Pat White is getting a lot more hate than I thought. I wasn't excited about picking him so high either, but I surely understand why. If you don't think Sparano and company have a plan for this kid then you better think again. A reach? Certainly. A waste? Not at all. Other than that, I'm in love with the other two picks. CB was a serious issue for our team over the past few seasons, even WITH a solid Will Allen. Our secondary should be greatly improved with this Davis and Smith, as well as the signing of Gibril Wilson.
I don't know I think people are forgetting the versatility of White. The guy will be able to make the Wildcat a very dangerous formation being able to run and pass effectively. Not only that he also adds depth at the QB position and can play WR that a lot of people are complaining about at this point. He was a great value pick that makes the team much more dangerous. Every week defenses will have to scheme for the Wildcat taking time away for other formations and you can bet he may very well get some passes thrown his way. Another thing is that he could also be another quarterback of the future if Henne did fall through. When he was first picked I did think it was high but when I remembered the Wildcat I loved it. I think this was the most ingenious pick of the day and will benefit the team hugely this year. I also love the CB depth in a division packed with great receivers. Also there are still some sleeper WRs on the board that can play for this team. I've been critical of the Fins drafts in the past (especially the '07) so I'm not always rosy about everything this team does, its just that I seriously like the draft this year. For me I give it an A.
I agree Blitz, I thought we were going to pound the ball more. White is a reach and a half, he has no clear position. We essentially drafted a player who will play 10 maybe 13 plays a game.
Mayock on NFLN speculated that his QB skills are such that in 2 years he will be pushing Henne for the starting spot, but until then will have to play what ever position he is given.
But then we spent 2 2nd rounders on a QB (in consecutive years) and one of them is going to sit. White is not a polished WR, I dont' see how he'll be a contributor other than the wildcat.
Considering no one else offered a 2nd for Boldin I'm guessing that he wasn't available for that or someone would have jumped. So assuming he wasn't available for a 2nd by default White.
But what if the wildcat is less effective because teams have a full year to plan for it? Then he's a wasted pick IMO.
IMHO we got two of the best CBs in the draft. I'm puzzled by the White pick but they must have had a reason. I also think they will get rid of Beck when and if they get the chance and White becomes our 3rd QB. Might be a new wrinkle to the Wildcat we are not aware of with White going out for a pass from the QBs position.
Let me tell you all something, undersized or not, Pat White can flat play ball. I got a chance to see him play live and he was insane. He's got real talent and athleticism. He also has incredible determination, drive and leadership.
Can someone enlighten me on Davis' character issues and where they came from? I always heard he has concerns, but never knew what they were.
also gotta wonder why the dolphins brass drug henne cross country throwing to recievers only to pick a qb.
Agree. The two CBs I can see, although a little surprised with Davis. I wasn't impressed with this kid when he faced my Mizzou Tigers. I think Smith was GREAT value at 61. But, I cannot fathom the justification behind taking a QB/WR/KR/WC hybrid athlete, as great an athlete White is, when the most glaring weakness this team had was better linebacker play and pass rush could have been answered with your pick of Sintim, Barwin and Kruger. JUST DON'T GET THIS ONE. I get the same feeling I had when we picked Ginn. Sure, he's a great talent. Sure, I'll come to like having him. But, it's a luxury pick when we have so much greater need at a FUNDAMENTAL position like LB. I would have bet everything I own that the Phins would have taken one of those three LBs at the 2a pick. If it had gone Davis....Barwin/Sintim/Kruger.....Smith, I would call this a very, very successful draft. The White thing has me scratching my head though.
i dunno i thought the wc was already a dangerous formation with the players we had. even adding white it won't be as effective as it was last yr. every time ronnie lines up at qb or white lines up at qb or wr other teams are gonna know something is coming.and it's hard to believe that d-coordinators weren't already figuring out a way to stop/slow it down. although now ronnie doesn't have to line up at qb every time we run it. i see ronnie taking ricky's place motioning as ricky wasn't as effective when he got the ball.also drool at the possible pass situations of the wc format like the pass from penny to cobbs only it will be white to ronnie who is a better reciever than cobbs or ricky.that much more difficult figuring out who is gonna end up with the ball..ronnie?ricky?white?cobbs? the d can only zero in on so many guys but still doesn't warrant taking white so high.
Interesting article on Pat White his work ethic, attitude, and flexibility. He may be targeted as the 3rd qb or the saff may see molding him to another position or multiple. The article also gives a little insight on Davis. Hopefully the coaches will feed Davis a strong dose of NFL reality. http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/football/miami-dolphins/story/1018238.html
Yea but he has a lot of issues. With all that talent, why wasn't he starting earlier? The guy was able to give top ten pick Monroe trouble so you know he can play. I just think the inconsistent motor and his inability to consistently play the run contributed to it.
