DDD Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I like Donte Whitner. There is no doubt he is a great leader and a vocal guy you want on your team. I think he is a good not great player however. Maybe it's just me but if you draft a safety at #8, he'd better be a Ronnie Lott, Ed Reed, or Kenny Easley type difference maker. Whitner is not that type of player IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantelliotoffen Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Whitner is solid, comparing him to 3 of the best safeties ever is unfair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic54 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 After two seasons, it would be hard to call any safety the next Ed Reed or Ronnie Lott. In his first two seasons however, I think Whitner has so far proven worthy of the #8 pick. He's solid on the field, and solid off of it. If he continues to progress the way he's trending right now, he is capable of being one of the league's better safeties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Romes Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I like Donte Whitner. There is no doubt he is a great leader and a vocal guy you want on your team. I think he is a good not great player however. Maybe it's just me but if you draft a safety at #8, he'd better be a Ronnie Lott, Ed Reed, or Kenny Easley type difference maker. Whitner is not that type of player IMO. i may never get over passing on ngata in that draft. however, whitner is one of those picks that 7-10 years later you realize was a great one. a second year player hosting team meetings at his house is un heard of. won all sorts of academic awards in college, character rating is off the charts. with more beef up front his play has a chance to improve from sound to great. many of marvs moves look better in retrospect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lets_go_bills Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Whitner is a great player who is poised to have a breakout year. He hits like a hammer and is terrific in run support. With an improved defence we should see him make more plays on the ball and become a bigger factor in pass defence. He has gotten better each year. At least he's played better than Huff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max997 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 After two seasons, it would be hard to call any safety the next Ed Reed or Ronnie Lott. In his first two seasons however, I think Whitner has so far proven worthy of the #8 pick. He's solid on the field, and solid off of it. If he continues to progress the way he's trending right now, he is capable of being one of the league's better safeties. dont you expect more from the #8 pick in the draft then just a solid player on and off the field? I like Whitner but not at #8, especially since we all know the Bills wont resign him when he's a free agent....Ngata was the right pick and would have made more of an impact on this defense how many times is this topic going to be debated....and Ive probably posted about it everytime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans4e64 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Not this again... Listen man, if you want to go through the archives and see all the topics about Whitner, be my guest, because we just can't get enough of this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Hindsight Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Whitner is gonna have 10 ints this season.... jmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DwightSchrute Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Whitner's going to be a beast this season. He's a leader on and off the field and I can't wait to see him actually roam and play to his talents with the improvements we've made on Defense and a healthy squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fingon Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Most scouts, outside of buffalo, believe Whitner is already within the top echelon of safeties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puente Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I like Donte Whitner. There is no doubt he is a great leader and a vocal guy you want on your team. I think he is a good not great player however. Maybe it's just me but if you draft a safety at #8, he'd better be a Ronnie Lott, Ed Reed, or Kenny Easley type difference maker. Whitner is not that type of player IMO. Why can't you have some love for our solid players. He's not a superstar but he is solid to great. Just because he was drafted #8 does not mean he has to become a star. When will people learn this Jebus Christ!!!!!!!!!! Go to wikipedia and type in NFL draft............look at the drafts of the past 10 years and pro bowl players will be highlighted. Some of those players some of us have never heard of. I'll take Whitner as a solid player over a Mike Williams ( receiver and Left tackle) anyday. Better to be a solid starter with potential, than a freakin bust. It makes me mad when we bash our front office for not bringing in players and at the same time bash the good players we have for not being good enough. I really dont care who is on the field as long as they punch the other team in the mouth and play with passion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_franchise Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Why can't you have some love for our solid players. He's not a superstar but he is solid to great. Just because he was drafted #8 does not mean he has to become a star. When will people learn this Jebus Christ!!!!!!!!!! Go to wikipedia and type in NFL draft............look at the drafts of the past 10 years and pro bowl players will be highlighted. Some of those players some of us have never heard of. I'll take Whitner as a solid player over a Mike Williams ( receiver and Left tackle) anyday. Better to be a solid starter with potential, than a freakin bust. It makes me mad when we bash our front office for not bringing in players and at the same time bash the good players we have for not being good enough. I really dont care who is on the field as long as they punch the other team in the mouth and play with passion. I think thats what happens with fans that don't know much about the team or care to learn. When it comes to Whitner, I'm beyond happy with him at SS/FS. When it comes the Bills, I trust the front office to make the right moves, the coaches to play the right players, and I expect the players to play their asses off. And when they don't do that, I expect it to be handled accordingly. Thats what "real" fans should believe. I do scratch my head at a lot of the things this team does, but it is my team and our team, so why not trust them.. if you can't, cheer for someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnionAMG Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I like Whitner but not at #8, especially since we all know the Bills wont resign him when he's a free agent Really??? I didn't realize the Darcy-bashing Sabres hysteria was spilling over to TBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazykat Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I like Donte Whitner. There is no doubt he is a great leader and a vocal guy you want on your team. I think he is a good not great player however. Maybe it's just me but if you draft a safety at #8, he'd better be a Ronnie Lott, Ed Reed, or Kenny Easley type difference maker. Whitner is not that type of player