Andrew Whitworth has made the grade ever since he arrived at LSU as one of the most highly touted offensive tackles in the country in 2001.
The mammoth 6-foot-7, 325-pound offensive tackle from West Monroe High School started all 13 games LSU played in 2002 after a redshirt season and made a name for himself.
He was a member of The Sporting News Freshman All-American First Team and graded out better than 85 percent in every single game.
What does that mean? According to Whitworth, just about everything.
“We assess the grade on missed assignments, loafs, how many pins we have, how many knockdowns we have, whether we finish the play and different things like that,” Whitworth said.
Whitworth said a win is the most satisfiable grade, but said LSU offensive line coach Stacey Searels considers a grade in the high seventies to be a pretty good grade. So what about mid 80s.
“If you are in the eighties, you played a really good game,” Whitworth said.
Whitworth said improved size and strength from his first year starting to this year have also made him better.
“This year I’m a lot stronger than I was last year,” Whitworth said. “Last year, there were certain things such as leg strength were a problem, but this year I feel a lot stronger in my legs.”
He also said his redshirt year in 2001 played a large part in the player he is today.
“There is nothing that can help you more than a redshirt year,” Whitworth said. “You just get to learn the basics of college football. Being a man and the day in and day out of going after it and hitting each other. The redshirt year is definitely a plus. I hated it at first, but when I got to last season I was very glad I redshirted.”
Whitworth knows it will take more than the basics to defeat Georgia in Tiger Stadium this week. He is impressed with the Bulldogs’ quickness and speed.
“They play hard and use great technique,” Whitworth said. “They all look like very successful defensive linemen and most of their linebackers flow very well. They are a very good defense. I don’t think any of the credit they’ve gotten is just hype.”
He said there will be a marked difference in everything along Georgia’s defensive line compared to LSU’s first three opponents.
“All SEC opponents are much bigger and stronger and physical play starts and it really gets to the grind,” Whitworth said. “The defensive linemen are the size of offensive linemen now, and everybody is so much faster and bigger and stronger.”
Georgia defensive end David Pollack, who will line up against Whitworth for a significant amount of plays, is the real deal and will be a challenge to block.
“He is a very talented player,” Whitworth said. “He plays with unbelievable effort. That is one of the biggest things about him is his first step, his quickness and his effort. Those are definitely his key assets. It’s something we definitely have to respect.”
But Whitworth said the offensive line cannot concentrate just on Pollack, because if it does, it will be a long day.
“We are not going to focus just on Pollack but more on how successful their defense is,” Whitworth said. “There are other players making tons of plays, and they have some strong safeties, free safeties and linebackers that make some great plays out there. So we’re focusing on how good their defense is and how good we’re going to have to play to beat them.”