday, Plainsman sports staffers Zach Tantillo and Nathan King will analyze an Auburn football player who has a chance to make a sizable impact on the team next season.
Today’s Fortune Teller focuses on backup running back JaTarvious Whitlow, a redshirt freshman who has been rapidly trending upward since recovering from injury at bowl practices.
In his 2017 recruiting class, Gus Malzahn may have found a diamond in the rough.
Meet JaTarvious "Boobee" Whitlow, a rising redshirt freshman receiver-turned-tailback who could be a show-stopper out of the backfield next season. A product of LaFayette High School — 25 miles from the campus of Auburn University — Whitlow is playing his third position in as many years after playing quarterback his senior year at the Lee County school and receiver his true freshman season as a Tiger.
Thankfully for Malzahn and Chip Lindsey's now-injury-ridden skill positions, each of Whitlow's transitions along the offense have been seamless.
After a surprise signing late during Auburn's 2017 National Signing Day, Whitlow redshirted his freshman year on The Plains with an ankle injury. Once he healed however, he blossomed in a do-it-all role for the offense in bowl practices.
“Whitlow’s done a really nice job,” offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said after a Peach Bowl practice in Atlanta. “The [running backs], Malik Miller and those guys, have gotten reps throughout the season, but I think Whitlow has been a surprise. He got hurt early and has come back really well.”
Fully healed and anxious to bust through a young running back corps, Whitlow shone in spring practices, making good on the potential flashed in his high school days — he passed for 2,292 yards and ran for 2,147 more in his final year at LaFayette, accounting for 59 total touchdowns in total.
That potential came to a head in Auburn's first scrimmage of the spring, when Whitlow tore away from the defense for a 70-yard touchdown scamper for the offensive play of the day. According to his teammates, the 6-foot, 216-pound freshman reversed Pat Dye Field multiple times and beat the secondary with sheer speed.
"It was something like you see on 'Madden,' where you just go one way and he reversed the other way," Tigers guard Marquel Harrell said after the scrimmage. "It was a good run. It brought some energy to the field."
Whitlow's offensive line, which will be the most crucial for his chances at a breakout 2018, has long awaited playing time for the athlete who they believe can be a "great player" for the future of the program.
"I saw that about Boobee, I think, last fall camp," guard Mike Horton said of Whitlow's explosiveness. "I've always seen that about him. I've always spoke highly about Boobee. I know he'll be a great player. I love him a lot."
Thanks to performances like Whitlow's, Auburn's running back debacle of replacing Kerryon Johnson and Kamryn Pettway is becoming more transparent. Rising junior Kam Martin appears to be the starter going forward, and speedster Devan Barrett has moved to receiver, creating space for Whitlow, who received second-team reps throughout spring ball.
Johnson’s departure will be the biggest void to fill for Lindsey’s unit, as the 2017 AP SEC Offensive Player of the Year accounted for nearly 46 percent of the Tigers’ rushing output last season.
PREDICTION
Martin’s injury prior to A-Day opened the door for increased carries from Whitlow, true freshman Asa Martin and junior walk-on C.J. Tolbert. The trio made the most of the spotlight as “Boobee” ran for 98 yards on 14 carries and Asa Martin racked up 66 yards on 17 attempts. Tolbert won Offensive MVP behind a 137-yard, two-touchdown performance.
"It's kind of like a (Kamryn) Pettway and Kerryon mix," fullback Chandler Cox said of Whitlow. "He's physical, he's fast, he can move. He's got kind of the shifty, kind of like what Kerryon does, but is more physical, like Pettway."
Regardless of the lineup decided for Auburn's Week 1 matchup with Washington, Malzahn now possesses an all-purpose workhorse who, all of a sudden, boasts experience and respect before ever seeing the field.
Catch up on previous installments of the Fortune Teller series:
- DL Derrick Brown
- CB Noah Igbinoghene
- WR Ryan Davis
- K Anders Carlson
- QB Jarrett Stidham
- CB Javaris Davis
- OL Prince Tega Wanogho
- WR Devan Barrett
- WR Darius Slayton
- LB Deshaun Davis
- CB Jamel Dean
- BUCK T.D. Moultry, Big Kat Bryant
- P Arryn Siposs
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Nathan King, senior in journalism with a minor in business, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
