Green Lightning Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Nope. I'll trust NFL execs much more than a bunch of morons who hate a guy because they didn't draft a different guy. Immature or not, Whitner has never gotten a fair shake from the Buffalo fanbase. You know, there's some truth to what you say and there are plenty of Donte haters due to his draft position and who he ain't. All that said, anyone who would pay top ten money for him is just nuts. He's a good football player but not elite. Sign him for $3 mil, but man, nowhere near $5 or $6 mil. That's just stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Do you think someone will pay the $5-$6M he thinks he's worth? the redskins may be dumb enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddog69 Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 (edited) So will you come back to this thread and eat crow when some other NFL team gives him a big money deal? Why would I? Just because some team is willing to sign him for big money does not mean that he is good and that I amd wrong. (See Dockery, Derrick; Walker, Langston; Walker, Javon; Hall, Deangelo, etc) teams sign bad players to big contract all the time. That doesn't make them good player, it just makes the teams look stupid. Now, if he were to go on to another team and play well, cover tight ends effectively, improve his tackling and not just try to shoulder guys to the ground, stop throwing a hit into a guy already tackled, stop celebrating tackles 20yds downfield, then yes, I will gladly come back on this board and eat crow. Even if he doesn't stop being an immature d-bag and posting on twitter like a spoiled little girl. I am not too concerned that I will have to do this, though. I think he has a better chance of getting tasered again than he does of becoming a great NFL safety worthy of a big contract. Donte is a mediocre Safety (at best). Somebody will sign him and I wish him luck. I'm just happy he won't be embarassing himself in a Bills uniform on Sunday's. Edited May 3, 2011 by Maddog69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qdawg in philly Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 I with the fan base on this one. I like many Bills fans watch the bills every Sunday. I then record and critique each game, just for my personal satisfaction. I ask for those who are in support of DW, how often do you see a highlight of the Bills on ESPN? Even when we win, I know I really don't. My point, I follow the Bills daily. When the Eagles took Jason Peters I called in on a couple of sports radio shows. And I had to because they really thought the had a gem in Jason Peters. So I say to the host, he's not worth the money he's asking so we traded him. The guy , Mark Echo, says " all his peers say he's pretty good and he's a two time pro bowler!" So I give him the sacks he gave up that year and what Jason Peters does wrong at times! I conclude with saying ill call u later on and you can tell me how it works out for you guys. That next year I called and simply asked was Jason Peters worth the money? He said " NO" ESPN can't tell me jack **** about my team!! DW is not worth what he's asking. And he's not better than Merriwether, imho. The new regime owes him nothing. Were moving on. Best of luck DW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cincinnati Kid Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 The top 5 guys on this list are in another world. Its those five and everybody else. I guess if you like being "The Best of the Rest" then good for you Donte. If that gets you paid, America is a great place. Whatever. I am sick of this guy. See ya Donte. Ohio State Sucks, you prolly got all your tats for free and paid off people like Tress-dawg to keep it quiet. Whatever pal. Have fun in obscurity (like Nate Odoms when he left). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theranter Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 There is a huge drop-off after Mike Griffen of the Titans. gobills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T master Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 every year we seem to miss keeping better players, be it Winfield, Clements, Peters, Jennings, McGahee, Schobel etc and on and on. Somewhere along this line we had better expect to not only draft good players,but have a strategy for keeping them. It isn't good enough that at the end we think they "don't want to" stay with the Bills. This is a real problem. Donte would be a great keep if he played up to what he thinks he is but he hasn't ! 2 years ago Wilson did twice as much as Donte & he use to be a receiver . I think it would be great to resign him but not at the money he thinks he should get , it would be another thing if he earned it but i don't think he has !