CELEBRATE !! Rams agree to terms with Donte Whitner

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TexasRam

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Whitner played a lot of FS concepts on the niners.

He has more range than TJ in my book. If Woodson did it in his 40s I'm sure Whitner is fine.
 

Fatbot

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Well every year there's at least one move that I hate don't like, and that's okay so I will post my final whining then shut up about him. I never thought he was very good and his so-called "Pro Bowls" were more from 49er-love and being overrated from ESPN highlight hits. He's an "I" player, not a team player. He's a guy when everything is going good it's because he's great but when something goes wrong it's always someone else's fault, which he then twits about. I won't play the "locker room cancer" card because honestly don't know what kind of teammate he is, even if I have my doubts. I don't see the great fit, we have a secondary of hard hitters already so his skillset isn't required here, especially if it ends up costing too much cap space. Up until now I think he's been paid a salary higher than his worth, I hope the Rams don't fall into that free agency trap again.
 

Dagonet

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Since the Rams traded away so many picks, they need to start filling in some needs with short term contracts at reasonably low money. They seriously need to scout the lower tier guys and score a good UDFA or two.

I like this idea. Just saying.
 

Elmgrovegnome

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Whitner played a lot of FS concepts on the niners.

He has more range than TJ in my book. If Woodson did it in his 40s I'm sure Whitner is fine.

I also think Whitner can play free safety the way that McLeod did. Last line of defense that makes good solid tackles. McLeod was not asked to be a Ballhawk.
 

BonifayRam

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I have not seen any news articles validating this tweet.

Its a fact that the Rams currently have plenty of safeties on this roster & its a fact that most all of them lean towards being much more a strong safety " in the box" type than deep or free ranger type. Donte did have outstanding speed early in his career like its been pointed out by a few posters above. Donte has also had issues with concussions too. Its been written about that his tackling & hitting was trending downward. So its natural that fans would question this a signing like this.

It may be that the Rams prefer to have a veteran in the back of their secondary to help with back 7. Donte is on the smaller size being 5-10 208 pounds for today's NFL strong safety types looking like Lb'ers. It would provide the back seven with a proven pro bowler leader too. Rams lost their 4 of their most expereinced starters in their defense (Long/JL/JJ & Mcleod), so adding a 31 yr old veteran back in does look like a wise move.It also keeps Lamarcus Joyner nailed in as a CB for this season anyway & the Rams needed CB help badly too.

Could be that Donte may not be by design a starter too but just be a top game day back up for both starting safeties ( TJ & Mo) & WSLB'er Mark Barron???? I think the BIG NICKLE will play a very big role in our D this season & Donte could be a big part of that. With the major loss of the valuable priceless high draft picks these type aging free agent signings will be in our future the next few seasons.
 

Ram Pat

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No FS out there...have lemons make lemonade. However, I loved when Whitner was torched by Balt in Superbowl. He was slow and bit in coverage then. Hope he ate some humble pie and got the 9er stench off. Hurts losing McCleod to $. TJ tight hip no lateral movement. Yoga
 

RamFan503

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It was the reason he fell in the draft wasn't it? He had to play fs which didn't play to his strengths so he didn't look that flash and fell as a result.

.
Nah - he was asked to switch to a hybrid LB/SS position in Kiffin's odd defensive system. He did well as a FS but really had a hard time with the new role. TJ is pretty good in coverage and I wouldn't have a problem with him back there. Keep an eye on Cody Davis though. Dude is really fast and I thought I read a report where the coaches were impressed with his off season program.
 

Tron

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So he came in for a visit but no news about how it went or if we are signing him correct? The thread title confused me
 

jap

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Whitner?, TJ Mac?, Barron?, 'Tree? The Horns' secondary is gonna be a veritable minefield for opposing WRs, RBs, TEs, & QBs (when they blitz). Arians was concerned about us knocking out his QBs? He's gonna have a whole ton more to worry about from now on!!!

TJ Mac to opponents: "Welcome to the receiver graveyard, guys!!!"
 
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ReddingRam

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He was in L.A. last week for a visit, and then tweeted yesterday that he is back in L.A. again. Someone ( in above post) asked him what the chances are that he is signing with the Rams and he responded "high". Sounds like a done deal pretty much
 

IowaRam

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so what does 310 mean , code for summtin right ?
 

CGI_Ram

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This whole story is a big tease.

Banned_1a6896_5102526.gif
 

Prime Time

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On the one hand there's this...

"In his first career game, he recorded his first career interception against Tom Brady."

But on the other hand there's this bit of dumbness...

"In 2013, in a game against the St. Louis Rams, Whitner was fined for a hit on receiver Chris Givens. In response to the fine, he indicated that he would be legally changing his last name from "Whitner" to "Hitner", dropping the "W" from his surname. In an appearance on NFL Network's "NFL Total Access" on November 27, 2013, Whitner indicated that his request was to be processed on November 19, but had to be withdrawn when he was unable to honor the judge's requirement that he appear in court."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donte_Whitner
 

…..

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On the one hand there's this...

"In his first career game, he recorded his first career interception against Tom Brady."

But on the other hand there's this bit of dumbness...

"In 2013, in a game against the St. Louis Rams, Whitner was fined for a hit on receiver Chris Givens. In response to the fine, he indicated that he would be legally changing his last name from "Whitner" to "Hitner", dropping the "W" from his surname. In an appearance on NFL Network's "NFL Total Access" on November 27, 2013, Whitner indicated that his request was to be processed on November 19, but had to be withdrawn when he was unable to honor the judge's requirement that he appear in court."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donte_Whitner

Well hell....I'll call him Hitner if he brings some boom to the war chest.

If ya ask me, he's got to be foaming at the mouth at the prospects of joining this secondary and adding to the barrage of pain we can dish out.