The Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League have added QB Pat White to their reserve/protected list for the 2011 UFL season. It is a great public relations move as White attended the University of West Virginia and could help bring in some local fans to the Destroyers, if they can get him signed.
With that being said, we have to wonder if White can ever develop into a suitable pro quarterback. He played one year with the Miami Dolphins after they drafted in the second round of the 2009 draft. The season was pretty disastrous as he failed to complete a pass and had a QB rating of just 39.6. Mostly the Dolphins used him as a Wild Cat QB and he did tally 81 rushing yards on 21 attempts.
Former Dolphins executive and football genius Bill Parcells has stated that drafting White violated his principles in drafting a prototypical QB. It seems that drafting White was one of his biggest regrets during his stint with the Dolphins.
There is no doubt about it, White is not your prototypical pro QB, but does that mean he cannot be a successful pro QB? In my mind I don't think so. I think White needs to land with a team that can understand what he brings to the field and craft an offensive attack that takes advantage of that.
I do not know if Destroyers Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer is the man who can effectively craft an offense around a less than typical QB. Of course he did find a lot of success with Bernie Kosar when the two were with the Cleveland Browns. Kosar was not your typical pro QB either, but there is a bigger concern with White.
My concern here is White’s ability to pass down the field. I have big questions on weather or not White can pass the ball accurately and consistently. I don't know how much of that can be taught, and players who rely on their speed and elusiveness rarely make a big splash in the pros.
The problem comes in where a fast and elusive college guy can look like a super star in college, once he gets to the pros he learns that the linebackers and DB's are just as fast as he is. Even in the UFL White will find that his competition is just as fast and maybe more determined to get him then the boys he played against in college.
We hear a lot about pro teams recruiting big time athletes, and White is certainly that, but I don't know how great a football player he is. Pro QB's have to have pocket awareness and the ability to throw a ball down the field to a precise spot where only his receivers can make the catch. So far in his limited action with the Dolphins I have not seen White able to do those things.
Related Links:
Virginia Destroyers news and notes
The Business of the United Football League
Joshua Lobdell.com
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