Donte Whitner is a career quality starter — a defensive back whose body of work places Whitner in the top half of all players at the position historically. The Knox model values sustained contribution over flash, and Whitner's career arc reflects exactly that kind of reliable professional-grade performance.

SWAS#39RES

Donte Whitner

2× Pro BowlTop 38% all-time defensive backsReliable Starter⚙️ Sustained Machine · 2009

Height5'10"

Weight208 lb

BornJul 24, 1985

Age40

CollegeOhio State See College Stats

ConferenceBig Ten

Rookie yr2006

Draft2006 · Rd 1, Pick 8 · BUF

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Pro Bowls

Archetype Intelligence

Reliable StarterExplore archetypes →

A defensive back with a above-average career — the kind of consistent contributor every roster needs. Solid availability (excellent availability over their career) added to their value.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 65 · #1717 · Above Average

Worth 65 points of value above a freely-available replacement safety — top 38% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 8 of 11 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +8.1 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

8 cleared

3 replaced

Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+8.1

Avg surplus

peak +13

8 seasons × ~8.1 surplus ≈ VORP 65

Combined Season Grid

The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.

2 grids split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Defense													Snap Counts
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%
2006	—	BUF	15	—	80	42	38	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	5	0	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2007	—	BUF	15	—	71	50	21	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	1	1	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2008	—	BUF	13	—	51	40	11	2	2	1.0	5.0	0	1	1	—	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2009	—	BUF	10	—	45	30	15	2	1	0.0	3.0	2	5	0	—	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2010	—	BUF	16	—	104	61	43	1	1	0.5	2.5	1	7	1	1	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2011	—	SF	15	—	58	45	13	2	3	0.0	5.0	2	10	1	3	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2012	—	SF	16	—	78	57	21	1	0	0.0	1.0	1	4	2	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
2013	—	SF	16	—	68	53	15	3	0	0.0	3.0	2	12	2	2	0	0	—	0.0%	1,012	95.1%	1	4.0%
2014	—	CLE	16	—	103	66	37	3	0	0.0	3.0	1	4	2	—	0	0	1	2.0%	1,152	99.0%	22	9.4%
2015	—	CLE	14	—	80	57	23	4	2	1.5	7.5	0	4	1	—	0	0	2	3.0%	849	93.3%	1	3.0%
2016	—	WAS	10	—	61	44	17	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	1	—	0	0	—	0.0%	565	75.8%	11	12.3%
Career		—	156	—	799	545	254	18	9	3.0	30.0	11	53	12	7	2	0	3	2.5%	3,578	90.8%	35	7.2%

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	VAL
2006	21	BUF	15	—	80	42	38	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	5	0	—	0	6.5
2007	22	BUF	15	—	71	50	21	0	0	0.0	0.0	1	1	1	—	0	5.5
2008	23	BUF	13	—	51	40	11	2	2	1.0	5.0	0	1	1	—	0	4.8
2009	24	BUF	10	—	45	30	15	2	1	0.0	3.0	2	5	0	—	1	6.3
2010	25	BUF	16	—	104	61	43	1	1	0.5	2.5	1	7	1	1	0	8.5
2011	26	SF	15	—	58	45	13	2	3	0.0	5.0	2	10	1	3	0	8.5
2012	27	SF	16	—	78	57	21	1	0	0.0	1.0	1	4	2	1	1	8.9
2013	28	SF	16	15*	68	53	15	3	0	0.0	3.0	2	12	2	2	0	10.4
2014	29	CLE	16	16*	103	66	37	3	0	0.0	3.0	1	4	2	—	0	8.7
2015	30	CLE	14	13*	80	57	23	4	2	1.5	7.5	0	4	1	—	0	6.4
2016	31	WAS	10	8*	61	44	17	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	0	1	—	0	4.1
Career			156	52*	799	545	254	18	9	—	—	11	53	12	7	2	78.6

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

Snap Counts

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Off	Off%	Def	Def%	ST	ST%
2013	28	SF	16	15*	—	0.0%	1,012	95.1%	1	4.0%
2014	29	CLE	16	16*	1	2.0%	1,152	99.0%	22	9.4%
2015	30	CLE	14	13*	2	3.0%	849	93.3%	1	3.0%
2016	31	WAS	11	8*	—	0.0%	565	75.8%	11	12.3%
Career			57	52*	3	—	3,578	—	35	—

* GS not available from free sources — SG* estimated from snap share (nflverse 2012+)

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 56 · Strong Starter

A strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 56 of 100, era-normalized against int/g peers across 11 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 55.4 × longevity 1 = KV-H 56· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 53

On-field 34.8

Availability 18.2

On-field production Staying available

Season-by-season quality (era-relative int/g)

2006bestavg 532016

All-Time Standing

how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position

Depth

of 100

Reached 5% of the all-time Interceptions leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

5% of the all-time Interceptions leader5

0 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader0

A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data — career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence — so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite ≥ 85 · Strong ≥ 65 · Solid ≥ 45 · Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 87%.

