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S Donte Whitner (Official Thread)

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Whitner Will Be Prepared
by Chris Brown, Lead Journalist Last Updated: 6/15/2006 3:49 PM ET


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Whitner Back in Action
Chris Brown's Take
Donte Whitner Bio

Despite the fact that Bills top pick Donte Whitner was not allowed to attend any of the team's organized team activities this spring due to Ohio State's late final exam schedule, don't think for a second that Buffalo's rookie strong safety isn't up to speed on Perry Fewell's defensive scheme.
Whitner, who stated that he had 85-90 percent of the defense down by the end of the first minicamp the weekend after the draft, quickly picked up all the new material he encountered on his way back to One Bills Drive last weekend for the team's final minicamp.
"Coming in this time I had all that base stuff down and when I came in (last) Friday they gave me all the blitz packages and everything," said Whitner. "After looking at that all last weekend and going through three days of it on the practice field I feel very caught up."
Still even his fellow Ohio State and now Bills teammate Ashton Youboty, who missed the same amount of time this offseason, feels what Whitner needs to know in this defensive system is extensive.
"I think it's tough on Donte because he has to know just about everything in this defense being a strong safety," said Youboty.
But Buffalo's head coach doesn't appear concerned about his prized rookie being mentally prepared.
"Donte is different," said head coach Dick Jauron. "His mental approach to the game is very advanced for a first year player."
Jauron and Buffalo's personnel staff were quick to label Whitner a "football junkie" after taking him with the eighth pick in the draft. He's a player who craves football knowledge. And those study skills have helped him stay up to speed with the rest of his Bills' teammates despite being forced to study on his own for the most part.
"When I first got to Ohio State a lot of the things I looked at (on film) I learned on my own and then the coaches helped me fine tune what I learned," Whitner explained. "That's basically the same thing that went on here."
Whitner spent the past month or so studying his notes from the first minicamp, taking periodic phone calls from Bills defensive backs coach George Catavolos for updates. As a result he felt comfortable executing the plays on the field earlier in the week for the most part.
Perhaps the only aspect of his responsibilities in the scheme that he's still working to perfect are the details that make one call different from another.
"Now it's just learning the small things in every coverage and every blitz," said Whitner. "There are a lot of checks in the defense. So learning those and helping other guys get lined up, which is my job as a safety, and then I feel like I'll really be able to play out there and really compete."
Competing with veterans like Matt Bowen and Coy Wire for the top strong safety role will be important. A lot is expected of Whitner as a rookie being a top ten pick.
"He's going to need to play for us this year," said Jauron who along with his defensive staff is no doubt counting on Whitner to make a significant impact in 2006.
So after three days on the field in Buffalo's final minicamp, Whitner is headed back to Columbus, Ohio where he'll spend the next six weeks preparing for training camp.
"I'm going to be training, but I'll take all my defensive stuff with me and talk to my coach on the phone to stay up to date on everything," Whitner said. "I feel like I'll really be ready to play."
And so does the Bills coaching staff.
 
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#5: Will Whitner Be the Starting Strong Safety?
by Chris Brown, Lead Journalist Last Updated: 7/7/2006 1:09 PM ET



As training camp fast approaches buffalobills.com prepares you by trying to answer the top 20 questions facing the Bills in 2006. Monday through Friday until the day before training camp, buffalobills.com will present each of the poignant issues facing the team daily in an effort to have you the fan primed for all the action at St. John Fisher. Don't stray far from buffalobills.com!

"I'm going to come in and compete for the job from day one. I want to get up there and learn the defense as soon as possible so I can get out there and play fast. I'm going to come in and compete from day one."

That was the promise delivered by Bills top draft pick Donte Whitner minutes after he was drafted eighth overall on April 29.

Armed with a thirst for football knowledge, natural instincts and rare physical ability it's difficult to imagine that Whitner won't find himself among the starting 11 for Buffalo's defense on Sept. 10 in New England.

"His measurables are really outstanding," said Bills head coach Dick Jauron of Whitner's 4.38 speed. "He's got great cover ability."

But what Jauron likes most about Whitner is his approach to the game.

