Dolphins draft White in second round, say QB will compete at QB

Associated Press

DAVIE, Fla. -- The Miami Dolphins now have a quarterback to run their Wildcat offense: West Virginia's Pat White.

And the Dolphins won't limit White to one part of the playbook.

The most prolific running quarterback in major-college history, White was a surprise pick by Miami in the second round of the NFL draft Saturday.

Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland said White likely will anchor the Wildcat and eventually could compete for the starting quarterback job. That means he'll challenge Chad Henne for the role of heir apparent to Chad Pennington.

"I don't think you can have too many good players at that position," Ireland said. "Pat White has an unusual set of skills that can help us. We're creative enough as a coaching staff that he'll be able to enhance our offense in a multitude of ways."

White could be an ideal triggerman for the Wildcat, a variation of the single wing that rejuvenated the Dolphins' offense last season to help them reach the playoffs for the first time in seven years.

"I guess I fit fairly well in the Wildcat," White said. "Hopefully that will be my quickest way on the field. I'm excited and happy to be a part of it."

Ireland denied that the selection of White meant running back Ronnie Brown is on the trading block. Brown took the snaps in the Wildcat last season.

"We're not looking to trade Ronnie Brown," Ireland said. "Pat is going to be the element of surprise. You can put him at receiver and use Ronnie in the Wildcat still. There are a lot of things you can do when you have great athletes."

The Dolphins devoted their other first-day picks to the secondary, choosing Illinois cornerback Vontae Davis with the 25th selection in the first round, then adding Utah defensive back Sean Smith with their second second-round choice.

The Dolphins made both picks while mindful of the potent passing attacks they'll face next season in the AFC East. Tom Brady is expected to return for the New England Patriots, the Buffalo Bills signed Pro Bowl wide receiver Terrell Owens and the New York Jets used their top draft pick to select USC quarterback Mark Sanchez.

White could help the Dolphins keep up with high-scoring opponents. He ran for 4,480 yards at West Virginia, where he had a 34-8 record as a starter and became the first quarterback to start in four bowl victories.

White directed a spread offense similar to the Wildcat and is well aware that the Dolphins made a big splash last season with their version of the single wing.

"I definitely watched the Dolphins," he said. "It kind of reminded me of West Virginia a little bit -- get the defense going one way and shoot somebody out the other way. It keeps the defense on their toes."

Last season, the Dolphins averaged 6.4 yards per play in the Wildcat with eight touchdowns in 91 plays, including scores covering 62, 53 and 51 yards.

Miami also might find room for White in the receiving corps, where depth is thin. White worked out as a wideout for NFL teams leading up to the draft.

While White is optimistic he can find a role in the NFL, Davis figures he can make a big difference as a rookie.

"My expectations will be to be the defensive player of the year in the National Football League," he said.

The Dolphins expect Davis and Smith to upgrade a secondary that ranked 25th in the league against the pass last season and lost starting cornerback Andre Goodman to the Denver Broncos in free agency.

Davis worked out for the Dolphins and said he received favorable feedback from the team's football czar, Bill Parcells.

"(He said) I fit the style of their defense with physical play and being aggressive," Davis said. "I consider myself a complete corner. My strength is coming up to tackle and being physical in run support."

Davis would have been drafted higher if not for concerns about his attitude and work ethic. Illinois coach Ron Zook briefly demoted Davis to second string last year but touts him as an excellent NFL prospect.

"People have their opinions," Davis said. "Everybody who knows Vontae knows I'm a great person and a great player. Bill Parcells speaks louder than words. For him to draft me, he knows the type of person I am."

Ireland said Zook reassured the Dolphins about Davis' attitude.

"He's a competitive kid," Ireland said. "He's a gym rat. He's a good kid. I don't think we have to worry about any integrity problems."

A three-year starter who turned pro after his junior season, Davis is durable, tackles well and has good bloodlines. His brother, tight end Vernon Davis, was taken with the sixth overall pick in 2006 by the San Francisco 49ers.

The 6-3, 214-pound Smith is a converted receiver who has been projected as a cornerback or safety in the NFL. He was a two-year starter at cornerback for Utah and had nine career interceptions.

The Dolphins drafted him after trading down. They swapped second-round picks with the Indianapolis Colts and acquired their fifth-round choice.





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Football: OSU set to meld a new offense

Overhaul will test Pryor's, players' ability to adjust
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 3:08 AM
By Tim May

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Spring is in the air. So is change, it seems, for the Ohio State offense.

Terrelle Pryor said he can sense it. From his interaction with coach Jim Tressel and offensive coordinator Jim Bollman as well as the teammates who must fill seven vacant starting spots on the offense, the sophomore quarterback said the Buckeyes are eager for the start of spring drills Thursday.