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Three pages and only a few people have noted who's opinion this rating is actually based upon. It's not based upon the opinion of NFL Execs…or NFL scouts. It's not even based upon the evaluations of ESPN scouts (which ESPN does employ). The ranking is based upon the evaluation of ESPN.com writers and bloggers…more specifically: Key: JC=John Clayton; MS=Mike Sando; KS=Kevin Seifert; PY=Pat Yasinskas; TG=Tim Graham; BW=Bill Williamson; JW=James Walker; PK=Paul Kuharsky It is my opinion that knowledgeable Bills fans who watch the team closely, attend the games, and who have scrutinized Whitner's career since its inception have a better grasp on his abilities than some of those who are formulating these rankings. No disrespect to these men who work for ESPN as writers/bloggers but I think for instance that long time season ticket holders who watch the games closely and can see the play unfold on the field snap after snap have a better grasp on Whitner's abilities than, say, ESPN's NFC West blogger. JMO. P.S.-- I doubt that you could find one NFL scout who would agree that Whitner is a better player than LaRon Landry…just for one example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOKBILLS Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Nope. I'll trust NFL execs much more than a bunch of morons who hate a guy because they didn't draft a different guy. Immature or not, Whitner has never gotten a fair shake from the Buffalo fanbase. Whatever...Morons? Seriously? 69 Games, 5 INT's and 19 Passes defended at the S Position... That's almost impossible... You go ahead and defend the guy while hiding behind a fantasy bunch of NFL execs...There's not as many as you think who love Donte anyway...Not saying there's not some, but it's not some great majority either...My judgement of Donte is 100% based on his play on the field...I could care less about the off-the-field stuff...He's not good enough and has not been from day #1...He got more than a fair shake from everyone here...He's just not that good...Not saying he's a bad guy or a bad teammate...He's just not that good on the field and makes almost no difference when he's out there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orton's Arm Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Forget about Whitner, rotoworld Bills GM Buddy Nix strongly indicated on a radio show Monday that the team has no intentions of retaining free agent SS Donte Whitner. "Donte Whitner I don’t think wants to be here, and he probably won’t," Nix said. That's about as close to confirmation an NFL team will give. The Bills' moves already indicated they intend to move on, re-signing George Wilson and drafting Da'Norris Searcy, another "box" safety. Whitner, 26 in July, was the eighth overall pick in the 2006 draft out of Ohio State. He'll appeal to teams that value safeties who play the run effectively. I think the above-quoted text from Rotoworld is key to this discussion. Whitner is a hard hitter, and seems to be around the play a lot. Those things matter, and are why he's reasonably well thought-of around the league. His weakness is in covering the TE. It's likely that whoever created those ESPN rankings valued run support more highly than pass coverage. Someone with the opposite preference probably wouldn't place Whitner among the top 10 safeties. The Bills' decision to draft Searcy in the fourth is interesting, in part because the reports I've read about him suggest he's better at covering TEs than at run support. Possibly, the Bills envision stopping the run primarily by having a front-7 that's bigger, more physical, and more dominant than the one inherited from the Tampa-2/Jauron scheme. Making the SS a less critical component of the plan to stop the run would free the Bills up to have a guy who's good in coverage against TEs. (Which is probably the hope for Searcy.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGB Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 After a few years of Bills fans expecting an impact return on a first round pick, Donte has been a disappointment and probably will not be resigned. The thing is Bills fans should be more disappointed with the return on first round picks Maybin and McCargo who took the cash, but haven't been a factor in improving the Bills at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ny33 Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 It pains me to say this, but I think that people like to bash Whitner and downgrade his ability because of his attitude and the fact that he doesn't seem to want to play in Buffalo. Unfortunately, the reality is this: Whitner, like McGahee, Clements, and others, is a very good player- somewhere in the top 12 safeties- who will leave the team. Unless Buffalo builds a winning culture, the Bills will continue this cycle of topping off at 7-9 wins and bottoming out at 4-6. We can't attract good free agents, and we simply lose many of our better players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garchat80 Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 It pains me to say this, but I think that people like to bash Whitner and downgrade his ability because of his attitude and the fact that he doesn't seem to want to play in Buffalo. Unfortunately, the reality is this: Whitner, like McGahee, Clements, and others, is a very good player- somewhere in the top 12 safeties- who will leave the team. Unless Buffalo builds a winning culture, the Bills will continue this cycle of topping off at 7-9 wins and bottoming out at 4-6. We can't attract good free agents, and we simply lose many of our better players. You're kidding... Comparing Whitner to McGahee, Clements and others is an insult.. TO THEM.. McGahee, Clements had some productive years here. They made plays and either followed the money or were shown the door by the fan base. Whitner has done nothing in Buffalo. I can't remember one memorable play he made.. Was it a stop on 4th down last yr? Please refresh my memory.