TheBlackMamba Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 I have done a 180 on leodis. i posted earlier this season that he was a bust. it has become evident that with more experience he has show why he was worthy of the #11 pick last year. He is still a bit raw covering (getting smoked by eddie royal but cutler overthrew him) but he has the makings of a pro bowl corner and return man. the field position he gives us on kickoffs is amazing. denver was so afraid to kick it deep they opted to mostly squib kick. donte whitner on the hand....can someone please tell me why he is recognized as one of the better young safetys in the league?
CJPearl2 Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 That cut and break he made on the ball for the INT (called back on the Stroud hold) was a pro-bowl style move. He's made a couple of those this year (KC game). This guy has so much raw talent it is unreal. And I agree with you that he is going in the right direction. He'll be a pro-bowler in less than 2 years.
Jerry Jabber Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 I have done a 180 on leodis. i posted earlier this season that he was a bust. it has become evident that with more experience he has show why he was worthy of the #11 pick last year. He is still a bit raw covering (getting smoked by eddie royal but cutler overthrew him) but he has the makings of a pro bowl corner and return man. the field position he gives us on kickoffs is amazing. denver was so afraid to kick it deep they opted to mostly squib kick. donte whitner on the hand....can someone please tell me why he is recognized as one of the better young safetys in the league? He's a hard hitting safety, plus he made a great play to force a fumble yesterday. Maybe if we had a decent pass rush, we'd see more out of Whitner.
The Dean Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 I have done a 180 on leodis. i posted earlier this season that he was a bust. it has become evident that with more experience he has show why he was worthy of the #11 pick last year. He is still a bit raw covering (getting smoked by eddie royal but cutler overthrew him) but he has the makings of a pro bowl corner and return man. the field position he gives us on kickoffs is amazing. denver was so afraid to kick it deep they opted to mostly squib kick. donte whitner on the hand....can someone please tell me why he is recognized as one of the better young safetys in the league? Whitner has not played very well since returning from his injury. It looks as though he is still struggling with it, out there.
deep2evans Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 i posted earlier this season that he was a bust.
RShirley Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 I have done a 180 on leodis. i posted earlier this season that he was a bust. it has become evident that with more experience he has show why he was worthy of the #11 pick last year. He is still a bit raw covering (getting smoked by eddie royal but cutler overthrew him) but he has the makings of a pro bowl corner and return man. the field position he gives us on kickoffs is amazing. denver was so afraid to kick it deep they opted to mostly squib kick. donte whitner on the hand....can someone please tell me why he is recognized as one of the better young safetys in the league? Well, I can tell you for sure why there are so many Whitner apologists on this board and that is because Marv Levy drafted him at pick in which most considered to be a stretch. The Whitner apologists go to great lengths to defend Whitner as to not admit that Marv made a bad pick and perhaps reached. They will call you names that you obviously don't know football because he is doing all the things that he is asked to do very well, or that he is being put in position to fail by the scheme they run, or the reason he doesn't make plays is a lack of a pass rush.........I've heard all of the excuses. The truth of the matter is that he just doesn't make plays (I don't want to hear about the one play he has made all year yesterday) and is not even the best safety on the team. To me that is the definition of average to below average. Do we have bigger fish to fry........yes, but if we are calling a spade a spade............Whitner is average at best.
StupidNation Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 He's a hard hitting safety, plus he made a great play to force a fumble yesterday. Maybe if we had a decent pass rush, we'd see more out of Whitner. If Scott didn't hold the WR up would Whitner make that play? He's not that good. Actually he's down-right below average in coverage. He can help stop the run and here he's above average. I've seen him break up some plays in the back-field and he's stout on seeing the field against the run. He's so terrible in coverage he shouldn't be on the field. I would take the rookie Corner with no experience who tries to make a play on the ball over Whitner at FS.
basskik11 Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 He's a hard hitting safety, plus he made a great play to force a fumble yesterday. Maybe if we had a decent pass rush, we'd see more out of Whitner. TOTALLY AGREE! We can't gauge anything on the defensive secondary without production from the DL (especially the DE's) I love our secondary. All the corners are really good (McGee, McKelvin, Corner, Greer) and safties are tough and LB's are solid. I don't think there are many big plays because we are not causing quarterbacks to make mistates up front.
BillsObserver Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 Bills fans think everyone is a bust until they are wrong. Leodis could haved been the defensive rookie of the year if he had more time early and a bunch of his plays weren't called back for penalties (100 Yard TD kick return against Jets/interception yesterday) So true, in fact the guy who started this thread admitted it.
