Fewell733 Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Wilson is fine but I don't see how he's played better than Whitner. In fact I don't think it's close when it comes to run support. Our bad run defense has been pretty much a direct correlation to Whitner being off the field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Byrd is playing amazing. Agreed. TD saving tackle and just as the draft scouting report said, not the biggest, not the fastest, but somehow he gets around the ball and makes plays. I think his old man was an good NFL DB... Probably the nicest surprise of this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Whitner looked a lot better to me in the first few (healthy) games this year than he has in other years. He's the starting SS and Byrd is the starting FS. Scott is the 3rd guy and Wilson is the backup. The question is, when do Whitner and Scott return? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starrymessenger Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Agreed. TD saving tackle and just as the draft scouting report said, not the biggest, not the fastest, but somehow he gets around the ball and makes plays. I think his old man was an good NFL DB... Probably the nicest surprise of this season. Does not have Ed Reed's speed nor can he tackle like Bob Sanders but a legitimate comparison would be O. Atogwe, a ballhawk and a guy who forces fumbles, which is still really pretty good IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bananathumb Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Question - where does Whitner fit after we take Tennessee SS Eric Berry in round one of the 2010 draft? Exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I love how apparently theres only one choice, that when healthy it has to be either Whitner or Byrd. What has Wilson done thats been so incredible that he deserves to take a starting job away from Whitner? You do know that it can be Whitner AND Byrd on the field. Byrd isn't going back to the bench, thats a fact, but when healthy (unless he becomes a ball hawk too and becomes a Pro Bowler) Wilson will take a seat when Whitners back. The guy you should be asking about is Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDaDdy Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 just like he wrongfully returned Lynch to starter. Fred Jackson's performance since Brad Butler went out would seem to say otherwise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDaDdy Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Here is my take. Anyone that doesn't think Donte will come back as the starting SS is fooling themselves. With the emergence of Byrd, Donte might finally show if he can really step up his game to match the expectations of some. I'm not trying to make excuses for Donte's often mediocre play but he also has been a great mentor and leader for the secondary. He has meetings at his house all of the time, he teaches the young guys, he makes bold statements that we have unfortunately not been able to back up as a team but he tries and has a positive attitude about it. One option is this and it comes with an obvious problem. Whitner could be the run down SS and Wilson the pass down SS. Based on what I have seen this might be the BEST use of all of their talents. I have said since Wilson played a year or 2 ago that he deserves playing time. That being said I have to imagine that Donte is getting paid a lot more money than Wilson. I would hate to lose his leadership and a mentor for our young secondary but we should consider trading him to see what we can get for him if he doesn't really come alive being paired with Byrd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billrooter Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Wilson sucks. Donte will go back to SS. Byrd will stay at FS. None of us know if Byrd is any good in coverage or not but there is no way they can put him on the bench now. The INT's were bad throws and great reactions. I don't think wilson sucks and i'm curious why do you? the guy is a good tackler and has great hands, he was a solid receiver and that translates well in the defensive backfield in my opinion and he can tackle. I am not sure how many picks he has in his career (in very limited time) but i am thinking more than whitner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billrooter Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 I think Whitner and Byrd could be used well in combo. Use Whitner as a run stopper like Bob Sanders - float Byrd like Ed Reed. They could be dynamite. When has whitner ever even slightly resembled sanders, he has been a good leader (he's very vocal) but very little else since he was drafted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibs Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 .....Yeah, I know, Maybin is still a rookie (yada-yada-yada), but why on earth did the Bills expend such a high pick on a "project" player, when they could have maybe found someone who could have been more of an immediate contributor. Because they want a top DE for the future. Extremely few DEs shine as rookies. Mario Williams(#1) was the last high draft pick DE to produce early(2nd season 2007).....with Demarcus Ware(#11) achieving 8 sacks as a rookie(2005). IMO it was the right timing to draft for the future at DE. Schobel has a few years left. By the time we are ready to say goodbye to him, Maybin hopefully will be seasoned & a performer. You don't draft DE high in the first round for instant impact as it virtually never happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webster Guy Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Jarus has more ints in last 3 games than Donte has in 3+ seasons! Enough said. Our safteies, I would leave alone. 