Dawgg

Whitner gets credit for this game. He played a good one, that's for sure. But his play has been largely inconsistent not only over the course of the year, but the course of his entire career. Even Gaughan said that he asked Fewell whether Whitner would see the field if Wilson & Byrd were healthy. Fewell refused to answer it -- which speaks volumes as to where Donte stands among the safeties on the team. If he strings a few of these games together, I might think differently... but that remains to be seen in Year 3 of his career.

Pro Bowl level Once again, Biscuit, you make a fool out of yourself with your blind homerism. I love how you come out of your little cave when Whitner makes his once-in-a-blue-moon play. Yeah, he played well today but let's not get overly excited until he shows some degree of consistency. And make no mistake, Donte was hardly playing at a Pro Bowl level, no matter what your delusions tell you. If Byrd were 100%, Donte would be seeing very little playing time. He's the 3rd or 4th best safety on this team. But at least he holds pizza parties at his house, and for that I'm grateful. Dvoracek has been injured, but the other guy they got in the trade (Danieal Manning) has been playing solid safety and is one of the league's better kick returners. So once again, you were wrong. Manning alone shows how stupid the McCargo trade was.

OK, sounds good.

Once again, VY shows that you know nothing about football.

Hi Tim, hope the move went well for you and your family. Any thoughts on Donte Whitner being benched in favor of a safety who was previously an undrafted wide receiver?

It was fairly obvious that he, coming out of college, was not in the class of a Polomalu or Sanders. The thought was that he was a notch below... even if he turned out to be an average to above-average safety, it doesn't change the fact that it was a botched pick. Any respected NFL personnel man will tell you that you don't devote a high pick to a safety unless he is a game changing player. Whitner was not considered that by any stretch of the imagination.

It's one thing if they targeted Whitner in that draft (which they clearly did). It's quite another to reach and take him at #8 overall when they could have traded down, acquired more picks and still taken the small, underachieving, loud-mouthed, second string safety that he has now become.

Break or not, he's won when he's been in there... and I'd take him over what we have now any day. 22-11.

Where's The Dean, Ramius, C. Biscuit, syhuang, and all the characters who were quick to jump to Lil Donte's defense???

Apparently the coaching staff feels that an undrafted player who is a converted WR is better suited for safety than our first round pick.

I have a man-crush on winning, period. You have the same retarded mentality that most Bills fans had when were so excited to run Flutie out of town, so they could see what the strong-armed and accurate Rob Johnson brings to the table. What VY lacks in accuracy and arm strength (or whatever measurable you want to concoct) he more than makes up for in his ability to make plays and win games. Wins and losses don't lie, period.

Buffalo News Excuses can begin.......... NOW!

Wow, you're an idiot. Get your facts straight before you dig yourself into a bigger hole of cluelessness. In his first season, Vince Young led his team to the playoffs and won Rookie of the Year. So no need to even mention him in the same sentence as Losman and Edwards. In his second season, he lost his job in the 3rd game after suffering a knee injury and missing 3 weeks. Kerry Collins came in with a hot hand and Fisher decided to ride with him. A second year QB is going to have his ups and downs (see: Matt Ryan)... but what he did his rookie year alone was enough to allow him grow on the field. 22-11 as a starter. Hard to argue with that, but you get a gold star for trying

Not his fault the Titans weren't patient with him. Look up his record as a starter. It speaks for itself.

He's just a soft player, period. No excuses. Another botched pick by Marv in what was a disaster of a 2 year tenure.

With each whiffed tackle, unsuccessful pursuit and timely remark, Whitner never ceases to outdo himself. Whitner + McCargo = BUST

Yeah he wasn't a capable player in his rookie year. Only led his team to the playoffs, winning Rookie of the Year Honors.

Yet another successful Marv Levy draft pick

Does Snyder talk to the Washington media? Absolutely not, yet somehow they seem to provide some in-depth analysis as to how the organization is run. To say that Ralph Wilson runs the show and leave it at that is somewhat of a copout. Yes, we all know Ralph Wilson runs the show and that he's a lot more meddlesome than anyone in the Bills organization will ever admit. But it wasn't just him who made the decision to sign Dockery, to move Walker to left tackle, to reach on Donte Whitner, the list goes on and on. Some additional insight would be useful. Compared to other NFL markets, the coverage in WNY is sorely lacking in this respect.

My feelings exactly, great post.

It simply states my basis for comparison. It's an FYI. If that's all you drew from my post, so be it. The inner circle thanks you.

With all due respect, Mr. Wawrow, you seem to be quite an insecure individual, albeit a good writer. Nobody blamed the Bills' problems on the media -- it's only you who is construing it as such. I think you need to get off your high horse and listen to your readership. By saying I have lived in many towns I wasn't trying to boast -- I was simply stating my basis for comparison. If that brings out your vast insecurities, so be it, sir.

I do. But if you step outside the Buffalo Bills vacuum, you'll realize that EVEN reporters will take a severely underperforming front office to task. Yeah, it's actually true.

You are really passionate about your work, which is great to see -- so much so, that you'll insult anyone who dares question the job that you and your media brethren are doing. I've seen it in a number of your posts. Perhaps I have a mental problem, as you allege, and suffer from severe memory lapses. I'd counter by saying that you hardly come from an objective point of view with respect to this issue, given that you are living (and writing) it every single day. Having said all that, it's not a black and white issue. Nobody said that you and your media brethren are showering the team with love and affection. By "insulated from criticism," I was referring specifically to the front office. Yes, you write about the abysmal offense. You write about the questionable decisions the head coach makes. You may even allege that the team is good at generating turmoil. But aside from Jerry Sullivan, I have yet to see a writer truly takes the front office to task. Even Sullivan, over the years, has focused most of his attention on getting coaches fired, be it Wade, Williams, Mularkey and now Jauron. It's always the coach, isn't it? By front office, I refer to John Guy, Jim Overdorf, Marv Levy, Tom Modrak. These gentlemen have not only presided over poor drafts and awful free agent signings over a sustained time period, each and every one of them (aside from Levy who retired) were promoted. In another NFL market, they would be taken to task by the media to a much greater degree. I have lived in numerous major NFL cities and seen the front office taken to task when the performance has been poor. By my own personal judgment, that doesn't seem to happen in Buffalo. Perhaps you can enlighten me as to why I'm wrong and throw more insults my way. But I speak with this caveat: it's based on my personal experience, having lived in 5 different NFL cities. Now, in a previous post, you mentioned that it's difficult to get anyone in the front office to talk. My response to that is simple: their record speaks for itself. Perhaps, as you said, Ralph makes a lot of the big decisions, but make no mistake, some idiot in the front office aside from Ralph decided to give Derrick Dockery a contract, which at the time, was the most lucrative contract in Bills history. Some idiot in the front office decided to trade up for John McCargo, who sniffs the field on emergency situations. Fair point. Perhaps you've eluded to it or noted it. But as I said before, this front office has gotten a relatively free pass when compared to front offices making personnel decisions in other markets. It certainly doesn't (and shouldn't) be covered every day, but I stand by my assertion that relative to other NFL cities, this front office has insulated itself from media criticism.

Fair. The media never shies to write puff pieces about him, perhaps because he's friendly to the media. But on the flip side, it's radio silence on the clowns that have been running the front office over the years, replete with poor drafts, wasteful free agency signings and poor roster management.