ghz in pittsburgh
04-11-2007, 11:53 AM
One thing struck me is his talk about learning from vets like Troy, London, and Nate in his rookie year.
Think about it for a second. He just experienced a big transition from college to NFL. I can imagine that he could say a ton of things that were new to him. The most common one I've heard from the rookies was the speed of the game.
But to Whitner, it was the things he learned from the vets. You can look at it as the kind of person he is - a student of the game. But you can also look at it from the other direction: the importance of veterans who can give advices.
You need certain status and accomplishments for the rookies to look up to you. My question is whether the Bills still have such vets for the new batch of rookies coming in a matter of couple of weeks.
Or dare I say Whitner himself is now being entrusted to that role, barely in his second season?
I trusted Jauron and his staff's teaching ability. But I do attribute some of the success of Whitner, Simpson, Ellison, Williams' rookie campaign to the positive influence of Troy, London, Nate, and Takeo (in that order). They led by their dedication, game knowledge, and athletic plays.
I hope Levy and Jauron don't over-estimate their ability of getting rookies to contribute from the get-go. But I suspect we may not see a repeat of so many rookies making so many positive impact on defense in 2007, especially from the beginning.
Think about it for a second. He just experienced a big transition from college to NFL. I can imagine that he could say a ton of things that were new to him. The most common one I've heard from the rookies was the speed of the game.
But to Whitner, it was the things he learned from the vets. You can look at it as the kind of person he is - a student of the game. But you can also look at it from the other direction: the importance of veterans who can give advices.
You need certain status and accomplishments for the rookies to look up to you. My question is whether the Bills still have such vets for the new batch of rookies coming in a matter of couple of weeks.
Or dare I say Whitner himself is now being entrusted to that role, barely in his second season?
I trusted Jauron and his staff's teaching ability. But I do attribute some of the success of Whitner, Simpson, Ellison, Williams' rookie campaign to the positive influence of Troy, London, Nate, and Takeo (in that order). They led by their dedication, game knowledge, and athletic plays.
I hope Levy and Jauron don't over-estimate their ability of getting rookies to contribute from the get-go. But I suspect we may not see a repeat of so many rookies making so many positive impact on defense in 2007, especially from the beginning.