9 ints in last 2 games tells me to leave our Dbs as they are. Maybe Donte can go back to CB as a niockel/dime guy for my money. Whitner cant play corner. He has enough on his plate covering TE's much less speedy wideouts. He's a slightly undersized but servicable strong safety who was great in the college system and is ok in the pro's. Remember he only played FS because they didn't trust anyone else back there when Ko the Millionaire got hurt. He'll be at SS for the rest of his career here assuming Byrd continues his level of play. Scott will stay on the bench and back him up, play special teams. Having Wilson and Scott as backups is solid. Now we just need a monster OLB in this next draft or free agency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fingon Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Does not have Ed Reed's speed nor can he tackle like Bob Sanders but a legitimate comparison would be O. Atogwe, a ballhawk and a guy who forces fumbles, which is still really pretty good IMO. Ed Reed isn't very fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starrymessenger Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Ed Reed isn't very fast. He is certainly not a burner but he is fast. Faster than Byrd, who would have gone sooner in the draft if he had DRC or McKelvin speed. Again O Atogwe is a better comparable for Byrd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StupidNation Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 I love how apparently theres only one choice, that when healthy it has to be either Whitner or Byrd. What has Wilson done thats been so incredible that he deserves to take a starting job away from Whitner? Well I don't know, those 2 INTs those last 2 weeks would not happen with Whitner. Whitner has 3 INTs his entire career. Wilson has started a fraction of the games of Whitner with more turn-overs. Wilson probably has 10% of the snaps of Whitner and has more INTs. What does that tell you? Did you see the INT last week when he jumped up and snatched the ball? Whitner would never do that... EVER... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 For those who say Byrd isn't fast, watch the highlights again. He's PLENTY fast. I guess you'd call it "football speed." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starrymessenger Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 For those who say Byrd isn't fast, watch the highlights again. He's PLENTY fast. I guess you'd call it "football speed." "Football speed", relative to his position responsibilities, yes. Being a half step slow was the knock against him coming out of college - maybe not enough straight line speed for a man to man coverage scheme for example - but he was always regarded as very "quick". In my view he has enough speed to react to the QB or to the ball once in the air and get over to where he needs to be. Great instincts and quickness enable his fantastic ball skills to come into prominence. The Bills have been successfully sowing the seeds of an outstanding secondary. Adding a great ball halk can bring the whole group to another, higher level. Part of the reason George Wilson has been looking so much better in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoName Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Question - where does Whitner fit after we take Tennessee SS Eric Berry in round one of the 2010 draft? how many db's have we drafted over the last two drafts.......and you want to take another one with our 1st round pick next year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruuuuce Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Let me make this easy for all of you. Byrd starts at free safety, Whitner starts at strong safety. Bryan Scott takes a seat on the bench and comes in on running situations for Byrd. I say Scott comes in for Whitner, Byrd made some big tackles in Carolina, saved a TD and finished off a big stop on 4th down. Doesn't really matter tho, Whitner will be hurt again by halftime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MURTR Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Just a thought, but what about playing Poz/Draft at LB and then leaving Whitner, Byrd, and either B.Scott or G.Wilson on the field. Whitner and B.Scott/G.Wilson could be interchangeable at OLB (at worst they are at least the same size as Ellison), plus it would make the offense have to guess which S will be in the box and which one will drop back into coverage (especially if you drop both Whitner and B.Scott/G.Wilson into the box pre-snap). Also, Whitner could even play Nickel corner if the other team brings on a 3rd WR. I obviously am not a D-coordinator but it seems like it could be somewhat advantageous. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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