Pat White Wins Games
January 27, 2009 10:29 AM | General
(10:30 am)
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After listening to all of the wonderful things Todd McShay has had to say about Pat White’s prospects as an NFL quarterback I got to thinking. One, what are McShay’s qualifications? And two, how does Pat really stack up against some other NFL quarterbacks?
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| Pat White was named MVP of the 2009 Senior Bowl played last Saturday in Mobile, Alabama.
AP photo |
As for No. 1, Mr. McShay’s biographical sketch from Wilkipedia says that he was a high school quarterback in Massachusetts who attempted to walk-on at Richmond where he was later switched to defensive back.
McShay got his start in the talent evaluation business working as an intern for Gary Horton’s Company The War Room, which produced independent scouting reports for NFL teams. When The War Room was subsequently purchased by ESPN, McShay then began working for the World Wide Leader offering his opinions on college football players.
Therefore, I will leave it up to you to judge whether or not Mr. McShay is qualified to evaluate Pat White’s NFL attributes.
As for No. 2, here is a quick list of NFL quarterbacks that I have come up with that have White’s general physical characteristics:
Have you heard of any of these guys?
All of them were right around 6-feet tall and weighed in the vicinity of 200 pounds with the obvious exception of course being Jurgensen (weight) and Flutie (height). The point is they didn’t fit the profile of the classic 6-foot-5-inch, 225-pound drop-back passer who throws over the top. All of them, however, were/are winners.
Come to think of it, haven’t we heard this before about White? LSU wanted him as a wide receiver. Alabama wanted him as a defensive back, yada, yada, yada.
When White got here some of the West Virginia coaches were saying similar things about him - not very tall, poor throwing mechanics, can’t make all of the throws, etc., etc. Then they watched him as a freshman wear out the varsity defense with the scout team O and their opinions soon changed.
I know of one NFL organization that has already sent its general manager up to get a look at White in person during the team’s preparation for the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
Others are also very interested in White.
I’m not good on predictions but here is what is likely to happen. The bad organizations that rely on the same formulas that McShay recites will take a pass on White because he doesn’t fit the classic profile of an NFL drop-back quarterback.
The good organizations – the ones that consistently win football games – one of them will wind up drafting White.
The reason is simple: Pat White wins football games.
And winners like winners.
