Decrick De'Shawn "Dede" Westbrook (; born November 21, 1993) is an American football wide receiver and return specialist who is a free agent. He played college football at Oklahoma where he won the Biletnikoff Award in 2016. He was drafted 110th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars where he played until 2020. He also played for the Minnesota Vikings in 2021.
Early years
Westbrook attended C. H. Yoe High School in Cameron, Texas, where he played high school football for the Yoemen. As a three-year letterer and starter, Westbrook caught a career total of 116 passes for 1,670 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also started at defensive back, racking 77 career tackles, 2 sacks, and 3 interceptions throughout his career. Although he was originally a highly touted recruit, Dede received a season-ending injury early into his senior year when a bad tackle ruptured his lower intestine. He spent over a month recovering in a hospital bed and several more months recovering through therapy, which took a toll on his physical and mental health; many recruiters withdrew their interest when his weight and grades both started to plummet. Many believed Dede's football career was permanently over.
Dede was regarded as a three-star recruit and was ranked the No. 97 wide receiver prospect in the Class of 2012 by ESPN. After getting scholarship offers from Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, UTEP, Utah State, and Wyoming, Dede committed to Texas State University to play for the Texas State Bobcats. However, Dede's grades were still not good enough to allow him to be admitted into the school, so he ultimately went the junior college route and played at Blinn College.
While in high school, Dede excelled in basketball and track.
College career
After fully recovering from his injury, Westbrook had a breakout season at Blinn College where he caught passes for 1,471 yards and 13 touchdowns. Dede was named one of the top junior college recruits and received over 30 scholarship offers, including from some who rescinded their offers when he was injured in high school. He ultimately transferred to the University of Oklahoma to play under head coach Bob Stoops. In his first year at Oklahoma in 2015, he started all 13 games and had 46 receptions for 743 yards and four touchdowns. Westbrook became Oklahoma's number one wide receiver during his senior year in 2016. Against Texas, he set a school record with 232 receiving yards, breaking the previous record of 217 held by Ryan Broyles. He led the Big 12 Conference with 1,524 receiving yards and 17 receiving touchdowns in 2016.
On December 5, 2016, Westbrook was announced as one of the finalists for the 2016 Heisman Trophy, along with quarterbacks Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, and defensive back Jabrill Peppers, from Clemson, Louisville, Oklahoma, and Michigan, respectively. He ended up finishing in fourth place in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Mayfield (3rd), Watson (2nd), and Jackson (1st).
College statistics
Professional career
Westbrook declined an invitation to play in the Senior Bowl. He received an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine, but decided to not perform any drills. At Oklahoma's Pro Day, he elected to run all the required combine drills. After finally performing for scouts and team representatives, Westbrook draft projections varied from the second round to the fourth round from draft experts and analysts. He was ranked the third best wide receiver by Pro Football Focus, the 14th best by Sports Illustrated, and was ranked the 15th best by NFLDraftScout.com.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Westbrook in the fourth round (110th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. He was the 15th wide receiver selected in 2017.
2017 season
On May 16, 2017, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Westbrook to a four-year, $3.07 million contract with a signing bonus of $676,156. He was placed on injured reserve with a designation to return on September 8, 2017, after dealing with a core muscle injury. On November 18, he was activated off injured reserve. Overall, in his rookie season, he totaled 27 receptions for 339 yards and one touchdown.