"He plays hard and he plays that way every snap," said Jauron. "He really helps us up the middle of our defense."

Those are strong words from a head coach that has yet to see his top draft pick in pads in person. But Jauron and his defensive staff knew they had to upgrade their defense right down the middle immediately. Whitner is an important part of solving that problem, but will the solution be thrown into the fire as a rookie?

Chances are that he will. Yes there are capable veteran safeties on the roster like free agent signee Matt Bowen, who has been productive when given the opportunity to start in his career. And former third-round pick Coy Wire, who has spent the past three seasons biding his time behind Lawyer Milloy, but has 19 starts under his belt.

Wire brings great athleticism to the position, and is a strong tackler, but has not demonstrated enough consistency in coverage in his career to prove that he is the answer at the position.

Bowen meanwhile is as instinctive as they come, and though not the most gifted athlete is capable of manning the position.

Whitner, however, is every bit as athletic as Wire, if not more so, and is ahead of his years of experience when it comes to football acumen.


In essence he has everything that Wire and Bowen both possess and will only get better with more playing time.

Whitner's coverage ability is top notch for a safety. That's because he arrived at Ohio State as a cornerback. But his tackling ability was so solid that the Buckeyes staff wanted to make more use of that in the middle of the field.

"He has an excellent mentality as far as playing the run and being a hitter and not being afraid to come up and put his nose on you," said Bills defensive coordinator Perry Fewell.

"From the middle of the field he can go get the ball anywhere," said Bills Assistant GM Tom Modrak.

Whitner's football knowledge is very advanced for a player that's going to turn just 21 later this month. The reason why is he was taught how to scout an upcoming opponent on film in high school. That ability was further refined in his time with the Buckeyes coaching staff.

"I do feel I'm mentally prepared," said Whitner. "At Ohio State we played Notre Dame and Michigan and Texas and a lot of these big schools. We play in front of 105,000 every Saturday."

"He and Ashton (Youboty) have experience playing in big bowl games, like the Ohio State-Texas game was as big as it was," said Fewell. "They performed in that game at a high level. Now we just have to duplicate it for 16 weeks at this level."

While that is anything but a given, Fewell and the defensive staff are encouraged by Whitner's progress.

Despite missing all of the OTAs due to a late final exam schedule at Ohio State, Buffalo's top pick had all the base packages of Fewell's defense down before the final minicamp when he was able to participate. Whitner arrived in town the weekend before the first practice of that final minicamp to study all of the blitzes that were installed so he would be ready to execute them in the practice setting.

Between the final minicamp and training camp Whitner planned to train back in Columbus and continue to sharpen the mental side of his game.

"Just learning the small things in every coverage and every blitz," said Whitner of what he intended to focus on prior to training camp. "Then I'll feel like I can really compete."

Not that Whitner has any doubts about whether he can handle the NFL game and the live football conditions of training camp.

"There's no reason to be nervous," he said. "I talked to Troy Vincent, Nate Clements, London Fletcher and others who were in the position I'm in now. They tell me to just come in and learn the defense and eventually you'll be out there so there's no reason to worry. I feel like I'll really be ready to play."

If Whitner's progress in training camp picks up where it left off this spring chances are he'll be "out there" sooner rather than later.
Click to expand...

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/news.jsp?news_id=3855
 
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Seems to me that the Bills would be pretty stupid to not make him their opening day starter--it's a waste to use the #9 pick overall on a player that won't start, particularly in light of the fact that safety doesn't take a great while to learn, unlike say QB.
 
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Safety is not an easy position to play, especially with the complexity of NFL offenses and defenses. The decision on run vs. pass in a split second is usually the difference between stopping the play or a big play for the offense.
 
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I really only see great things coming from Whitner. I honestly think that with a little bit of experiance and playing time he is going to turn out to be one of the top safeties in all of the NFL. There is no better way to be prepared for the NFL than playing Safety on a defense like the one he was on with tOSU, and the competition that they faced.
 
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Link

BILLS NOTES: Whitner remains missing
By Jay Skurski
Greater Niagara Newspapers
PITTSFORD — And then there was one.