One thing people need to remember about the selection of Pat White and our Wild Cat is the fact that it will allow Pennington to come off the field. Last year we basically ran the Wild Cat with 10 players because we would have Pennington line up at WR. Opponents knew we weren't going to throw the ball to him and he was by no means a capable blocker. With White we can have him enter the game for Pennington and then we would be running the Wild Cat in full force with 11 on 11 because each player in the Wild Cat could catch or block, unlike Pennington in it. We could also use the Wild Cat as a mini-Time Out for our coaches to get Pennington off the field and talk to him about the game; such as Sparano or our O-coordinator telling Pennington to watch for this or that and if he sees it to do such and such. I'd love to see us have White in shotgun with Ronnie to his left and Ricky to his right. He can take the snap and run a option to the left or right, just run it up the gut, hand it off to either back, throw a pass on the run, or just us it as a regular passing formation. The opportunities are endless...
Which is kinda why I'm starting to like the White pick. You can start off in a wildcat formation and shift into a more standard formation. There are a lot of exciting things we could use him for. I kind of want to see White throw a pass to Jake Long out of the unbalanced line .
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9M2w9m320k"]YouTube - Sean Smith - LEGENDary interception[/ame]
This was a freakin' bizarre day! At least I got one guy right in my mock with Sean Smith. That was a great pick and great value. I'd never though he'd fall that far. Thank God for that one. As for the mind boggling pick of Pat White; Well, I guess you can definitely say the dude is a winner. I have to rationalize it to keep my sanity. No freakin' pass rushers? Our secondary is definitely upgraded, which is a good thing, but I really hope we get some pass rush help as well as receiving help on day 2. I really hope we can get Sidbury, my choice for our 3rd. I'd be real happy that. I'd love to get Terrance Taylor. It's weird with Parcells & co being such high character guys, that they would pick Davis. I guess they know more about than what we read in the press. I hope. I think the "high character thing gets blown out of proportion. I think he wants tough football players first and foremost, but who knows? Definitely bizarre, but not necessarily bad. I love the Sean Smith pick. There are a lot of good players still left. I have a feeling we're going to have a really good day 2.
added a pass rusher in derek (cameron) wake in the off-season. they're obviously high on him to pass on sintim, etc. and there's always a chance that a team took a guy they were looking at. if you go to this link http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/aquavision/aquavision.asp?category=1&search=&mediaid=42261 you can hear JI talk about vontae davis he says in talking to the coaching staff and to davis himself that the main issues he was concerned with were a few years back. I think all the other things can be coached out of him. Davis and Smith are both big physical corners which we'll need in quarters coverage. With E. Green, V. Davis, S. Smith, J. Allen there's now a WIDE OPEN competition at the other starting CB spot. Maybe they plug the two rookies in at once. Think two awesome CBs again.
i may be mistaken but i think even on the unbalanced line formation big jake wouldn't be eligible for a pass. because if he was eligible, that would mean someone like the TE wouldn't be.. but we know fasano is eligible bc he's caught passes out of it.
Gotta be patient on the WR front. We've got 5 more rounds to go and look what we were able to get with Camarillo and Bess who were UDFA. Our Secondary has been held together with bubble gum and duct tape for years now. I really think we would have gone Massaquai in the late 2nd had he been there, but it got real thin at the end of the 2nd and we didn't want to reach on another WR. With the picks we still have (7) today we'll chase down a few WRs. Remember some teams will also have to cut some guys loose to make cap room to sign these picks and we could pick up someone that way as well. All I know is I definately feel like we're a better team after yesterdays picks. JMO
I understand your gist, but a few comments backatcha. First, pretty sure as soon as any teams see White coming onto the field and Penny coming off, they will ready themselves for the Wildcat. Second, I wouldn't call Pat White out as a capable blocker....yet. He might be better than Penny....might be. Overall, it will obviously throw some wrinkles into what we can do on Offense, and the kid has Uber-athletic skills, AND I love Jim Jenson....one of my all time favorite phins...I just think that was really really high to pick this kid. Too many others still on the board at this point.
I've slept on the picks. (No lucky, I didn't sleep WITH the picks.) Davis, great pick. I think too much is being made of his "character issues". First of all, no one knows exactly what the "issues" were. Ron Zook and Jeff Ireland know what they were, and neither felt like it was a real problem. For someone who puts a premium on character, I trust Ireland's take on it. We do know, that he didn't get in trouble with the law or with drugs/steroids so I'm not truly worried. It seems its his ego, but its an ego that reminds me of Peezy not an Owens. Quite frankly, I'll take a defense full of Peezy type egos. White, is also a great pick. First of all, this does not threaten the futures of Henne or Brown. White is not here to replace them. He's here for the Wildcat. He will only enhance both players potential on the field. Yes, we may only run the Wildcat 10 times a game, but unlike other formations, it has the opportunity to score every time its used regardless of field position, which we saw last year. As far as when we took him, I could care less. Draft value, (outside of round 1 guys, because of salary) is only "relevant" the day of the draft. Meaning, its really not relevant at all. Take Bess for example. Would his game been any less impressive if he was 3rd round instead of undrafted? Think of it like this, unlike other teams, we have 2 offenses, Wildcat & traditional. We've spent 2, second round picks on QB's to run these offenses. This is a very good thing. Lastly, BPA is always the best way to draft. Smith, I have a feeling, will end up being the better of the 2 first day CBs. I have no stats or logic or reason for that. I just feel like it'll play out that way. Lastly, I still don't think we end up with JT back. I don't think his coming back relied on what we did with the draft, IMO.