Bill from NYC Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 I am at peace with Whitner as a player. Should he have been drafted at #8? Of course not, but the blame is on Dick Levy, not Whitner. Imagine a baseball team signing a very good defensive center fielder, and playing him at the warning track no matter who is at bat. That is what Dick Levy does with Whitner after drafting him 8th.
VOR Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 I think these guys would all be better in a non-cover 2 defensive scheme.
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 donte whitner on the hand....can someone please tell me why he is recognized as one of the better young safetys in the league? At #8, people expect Ed Reed and Polamalu production. Talentwise, he's not in that league. Schemewise, the staff doesn't put him in the same position to make plays as a Polamalu, for example.
My Friends Call Me Tebucky Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 Whitner is pretty average IMO. I won't knock him for not playing up to his draft pick status, because that's not his fault. Regardless, the guy averages out to about 6 million per year on his contract. Not many safeties across the league make that much...what the hell happens when his rookie deal expires? Does he take a pay cut down to about 4 million a year? Maybe he'll get a lot better and start making more big plays, but I'm not holding my breath.
Dawgg Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 I am at peace with Whitner as a player. Should he have been drafted at #8? Of course not, but the blame is on Dick Levy, not Whitner. Imagine a baseball team signing a very good defensive center fielder, and playing him at the warning track no matter who is at bat. That is what Dick Levy does with Whitner after drafting him 8th. Bill, I think you've put too much rum in that egg nog. Whitner has been flat out bad this season. He has missed tackles, taken bad angles, and has been flat out beat a number of times. Yesterday, he got 2 hands on a ball that should have been intercepted. Par for the course, he left a big play on the table. Such is the norm for Donte Whitner. He provides some emotional leadership for this team and is a great talker. His play paints quite a different picture. Bryan Scott is a better player than Donte Whitner.
LGB Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 Bills fans think everyone is a bust until they are wrong. Leodis could haved been the defensive rookie of the year if he had more time early and a bunch of his plays weren't called back for penalties (100 Yard TD kick return against Jets/interception yesterday) Right, the Bills have sooo much talent they are going to finish below .500 again (even Ralph Wilson said the talent is not there)? Here is a question: how many teams have had more recent first round busts than the Bills?
Tunis69 Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 TOTALLY AGREE! We can't gauge anything on the defensive secondary without production from the DL (especially the DE's) I love our secondary. All the corners are really good (McGee, McKelvin, Corner, Greer) and safties are tough and LB's are solid. I don't think there are many big plays because we are not causing quarterbacks to make mistates up front. Why does everyone hate Whitner so much? If there was a decent pass-rush i really do think people would consider our entire secondary as one of the leaugue's best.
StupidNation Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 Why does everyone hate Whitner so much? If there was a decent pass-rush i really do think people would consider our entire secondary as one of the leaugue's best. Everything now is "hate" instead of reason. Reason dictates before his injury he wasn't making plays. Reason dictates he's not a ball-hawk at any position. Reason dictates that he misses tackles in the secondary and takes bad angles. I would love him on 3rd and 1 and other obvious running downs, otherwise he is a liability. He's Roy Williams except without the consistent hard hitting and worse in coverage. I wouldn't be upset with his play if he was drafted in the 4th or 5th round and a commensurate salary.
C.Biscuit97 Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 I have done a 180 on leodis. i posted earlier this season that he was a bust. it has become evident that with more experience he has show why he was worthy of the #11 pick last year. He is still a bit raw covering (getting smoked by eddie royal but cutler overthrew him) but he has the makings of a pro bowl corner and return man. the field position he gives us on kickoffs is amazing. denver was so afraid to kick it deep they opted to mostly squib kick. donte whitner on the hand....can someone please tell me why he is recognized as one of the better young safetys in the league? The fact that you thought any rookie was a bust in their first season in the NFL pretty much destroys anything else you say. People can't be that dumb, or can they?
GhostsOfTheRockpile Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 On his best days, Whitner is slightly above-average. Most days, he's mediocre at best. I asked another Donte-lover a few weeks ago: name one big play Whitner's made in his entire career. Do that, and I'll counter with NUMEROUS times he's taken horrible angles to ballcarriers who subsequently blow by him for big gains... or the times he's been SMOKED in coverage... or the times he's flat-out late to get over in help... the list goes on... He and Posluszny are mediocre NFL talents at this point in their careers, yet somehow they get a MAJOR pass from Bills fans.
marauderswr80 Posted December 22, 2008 Posted December 22, 2008 Whitner has bricks tied to his feet when trying to cover a TE down field. Denver's TE's we all over the field yesterday. Coverage wise Whitner lacks that big time....
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