Bills need more from Whitner

[Don't Panic]

Didn't see this posted... sorry if it was...

http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/20493.html

Considering Whitner hasn't been a big-play defender in his career, one has to wonder how much different the Bills would look had the front office gone in a different direction in '06. For instance, what if Buffalo had chosen ex-Oregon defensive tackle Haloti Ngata -- who went 12th overall to Baltimore -- instead of Whitner? At 340 pounds, Ngata's size makes him less than ideal for the Bills' Tampa 2 defensive scheme, which focuses on smaller, faster players. Still, for someone so massive, Ngata is plenty fast. Further, he's a tremendously disruptive force at the line of scrimmage, evidenced by his 52 tackles and two sacks. Ask the Patriots' offense, a normally superb group that was hassled -- even dominated -- all Monday night by Ngata in a 28-24 victory.
'What-if' scenarios aside, the bottom line is that Whitner, although a solid player overall, hasn't quite lived up to the status of a former top-10 draft choice. He isn't an Ed Reed, a Bob Sanders or a Troy Polamalu. Instead, Whitner is simply a pretty good defender who is helping lead a ragtag group of fellow youngsters; at this stage, he's definitely not an elite game-changer.

I hate to knock Whitner, and I hate more to second guess, but Byrne raises some pretty good points in this article. There's a lot of time for Whitner to bring it up to another level, but zero INTs for a DB in 27 games? Ouch!

[Mahdi]

Didn't see this posted... sorry if it was...

http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/20493.html



I hate to knock Whitner, and I hate more to second guess, but Byrne raises some pretty good points in this article. There's a lot of time for Whitner to bring it up to another level, but zero INTs for a DB in 27 games? Ouch!

When opposing QBs have all day to throw they wont throw INTs very often. Whitner is a sitting duck most of the time.

[OpIv37]

When opposing QBs have all day to throw they wont throw INTs very often. Whitner is a sitting duck most of the time.

of course. It's never the player's fault- always someone else's.

The pass rush didn't whiff on McGahee at the point of attack- Whitner did. The pass rush didn't let the receiver get into the endzone behind them against NE- Whitner did. The pass rush didn't overrun several plays against Washington- Whitner did. The guy's made plenty of mistakes on his own that can't be attributed to the pass rush.

[Don't Panic]

of course. It's never the player's fault- always someone else's.

The pass rush didn't whiff on McGahee at the point of attack- Whitner did. The pass rush didn't let the receiver get into the endzone behind them against NE- Whitner did. The pass rush didn't overrun several plays against Washington- Whitner did. The guy's made plenty of mistakes on his own that can't be attributed to the pass rush.

...and that's the basic message. Not that the guy is a bust, just that he has made his fair share of mistakes, especially after being such a high value draft pick. I found the Ngata points interesting after reading through pat's Ngata praise post.

[Mahdi]

of course. It's never the player's fault- always someone else's.

The pass rush didn't whiff on McGahee at the point of attack- Whitner did. The pass rush didn't let the receiver get into the endzone behind them against NE- Whitner did. The pass rush didn't overrun several plays against Washington- Whitner did. The guy's made plenty of mistakes on his own that can't be attributed to the pass rush.

Wow so yer saying Whitner has made mistakes this season,,,, well then we better cut him now and evey other player in the NFL.

I dont know why its so hard to see.... everyone knows including outsiders and analysts that we have the worst pass rush in the NFL. 11 sacks all year is the worst if not close to it. That being said its common knowledge or even logic to understand that if you have no pass rush your secondary will struggle to make plays on the ball. QBs in the NFL make mistakes under duress, they dont just voluntarily throw the ball to the other team very often.

And it wasnt Whitner who wiffed on Mcgahee at the LOS it was another DB. We also had 10 players on the field on the that run.

Moss scoring a TD?? Are you kidding? who hasnt he scored on. Im pretty sure Brady will find the best WR in the NFL no matter who is covering when he has 10 mins to throw it.

[OpIv37]

Wow so yer saying Whitner has made mistakes this season,,,, well then we better cut him now and evey other player in the NFL.

I dont know why its so hard to see.... everyone knows including outsiders and analysts that we have the worst pass rush in the NFL. 11 sacks all year is the worst if not close to it. That being said its common knowledge or even logic to understand that if you have no pass rush your secondary will struggle to make plays on the ball. QBs in the NFL make mistakes under duress, they dont just voluntarily throw the ball to the other team very often.

And it wasnt Whitner who wiffed on Mcgahee at the LOS it was another DB. We also had 10 players on the field on the that run.

Moss scoring a TD?? Are you kidding? who hasnt he scored on. Im pretty sure Brady will find the best WR in the NFL no matter who is covering when he has 10 mins to throw it.

yeah, so we don't have to stop moss because he's scored on everyone else too? That's ridiculous.

And it was Whitner who whiffed on McGahee- I watched the replay several times to be sure.