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ny33 Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 You're kidding... Comparing Whitner to McGahee, Clements and others is an insult.. TO THEM.. McGahee, Clements had some productive years here. They made plays and either followed the money or were shown the door by the fan base. Whitner has done nothing in Buffalo. I can't remember one memorable play he made.. Was it a stop on 4th down last yr? Please refresh my memory.. Clements was also playing with a far more talented Bills defense. More broadly, what I'm annoyed by is the fact that we are losing a good safety- there is no question that he is in the top half of the league as a starter, which isn't number 7, but still good enough- as well as potentially Drayton Florence, who is also a solid player. The Aaron Williams pick, to me, is representative of the problem with this team- instead of keeping decent defensive players, we're replacing them. I would have loved to pick someone like Kyle Rudolph- we remain garbage at TE- or a DE like Bowers, even if he doesn't pan out. I think Williams will be a good player, but we're going nowhere by constantly losing solid players in free agency when we don't sign anyone at a marquee level, ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincec Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Whitner is a good player who wants to be paid like an elite player. There was probably a chance of signing him for some compromise price before he started being an unprofessional ass with his actions and tweets. He has now basically burned this bridge and is gone. The Bills should focus on signing Florence, who has contributed more than Whitner has anyway. It sounds like they are doing this. If the Bills front 7 improves, Whitner will be missed less than he thinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djrocks Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 every year we seem to miss keeping better players, be it Winfield, Clements, Peters, Jennings, McGahee, Schobel etc and on and on. Somewhere along this line we had better expect to not only draft good players,but have a strategy for keeping them. It isn't good enough that at the end we think they "don't want to" stay with the Bills. This is a real problem. really? jennings,mcgahee and by the way schobel retired. jennings like in bflo was injured most of the time.mcgahee was a total character disaster. peters was not worth the money and the fans in philly are not as enthused with him today as they were when they got him. go on their boards the think he is a lazy. winfield was a loss. clements was was not worth the money and if i'm not mistaken never made the pro bowl with the niners and will probably be cut this year if he does not take a major pay cut. i could not disagree with your post more. the only player we should have kept was winfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOKBILLS Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Unfortunately, the reality is this: Whitner is a very good player- somewhere in the top 12 safeties- who will leave the team. Maybe the Top 12 SS's...And IF he's in the Top 12 SS's he's #12... The facts are, once again, 69 Games, 5 INT's and 19 Passes Defended...He is no where near a very good player...There is a bit of removal between Whitner's play and a good player let alone very good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QCity Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Here's how the fans voted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garchat80 Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Clements was also playing with a far more talented Bills defense. More broadly, what I'm annoyed by is the fact that we are losing a good safety- there is no question that he is in the top half of the league as a starter, which isn't number 7, but still good enough- as well as potentially Drayton Florence, who is also a solid player. The Aaron Williams pick, to me, is representative of the problem with this team- instead of keeping decent defensive players, we're replacing them. I would have loved to pick someone like Kyle Rudolph- we remain garbage at TE- or a DE like Bowers, even if he doesn't pan out. I think Williams will be a good player, but we're going nowhere by constantly losing solid players in free agency when we don't sign anyone at a marquee level, ever. I think finding another "Good Enough" safety won't be difficult.. We have a few on the roster... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
since'62 Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 He does not tackle well. He does not cover well. He drops interceptions. He is a good leader and speaks well to the press. I think George Wilson is much better and the draft choice from UNC could step in. Did anyone really feel better for having him on the field. like that the Bills had a distinct advantage because he was out there? NO !!! He was just another body filling a Bills uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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