A message from "The Sky is Not Falling Society"

[Yasgur's Farm]

I HAVE NEVER BEEN HIT WITH A PIECE OF SKY!

http://www.profootballcentral.com/2009/07/11/whitner-in-no-danger-of-losing-his-starting-job/#more-4788

While no job is ever safe in this league, we have spoke to several team officials in the Bills organization and they have 110% assured us that Donte Whitner is entering this year in the best shape of his life and the starter for this franchise. The Bills have been very impressed by how much Whitner has stepped up his work ethic and has been and still is, a leader on this team.

[Jan Reimers]

I'll second that, draz. I've never even experienced a near miss.

[Yasgur's Farm]

The article says Bills team officials are very happy with Whitner. I wonder what the minimalizers will ***** about next.

[Jan Reimers]

In the minds of many Zoners, Whitner suffers from being a high draft pick who is not a superstar. Therefore he is viewed as a bum, a bust or whatever, instead of the solid player and leader that he is.

[yordad]

Hey, I'm cool with Whitner, but I actually have been hit with a piece of sky.
:(

[yordad]

OK, who wrote that?

[Jan Reimers]

Hey, I'm cool with Whitner, but I actually have been hit with a piece of sky.
:(
Did it hurt?

[yordad]

Did it hurt?Yes. It hurt my heart. :(




lol

[M]

Waiting for OP ............. :brace:

[TigerJ]

While I might have hoped for more big plays from Whitner, I agree that he's a solid player with some good athletic skills and leadership ability, and I would never expect that he would be on the outs with the Bills. I've never been hit by a piece of sky, but I know someone who has.

[bigbub2352]

Tell me why Whitner is a good SS?
Cause he doesnt stop the run well, usually gets run over, and he is suppossed to be the Cog in a Cover 2 defense
He defends the pass well i guess in coverage aspect of it, but he is not a playmaker by any means, he doesnt pick off the ball EVER and he is an arm tackler and allows big plays all the time over the top and middle of the feild
now a player picked at 8 should at the very least be good not great at all i just wrote
He is below average at most and covers somewhat well
Also he is and has not justified were he was picked not that it is his fault he was taken at 8 but that will dog him until he plays at a probowl level
He is not even close to that
my opinion all bark no bite

[madness]

Actually his play was instrumental to the defense's tale of two stories. The defense started off hot in the beginning of the season and although Whitner was forced to play in the box more than usual to help our lousy run support, he started out having a pretty solid season.

Halfway through the season and multiple injuries later, the defense couldn't keep the pace it originally had. Switching between nickel, SS and FS started to take an obvious toll on Whitner as he seemed to lack the concentration and intensity he had in the first half of the season. Then we found out that he played most of the second half with a seperated shoulder. It was a valiant effort to stay on the field on his part but in reality it only hurt both him and the defense and he should have been taken off the field.

I really expect him to progress this season, especially if the Bills can keep him assigned to one position. As far as making plays... let's face it, there was only one or two guys (Greer and McKelvin) that stood out. This defense needs to step it up all around this year.

[justasportsfan]

I expect Whitner to come out swinging..oh wait.

[trapezeus]

i lost faith in whitner during the cardinals game when he simply couldn't cover the slot receiver on 3rd downs.

True, he might be JP like in the sense that he doesn't have tools around him with a pass rush to make him strictly be a coverage guy. but after 3 years or so without too many memorable plays, i'm willing to bet there are better options. also sad is that him playing with the shoulder injury versus no shoulder injury was virtually unchanged. i saw to difference.

[ddaryl]

I think Whitners short comings are directly related to the short comings of our DE play (lack of consistent pass rush outside of the blitz) and our weakness at OLB ( Ellison )

If we get improvement from our DE's and OLB Whitner will be more effective and will start making the occasional big play IMO. Heck our Whole D backfield will improve.... but we've had this discussion about CB and DB play and how it coorelates with pass rush / DL play

[BillsWin]

Didnt I say that the other article was ridiculous before? I was surprised to see how much he has been in the weightroom this off season. He must have improved some.

[Mr. Pink]

Why wait for OP?

I wanna meet Donte Whitner and ask him how he was so good in college and completely invisible at the NFL level.

What play is he most remembered for as a Buffalo Bill?

Tackling Johnnie Lee Higgins 7 yards deep in the end zone.

He's a bust. The fact he was drafted as high as he was compounds it.

[ServoBillieves]

Is Op sick? Anyone want to give him a call to check in on him?

Also, Whitner is a mid-way talent in the NFL, and people call him a "bust" because he was drafted so high (as my colleague Mr. Pink above stated).

I'll agree if he doesn't produce this year he's a bust, but if he contributes with a couple picks and his run tackling, I'm aright with it. If not, I'm good with Bryan Scott/Jairus Byrd at the safety positions.

[The Spaz]

Why wait for OP?

I wanna meet Donte Whitner and ask him how he was so good in college and completely invisible at the NFL level.

What play is he most remembered for as a Buffalo Bill?

Tackling Johnnie Lee Higgins 7 yards deep in the end zone.

He's a bust. The fact he was drafted as high as he was compounds it.

Ya I'm sure you would really ask him...lol

[Mr. Pink]

Ya I'm sure you would really ask him...lol

Why wouldn't I ask him?

Anyone who actually knows me wouldn't doubt the sincerity of my above post.

Actually, I sort of lied on my above post, I would ask him why he sucks at the NFL level not invisible.

[Buffalogic]

I got hit with a piece of hail once...

[HHURRICANE]

In the minds of many Zoners, Whitner suffers from being a high draft pick who is not a superstar. Therefore he is viewed as a bum, a bust or whatever, instead of the solid player and leader that he is.

I was a pretty big Whitner defender, especially in defending him against OP. Lawyer Milloy was gone and the SS position in that draft had a huge drop off after Whitner. To this day nobody has ever pointed out a better option that was taken after Whitner in that draft.

However, Whitner's play speaks for itself. He's not that good. I've seen more raw potential out of Yobouty than Whitner. The guy is a very mediocre football player and that is the bottom line.