Eat Crow 'Draftniks': Whitner Honored

Posted Sep 29th 2006 6:58AM by Gene Battaglia

Remember when the Bills were blasted in April, for their high selection of safety Donte Whitner at #8 overall? No one, and I mean no one, liked the pick. Either you hated the pick, or you hedged (myself included), saying "he could pan out...but why not trade down?"

I would like my crow with some Tabasco sauce, please.

Whitner was honored yesterday as the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month. He has started the last two games, had an interception in the loss at New England, and his break-up of a two-point conversation attempt by Miami closed the deal for the Bills.

Overall, he's seventh on the team in tackles. Not a bad start.

Now, would the Bills please acknowledge he's starter? As of Friday morning, the depth chart, as seen here http://www.buffalobills.com/depth_chart/index.html lists Whitner as third string. Matt Bowen is still listed as the starter. Whitner is the real starter, and looks to be a contributor for years to come.

Whitner Named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month

by Chris Brown, Lead Journalist

Last Updated: 9/28/2006 3:40 PM ET

It's probably safe to say that Mel Kiper and the other NFL draft gurus aren't second guessing the Buffalo Bills selection of Donte Whitner with the eighth overall pick last spring anymore.

Whitner was named the NFL Rookie of the Month for his play in September.

"It's a great honor to get," said Whitner. "But I'd rather be 3-0 right now. I'm going to go out there and give it my all next month also and the rest of the season and see what happens."

If there's one satisfying aspect about the award, he believes it answers all the criticism Buffalo received for taking Whitner with their top pick last April.

"(The Bills) picked me and I'm glad they picked me," Whitner said. "But I still want to go out there and prove people wrong and prove the Bills right."

The Ohio State product got off to a good start in Week One as he recorded an interception in his first NFL game at New England off of Tom Brady. Unfortunately his return for a touchdown was called back on penalty. The scoring play would've given Buffalo the lead and likely the win in Week One. He also had eight tackles in the tightly fought contest.

"I've felt good out there," said Whitner. "It's really no different from college to the NFL. Everybody makes a big deal about being a rookie. But if you're poised and you know what you're doing out there, being a rookie really means nothing."

"Donte is a smart football player," said defensive captain London Fletcher. "For the most part he's doing an excellent job and the coaches are doing an excellent job of getting him prepared."

In Week Two Whitner made his first NFL start at Miami and was part of a dominant defensive effort as he contributed seven tackles and broke up a Miami two-point conversion attempt in the end zone. The Bills defense held Miami scoreless until less than two minutes remained in the game.

Whitner posted his second straight start last week and was credited with three tackles in the effort. He stands seventh on the team in tackles and is tied for the team lead for interceptions.

"He's talented," said head coach Dick Jauron. "He's fast. He likes to play the game and he'll hit you. Those are all things that translate well to our sport. He's got good size. He's learning how to play, but one of the reasons we did like him is because he likes football. He likes to talk about football, look at it, study it and he likes to play. He's just learning and he's going to get better every week. I believe that."

The Bills have had just two NFL Rookies of the Month prior to Whitner's honor this week. Linebacker Gabe Northern won the award back in November of the 1996 season, and Sam Cowart won it in October of 1998.

Lowdermilk Becomes Highest Paid

THE BLIND SIDE

Evolution of the Left Tackle

By Michael Lewis

Excerpted from September 25, 2006 issue


…The new market officially opened on Feb. 1, 1993, the day after the Super Bowl. The real shock was the dollar value the new market assigned to offensive linemen. Just a few years earlier the Bengals had told Munoz that no offensive linemen was worth half a million dollars a year. Now the Denver Broncos quickly signed a couple of free agent linemen, Brian Habib and Don Maggs, for three times that amount. A few days later Vikings center Kirk Lowdermilk moved to the Indianapolis Colts for $2 million a year, then groped for the adjective to describe his feelings. “Stunned is not the word,” he said. “There is no word in the English language to describe it…”