IMO. Well, that's what you hope for, but if every 1st round pick turned into an above average starter, with a little help from free agency and with your 2nd round picks turning into at least average starters, you would have a good team overall. Throw in a little "luck" with late round picks, and off to the races. Could we have done better than Whitner, sure. But we could have done a helluva lot worse too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazykat Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 After two seasons, it would be hard to call any safety the next Ed Reed or Ronnie Lott. In his first two seasons however, I think Whitner has so far proven worthy of the #8 pick. He's solid on the field, and solid off of it. If he continues to progress the way he's trending right now, he is capable of being one of the league's better safeties. If the players in the other 21 starting spots played to the level that Whitner does, we'd have a 12-4 to 14-2 team capable of beating the Pats and Colts on a regular basis. Whitner is not what's holding this team back. On that note, how many players play to his level, whatever that is? I'd say on defense Schobel has, but he seems to be at a career crossroads and in the back nine of his career. Otherwise I'd say no one on D or O besides Evans whose being held back by offensive coordination and QB issues. McGee brings it on STs as does Moorman. I didn't count Stroud because he hasn't taken a snap for us yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongLiveRalph Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I like Whitner's game alone better than Huff's, who went #7. Throw in the leadership aspect, and the Bills got the best safety in the draft. Before the draft, I thought Ngata would be the pick, to shore up the defensive line. However, safety was an OBVIOUS need, as evidenced by the fact that BOTH starting safeties in Sept 2006 were drafted in April 2006. Also, as we all know, the NFL is a copycat league. Teams saw the impact that a guy like Ed Reed had on the Ravens defense. Bob Sanders was coming into his own in Indy. At the time of the '06 draft, the Steelers were coming off a Super Bowl win. Everyone saw the impact that Polumalu had and the versitility he brought in transforming a good defense into a championship defense. If the Bills brass decided they were looking for a player cut from that mold, I'm okay with that. I find it comical that people ALWAYS reference Whitner's draft slot when evaluating him. So if they picked him at #16, he'd be good? But since they got him at #8, he's not that good? I don't understand. As I see it, the Bills got a solid, durable player with great leadership skills, who has been on the field for nearly every snap since day 1. What's wrong with that? There were so many holes to fill on that defense in '06, would it really have been worth it to draft a DT who plays only 60% of the defensive plays, rather than taking a potential impact safety in a league where safeties were becoming increasingly valuable??? I'd take Whitner at #8 tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnionAMG Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I find it comical that people ALWAYS reference Whitner's draft slot when evaluating him. So if they picked him at #16, he'd be good? But since they got him at #8, he's not that good? I don't understand. BINGO! I couldn't agree with you any more. The amount of criticism laid on teams for where they take guys has gotten pretty ridiculous. I hate when Mel Kiper and other draftniks, say "I really liked INSERTPLAYER but INSERTTEAM drafted him 4 spots too high". The game of drafting has overtaken the whole point of it, which is to get the player you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 If the players in the other 21 starting spots played to the level that Whitner does, we'd have a 12-4 to 14-2 team capable of beating the Pats and Colts on a regular basis. Whitner is not what's holding this team back. On that note, how many players play to his level, whatever that is? I'd say on defense Schobel has, but he seems to be at a career crossroads and in the back nine of his career. Otherwise I'd say no one on D or O besides Evans whose being held back by offensive coordination and QB issues. McGee brings it on STs as does Moorman. I didn't count Stroud because he hasn't taken a snap for us yet. Not liking Jason Peters so much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
generaLee83 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I like Donte Whitner. There is no doubt he is a great leader and a vocal guy you want on your team. I think he is a good not great player however. Maybe it's just me but if you draft a safety at #8, he'd better be a Ronnie Lott, Ed Reed, or Kenny Easley type difference maker. Whitner is not that type of player IMO. Mind blowing post, thank you for this great gift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibs Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 I like Donte Whitner. There is no doubt he is a great leader and a vocal guy you want on your team. I think he is a good not great player however. Maybe it's just me but if you draft a safety at #8, he'd better be a Ronnie Lott, Ed Reed, or Kenny Easley type difference maker. Whitner is not that type of player IMO. It's not just you since many, many fans have major misconceptions of what 'should' be achieved from a player picked high in the draft. The reality is that Whitner has easily justified(at this point) his #8 selection. I'll cut & paste a previous post(May 26th) below to highlight this............ Compared to other players drafted in similar position(6-10).....which is the ONLY thing that one can determine what ones expectations for the #8 should be.....we see(1997-2006)......and keeping in mind that DW has only played 2 seasons whereas most of the players below have 'become better' after 3 or more seasons in the league.*I'll probably put some players in the wrong areas due to lack of knowledge but the overall should be clear.* Better than DW Kellen Winslow Jr DeAngelo Hall Kevin Williams Terrell Suggs Roy Williams John Henderson Levi Jones Richard Seymour Brian Urlacher Torry Holt Champ Bailey Chris McAlister Kyle Turley Fred Taylor Walter Jones In the same ballpark as DW Ernie Sims Roy Williams Dunta Robinson Jordan Gross Bryant McKinnie Corey Simon Plaxico Burress Greg Ellis Chris Naeole Not as good as DW Vernon Davis Michael Huff Matt Leinart Pacman Jones Troy Williamson Antrel Rolle Carlos Rogers Mike Williams Reggie Williams Johnathan Sullivan Byron Leftwich Travis Taylor Ryan Sims Andre Carter David Terrell Koren Robinson Jamal Reynolds Thomas Jones David Boston Chris Claiborne Grant Wistrom Duane Starks Ike Hilliard James Farrior Tom Knight Results.....Of the 49 players chosen over those 10 drafts...... 15(31%) have shown themselves to be definitely better 9(18%) are of similar talent/production 25(51%) are of lesser talent/production When you factor in that DW has only played 2 seasons......and with low talent around him on a bad team(no help from the O).....for anyone to say that Whitner hasn't lived up to the expectations associated with the 8th overall pick is just plain wrong. After 2 years he has played at a level that is better than half of the players selected in the 6-10 range in the draft. He has definitely lived up to any reasonable expectations that one could place upon the #8 draft pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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