Certainly the lack of a pass rush makes Whitner's job more difficult, but he's accountable for his own performance as well. A lot of people around here seem so unwilling to criticize him and I just don't get it. The guy's made ZERO big plays all season. ZERO. That's not all on the pass rush.

[raphael120]

Wow so yer saying Whitner has made mistakes this season,,,, well then we better cut him now and evey other player in the NFL.

I dont know why its so hard to see.... everyone knows including outsiders and analysts that we have the worst pass rush in the NFL. 11 sacks all year is the worst if not close to it. That being said its common knowledge or even logic to understand that if you have no pass rush your secondary will struggle to make plays on the ball. QBs in the NFL make mistakes under duress, they dont just voluntarily throw the ball to the other team very often.

And it wasnt Whitner who wiffed on Mcgahee at the LOS it was another DB. We also had 10 players on the field on the that run.

Moss scoring a TD?? Are you kidding? who hasnt he scored on. Im pretty sure Brady will find the best WR in the NFL no matter who is covering when he has 10 mins to throw it.

LOL

wow dude...some people will just put the blinders on and just keep bashing his head into the wall.

Moss didn't look too spectacular against the Ravens, Philly, the Colts...he scored 4...FOUR TD's on us.

Go back if you can and look at how wide open Moss is on those plays. I dont care if Peerless Price is on the Pats...HE'S scoring 4 TD's with the way the coverage was so busted on thos eplays.

[Oaf]

Whitner hasn't been the 8th pick in the draft difference we need.

But exactly how much can be expected from when he's on the same field as players like Wilson, Leonard, DiG, and Ellison. Get Ko, Poz, and one decent nickle corner and then we can bash him for a lack of playmaking.

[justasportsfan]

of course. It's never the player's fault- always someone else's.

The pass rush didn't whiff on McGahee at the point of attack- Whitner did. The pass rush didn't let the receiver get into the endzone behind them against NE- Whitner did. The pass rush didn't overrun several plays against Washington- Whitner did. The guy's made plenty of mistakes on his own that can't be attributed to the pass rush.

Of all the games to choose to make a point you chose 2 games that we won and 1 that the opponent does to practically everyone.

You're choosing the wrong unit to put blame on the players. This unit from Schobel to the 4th string have been making the most of whats given to them inspite of the injuries.

[Night Train]

Not defending Whitner or anyone on this D, but...

If the Defensive scheme BLOWS, it may be the primary reason some cannot make plays.

[The Answer]

Didn't see this posted... sorry if it was...

http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/20493.html



I hate to knock Whitner, and I hate more to second guess, but Byrne raises some pretty good points in this article. There's a lot of time for Whitner to bring it up to another level, but zero INTs for a DB in 27 games? Ouch!

Been saying this all along - Whitner is a lot like Roy Williams, a great hitter and rock solid against the run - but horrible in pass coverage.

With that said - he's only in his 2nd season and should get better the next few years if he's going to be an elite safety and justify his high draft selection.

~The Answer

[justasportsfan]

Not defending Whitner or anyone on this D, but...

If the Defensive scheme BLOWS, it may be the primary reason some cannot make plays.

I don't know what to make of this scheme. It has been doing it's job against crappy teams inconsistent against better O's. THey did well against Dallas and Cincy.

I think It would've been enough to take us to the playoffs if it got some help offensively.

[Mahdi]

yeah, so we don't have to stop moss because he's scored on everyone else too? That's ridiculous.

And it was Whitner who whiffed on McGahee- I watched the replay several times to be sure.

Certainly the lack of a pass rush makes Whitner's job more difficult, but he's accountable for his own performance as well. A lot of people around here seem so unwilling to criticize him and I just don't get it. The guy's made ZERO big plays all season. ZERO. That's not all on the pass rush.

yer right it was Whitner,,,, but that still doesnt mean anything. The guy makes plenty of tackles so im not worried about his tackling ability. Yer just bringing up random mistakes that every football player makes.

The issue is the fact that he hasnt made plays in the passing game. The fact is he plays in the box a lot for one,,,, and again,,,, having the worst pass rush in the NFL is the reason he doesnt make many plays especially on 3rd down. Did you see how much time even Jason Campbell had to sit in the pocket comfortably? Even if there was good coverage initially it doesnt last for that long and once theres separation making plays becomes very difficult.

[OpIv37]

Not defending Whitner or anyone on this D, but...

If the Defensive scheme BLOWS, it may be the primary reason some cannot make plays.

I think that may play a part in why no one is making plays on the ball. Receivers always seem to find holes in our zone coverage so usually when the ball is thrown, the guy is WIDE open. It's very rare that a WR makes a reception with a Bills defender in his face- it's usually either incomplete or the defenders are 3 steps away when the ball gets there because they're playing an area rather than a man.

Or, more simply, the better WR/QB combos know how to pick apart our zone.