Per-Snap Impact

Defensive Backs · proprietary · 2012+

Rotational

SIS

Disruption / 100 snaps:1.188See leaderboard →

Disruption/1001.188Snap share90.8%Def snaps3,578VolatileCV 0.58

Production per snap — the box score normalized by opportunity. SIS is z-scored within defensive backs, shrinkage-regularized so small samples don't spike, over the NFL snap-count era (2012+).

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average defensive backs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Combine · 2006

Percentiles compare each raw measurement against position peers, the full combine pool, and the same draft class where enough samples exist.

DB · 2006 class

4.40s

40-Yard

Strong · 84th pct

Pos 84thAll 93thClass Pos 76thClass All 91th

40"

Vertical

Strong · 89th pct

Pos 89thAll 95thClass Pos 73thClass All 90th

132"

Broad Jump

Elite · 93th pct

Pos 93thAll 98thClass Pos 91thClass All 98th

18 reps

Bench

Strong · 75th pct

Pos 75thAll 33thClass Pos 77thClass All 26th

Postseason Career

8 playoff games

Defense

Tkl28Solo20Ast8Int1PD3FF1

College Stats

Ohio StateCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Ohio State), but no parsed college box-score table is present in this profile artifact. The section stays here so every profile has a consistent college-stats landing point without fabricating unavailable rows.

Reference Graph

Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.

2006 Draft Class· this player went #8

#1Mario WilliamsDE #2Reggie BushRB #3Vince YoungQB #4D'Brickashaw FergusonOT #5A.J. HawkLB #6Vernon DavisTE #7Michael HuffFS #9Ernie SimsOLB #10Matt LeinartQB #11Jay CutlerQB #12Haloti NgataDT #13Kamerion WimbleyOLB #14Brodrick BunkleyNT #15Tye HillDB #16Jason AllenDB #17Chad GreenwayOLB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Donte inherited the Buffalo Bills DB room from Jim Leonhard (2005–2013), and handed it to George Wilson (2007–2012).

Henry Jones 1991–2000Kurt Schulz 1992–1999Jeff Burris 1994–1997Manny Martin 1996–1999Ken Irvin 1999–2001Antoine Winfield

Similar Players

Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).

Vernon Hargreaves III

Movementderived from season history

2016team change
Joined WAS (from CLE)
2016final season
Last recorded season with WAS
2014team change
Joined CLE (from SF)
2011team change
Joined SF (from BUF)
2006draft
Drafted by BUF — Round 1, Pick 8

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

5'10" / 208 lb

Frame

204 lb at 4.40s

Size-speed

40" vert / 132" broad

Explosion

18 reps

Bench power

Injury History

6 career games missed (Out)

From nflverse weekly injury reports · coverage begins 2009.

Season	Team	Games Out	Designations
2015	CLE	2	W9Out· ConcussionW10Out· Concussion
2011	SF	0	W4Questionable· Hip
2010	BUF	0	W14Questionable· Knee
2009	BUF	4	W4Out· ThumbW5Out· ThumbW7Out· AnkleW8Out· AnkleW10Questionable· AnkleW17Questionable· Illness

Knox

StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works →

Historical Knox · KV-H

Era-normalized career quality — z-scored against 11-season peers. See all →

peak 59

Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season

C+2006

C+2007

C2008

B2009

C+2010

B2011

C+2012

B2013

C+2014

C2015

C2016

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 11 seasons.

Era Translator

INT translated to the 2025NFL — each season's standing among its own-era peers, projected onto 2025's scoring environment. Modern-era (1999+) coverage.

Season	Actual INT	INT/G	→ 2025 INT	→ 2025 /G
2006	1	0.1	0-1	0
2007	1	0.1	0-1	0
2008	0	0	0	0
2009	2	0.2	2	0.1
2010	1	0.1	0-1	0
2011	2	0.1	1-1	0.1
2012	1	0.1	0-1	0
2013	2	0.1	1-1	0.1
2014	1	0.1	1	0
2015	0	0	0	0
2016	0	0	0	0

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:snap_counts, nflverse:combine, nflverse:draft_picks, nflverse:injuries · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

65 career value over replacement — #1717 all-time of 4,642. 5.9/season above a replacement-level S.

Draft OutcomeMiss ↓

Pick #8 (Rd 1) · BUF · 2006 · -4.4 vs expected KV-H

56actual

60.4 expected · Δ−4.4

Fan Rating

Rate Donte Whitner — All-Time

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All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

Snap Counts

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Per-Snap Impact

Career Aging Trajectory

Combine · 2006

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

2006 Draft Class· this player went #8

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Injury History

Knox

Era Translator

Career Geography