SunSentinel.com Wrote:NFL scout: Pat White can help Miami Dolphins revolutionize the NFL
Omar Kelly | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
1:46 PM EDT, April 28, 2009

Miami Dolphins czar Bill Parcells usually skips the Senior Bowl, but this year he wanted to see one specific player up close and personal.

For one practice in Mobile, Ala., back in January, Parcells perched himself next to his former protege, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. The two watched the full practice session together, exchanging chit-chat, observations and opinions.

According to two NFL scouts, most inside the NFL's scouting community concluded then and there that these two NFL heavyweights were locked in on the same prospect: West Virginia quarterback Pat White.

That's why many NFL insiders weren't surprised the Miami Dolphins used a second-round pick on White. Parcells and staff suspected they could lose White to the Patriots, who hadn't hidden their interest.

"He's no gimmick. He's dynamic. He's a little bit raw as a [quarterback] but has a good foundation. He's going to get better," one player personnel director said, admitting White was rated among the top-50 players on his team's draft board. "He wasn't going to be there in the third round."

One front-office official believes the Miami Dolphins are trying to revolutionize pro football by bringing the spread to the NFL, and he said the right player to do it in White.

"For the 30 minutes it takes to put in a Wildcat play it takes a defense a day to figure it out and work on how to stop it," former Miami Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson told WQAM radio last week.

White's ability to not just scramble, but throw the ball with range and accuracy, will allow offensive coordinator Dan Henning and quarterback coach David Lee to add even more elements to the Wildcat offense. Lee brought the gimmicky formation with him from Arkansas.

Upon White's selection by the Dolphins, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden predicted the spread offense was "officially in the National Football League," and described White as "a Wildcat that can throw the football. He's an electric guy."

As for the Miami Dolphins' other selections, while one NFL assistant agreed with those draft analysts who said the Dolphins "reached" on a couple of the nine draftees -- particularly Ohio State receiver Brian Hartline, who was taken in the fourth round, and Monmouth tight end John Nalbone, the fifth-round selection -- he points out that every team has every player rated differently.

He also stresses that NFL teams annually invest as much as $5 million into scouting college players with the goal of making the best "educated projections." Some of those guesses are on point, and some of them are "way off," he said.

Among the handful of executives, coaches and scouts contacted, most felt the Miami Dolphins' 2009 haul featured two of the draft's elite cornerbacks in first-round pick Vontae Davis, and Sean Smith, the second-rounder from Utah, who were both described as big, athletic and physical.

"They are both physical and going to tackle. Just like Parcells likes [them]," an NFC scout said. "Both are no punks."

Here's something from thephinsider about the controversy in Miami surrounding the Dolphins drafting of Pat White...

nobody has to convince me about him, but these types of qbs have never made it long term. I also wonder if he's durable enough to play every down. Hope it works out for him.

He's proven every doubter wrong so far. I see no reason for him to stop now...

All the NFL types have to do is call up ECU coach Skip Holtz. He'll tell 'em how to stop White and the spread.

After 4 years of running a spread, White is pretty proficient at it. He could probably teach Skip a trick or two...

He would probably have some durability issues, but while he was able to play, he's good enough to make a difference.