Few would have Kevin McStay’s side as genuine Sam Maguire contenders, but the former Dublin midfielder thinks their season still has the ability to ignite should they make a strong impression in the group stages.
Mayo welcome Cavan to Castlebar on Saturday off the back of a narrow Connacht final loss to Galway and a respectable top half finish in Division 1. For Whelan, there’s reason to be optimistic.
"They had a reasonable league campaign, they did what they had to do against Roscommon and were very close to winning a Connacht title.
"They may not be in as bad a position as people think.
"Obviously there’s question marks around their forward line and the role of Ryan O’Donoghue, there’s a lot of pressure on him to get the scores.
"Tommy Conroy has shown a little spark in the last couple of games, he seems to be getting a little bit of confidence back and adding something in that forward line."
Whelan’s biggest concern about Mayo relates to their tactical set up.
"For me, I think Mayo, it’s the balance of their team," he continued.
"I thought they left themselves very exposed at the back to Damien Comer in the Connacht final.
"They’re very good when they do decide to press up, as we saw in the second half against Galway when they looked like they put Galway under pressure, but they can’t do that for the full game."
Despite his positive assessment of Mayo, Whelan does believe Cavan have a chance to cause an upset – even with the loss of Allianz Football League top scorer Paddy Lynch who has suffered a cruciate injury.
Whelan expects similarities with a Mayo qualifier win over big underdogs Derry in Castlebar back in 2017 when the hosts needed extra-time before finally seeing off their game opponents in a topsy-turvy contest.
"Cavan have played better when they've fallen behind in games. They went eight down to Tyrone and they came back, they were down against Monaghan and they came back.
"A chaotic type of game suits them."
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