Safety Donte Whitner is apparently very serious about helping the Bills turn things around. The former first-round pick is entering Year 3, and Buffalo has managed seven wins in each of his first two seasons. Not awful, particularly given their division, and the fact that they haven't had much stability at the quarterback position. But not great, either. In any case, Whitner's not taking any chances. He's taking the team's 2008 first-round pick, cornerback Leodis McKelvin, under his wing.
"I'm having him stay with me until he finds a place of his own," said Whitner. "Each night I'm going to teach him a little bit more about the defensive scheme. It's hard as a rookie because you're going to make mistakes. So I'll try to slowly bring him up to speed on things and be a sounding board for him if he has any questions."BuffaloBills.com's Chris Brown writes that McKelvin "was floored by the offer ... but happily accepted the invite." This could be the turning point in McKelvin's rookie season; often early-first-round defensive backs come into the league with humongous expectations only to flounder for a year or two. Usually, it has very little to do with being physically overmatched and everything to do with being mentally overwhelmed. The Redskins' Carlos Rogers immediately comes to mind.
Ideally, McKelvin would be eased into the lineup, but there's a chance he starts opposite Terrence McGee, and Jabari Greer moving to nickel back. And while it's way too early to pencil in the starters, working with Whitner certainly won't hurt McKelvin's chances for the gig.
