Mental, physical toughness defines linebacker’s game

SHERIDAN — A linebacker should be tough. He should be big and strong, too, but perhaps the most important aspect of playing linebacker is his smarts.

The Sheridan High School Yellowjackets’ Chris Wheeler is a linebacker who has those qualities, but his greatest attribute is his intelligence, or football IQ, as it’s often dubbed. Wheeler noticed in film study that he was rushing toward the ball carrier too quickly on running plays. While it may seem that getting to the ball fast is the most important part of playing linebacker, it does no good if the player runs into a block. That’s why Wheeler made a concerted effort to work with his position coach to practice more patience.

Wheeler is the 2015 Tri-Lakes Edition Defensive

Player of the Year.

As he let plays develop this year, lanes opened up for him through which to attack. Because of his patience and vision, he ran through the offensive line virtually untouched for tackles for loss or tackles for minimal gain on many downs.

“I was watchin’ my film from last year, and I was like, ‘How can I become the player I am this year?’” Wheeler said. “I had a good linebackers coach, and he made us take 6-inch read steps and make sure we saw the play develop before we just ran up and got blocked, pretty much get ourselves blocked out of the play. You have to learn to control that explosion until you know what’s happening.”

When Wheeler does get blocked, he has quick hands and feet to instinctively get off to make plays on the perimeter. He showed good ball skills with his lone interception this year. Dropping into coverage may not be his strong suit, but he showed good discipline to not get beat underneath.

He stands at 6 feet tall and carries a weight of 206 pounds, with room on his frame to add weight at the next level. Wheeler signed with Arkansas Tech University in Russellville on Wednesday as a preferred walk-on because he already has a full ride from academic scholarship money. He said he is ready for the increased competition at the next level.

“I guess I could compare it to when I came up from middle school, junior high and started as a high school sophomore,” Wheeler said. “The game is just going to be at a completely different speed. The way it goes is going to be completely different. I’ve just gotta get in there early and work my way up.”

Wheeler was impressed by the way the young team at Sheridan rallied and rose to the occasion the past three years. A respectable finish at 5-6 in the hypercompetitive 6A South is nothing to sniff at. He looks to continue the tradition of elevating his play when faced with stiff competition in college.

“The group of guys, we were young, we started out as sophomores, and we all pretty much started together,” Wheeler said. “So we knew we were going to have a strong team, a strong base of the team. We just knew we had to stick it out there and raise the standard for Sheridan.”

The Yellowjackets lost in the first round of the playoffs to Russellville. Russellville lost in the next round to the eventual-champion, the Pine Bluff Zebras.

Wheeler’s physical toughness is an important attribute, but his mental toughness is what he calls his best trait — a short memory, as it’s

sometimes called.

“I came up with a saying at the beginning of the season: ‘Don’t let the previous play affect you in a negative way,’” Wheeler said. “So no matter what happened the play

before, I always had to get back up and think about the next play.”

Staff writer Morgan Acuff can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or macuff@arkansasonline.com.

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