After John McCargo agreed to a five-year contract with the Buffalo Bills on Friday, Donte Whitner became the team’s only unsigned rookie.

Whitner, a strong safety from Ohio State, was the eighth overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.

Buffalo General Manager Marv Levy addressed the media regarding Whitner’s situation Friday afternoon.

“It’s not much different than what it was (Thursday),” Levy said. “Jim (Overdorf) is still in contact with the agent. I haven’t talked with Jim since this morning. I don’t know if he’s spoken with him (Friday) or not. I hope it’s close. I think it’s close.”

Levy said talks are ongoing, though Whitner is believed to be in the Cleveland area awaiting his contract to be finished.

McCargo had already traveled to the Rochester area before coming to an agreement Friday.
 
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I'm getting a bit concerned about Whitner. He has missed 5 practices in addition the the forced OTA's misses due to school. they want him to start, he needs to get in to camp. Hard to tell who is to fault, but this should be an easy deal.

Huff was the pick above him and signed a long time ago, Whitner is one pick behind him and is the same position, and the pick behind him is signed also. The only thing I think they could be arguing about is 5 or 6 years. Whitner, Allen, Bunckley, and Leinart are the only 1st round picks left unsigned though, and Arizona starts camp a bit later so that's not as big of a deal.
 
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Really hoping he gets into camp soon. His agent, Johnathan Hurst, is the same guy Adam Vinatieri fired this past offseason. He is handling Neil Cornrich's practice while Cornrich serves his suspension from the NFLPA.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...2006/07/31/bc.fbn.bills.whitner.ap/index.html

Talks stalled between Bills, Whitner

Posted: Monday July 31, 2006 3:21PM; Updated: Monday July 31, 2006 3:21PM

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PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) -- Rookie safety Donte Whitner believes he's close to signing a contract with the Buffalo Bills. The team is not so sure, saying negotiations have stalled with their top draft pick.
"I was a little more encouraged a couple of days ago than I am now," Bills general manager Marv Levy said Monday. Levy added there's been little progress in talks with Whitner's agent, Jonathan Hurst, and the Bills have even had difficulty reaching the player by phone, saying the four numbers they have for Whitner have been disconnected.
Whitner, selected eighth overall out of Ohio State, was more hopeful in an interview on the Ohio State campus Monday afternoon.
"It won't be long," Whitner told The Associated Press, adding he doesn't believe the issues separating the two sides are major.
Whitner said he is working out two hours a day and studying the team's playbook.
Through Monday, Whitner has missed six practices since the Bills opened camp in suburban Rochester on Friday. The Bills are concerned Whitner, whom they projected to be their starter this season, is falling behind in his development.
Whitner is the highest pick from the April draft still unsigned and among only four first-rounders still not under contract.
Although Levy has left contract talks to team vice president Jim Overdorf, Levy said he took the unusual step of contacting Whitner's agent on Monday to spur negotiations.
"I said to him, 'I just want you to know, if we have to go forth without him, we will,' and I left it at that," said Levy. "I wanted to tell him that the young man's opportunity to win the starting position is diminishing swiftly."
Hurst did not return numerous phone and e-mail messages left with him by The AP.
Without divulging numbers, Levy said the Bills have offered Whitner a contract that lands directly in the middle of what Oakland safety Michael Huff (the No. 7 pick) and Detroit linebacker Ernie Sims (No. 9) received. Huff received a five-year, $22.5 million contract while Sims also got a five-year deal, but monetary terms have not been disclosed.
Levy said Hurst was not happy with the Bills' offer.
___
AP Sports Writer Rusty Miller in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.
Click to expand...
 
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buckeyefool said:
Yet Reggie Bush was wrong for missing one practice according to you....nice double standard
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HEY, HEY, HEY!!!

Its not a double-standard. Reggie Bush came from College Footballs best offense EVER! :roll1:



In all seriousness, its a bit different situation. Reggie was wanting #1 draft choice money, even though he wasnt the #1 draft choice. Whitner is wanting a contract that at least rivals Huffs, not trying to make money that traditionally doesnt fit. Its one thing to hold out if you are getting nickel and dimed, its another to hold out for a few nickel and dimes.
 
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