"I can tell you the coaches are fired up," Pryor said. "Coach Tressel is really fired up; I meet with him every day in his office and I can tell. Coach Bollman is more fired up than I can ever remember seeing him.

"I think this spring is going to be very fun. Everyone seems to be looking forward to it."

Pryor knows change is in the works, and has been for a couple of months. A year ago, OSU's offense was designed to take advantage of the talents of returning senior quarterback Todd Boeckman and tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells, with some components for Pryor, considered a passing and rushing threat. Now, it will largely feature Pryor's talents.

The offense will undergo changes that couldn't be made at midseason last year, when Tressel made Pryor the starter. But the Buckeyes apparently are looking at several options to upgrade this year's model.

That might include more use of the pistol formation, in which the quarterback lines up about 4 yards behind center with a tailback behind him. It also could include a version of the single-wing formation, in which the quarterback would line up about 7 yards behind center, but often would have a back crossing in front of him from a slot just before or just after the snap, creating options and confusion.

"From a team standpoint this spring we would like to get the communication down, because we're going to run the offense a little different," Pryor said. "We're going to run a lot of different plays with a whole bunch of different things we're putting in, like calling plays from the line of scrimmage.

"We want to leave camp as a passing team and a running team so we can just be unstoppable."

The offense is going to have a different feel no matter what, considering Pryor is the only returning starter who touched the ball last season. Gone are Wells, fullback Brandon Smith, receivers Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline and tight end Rory Nicol.

Among those ready to step up are running backs Dan Herron and Brandon Saine; receivers DeVier Posey, Dane Sanzenbacher and Lamaar Thomas; and tight end Jake Ballard, who played as much as Nicol last year.

"I think the quarterback position is the one you give the most attention to, in regards to who you're going to become," Tressel said. "But you don't lose sight of the fact we're going to look different at running back and receiver. We're going to look different up front (with two new starters on the line).

"So it won't be all tailored to what Terrelle does well and to what (backup) Joe Bauserman does well. It will be some of what Boom Herron does well, what those wideouts do well, what Jake Ballard adds to the picture at tight end, and what Jake Stoneburner offers us now that we've moved him over to tight end."

Stoneburner, with a receiver's pedigree, could offer a stretch-the-field threat from tight end that hasn't been available for a number of seasons. So the options -- both from a personnel and a philosophical standpoint -- are there to overhaul an offense that ranked a lackluster 76{+t}{+h} nationally last year with a 342.69-yard average.

Tom Luginbill, who monitors college football and recruiting for Scouts Inc. of ESPN.com, said the OSU coaches did a "fantastic job" last year of not overloading their freshman quarterback, even as fans screamed for more.

Now, though, the offense will lean on Pryor now that he has experience.

"He is going to be expected to take that next step, taking on more of the responsibility of the scheme, allowing the coaches to implement more things (tailored to him) without him being overloaded," Luginbill said.

Pryor said he welcomes it, and that the key for the whole offense this spring is to waste no time.

"We want to get better every day, because these 15 practices, that's all we have until fall camp," Pryor said. "We want to use every single minute we've got."

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Wildcat has found its place in the NFL

By Scott Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, March 1, 2009


Tony Sparano turned around the Miami Dolphins in his first season as coach, but he might have gained more recognition for the offense he helped popularize around the NFL.

Sparano unleased the "Wildcat" formation last year, and it was so successful that others were quick to copy.

"I wish I had a dollar for every person who ran it," Sparano said, jokingly.

The "Wildcat" proved to be money for the Dolphins.

They caught the New England Patriots flat-footed with it last September. The 38-13 thumping of the defending AFC champions helped propel Miami to an eventual division title after it had won just one game in 2007.

The success Miami and other teams had with the "Wildcat" in 2008 has turned the back-to-the-future package into the wrinkle du jour in the NFL. And the intrigue created by the "Wildcat" could impact the NFL draft and enhance the value of players in it with local ties.

"Obviously, there's some people that have given it some thought and have used it in our league and, naturally, those things expand," Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "There's a few players in this draft that would make you think about that."

West Virginia quarterback Pat White and Penn State wide receiver/kick returner Derrick Williams are two of the more notable examples.

They have the blend of versatility and athletic ability to succeed in the "Wildcat," a progeny of the single-wing formation that predated the sophisticated passing attacks of the modern era.

White and Williams could add another dimension to the "Wildcat," which usually features a direct snap to a team's top runner, since each would also represent a passing threat.

White set a record for career rushing yards (4,480) by a quarterback at the Division I-A level, but he also threw well enough to become the first quarterback to win four bowl games in NCAA history.

And as NFL teams evaluate White in advance of April's draft, the possibilities with a pass-or-throw option in the "Wildcat" is, no doubt, a part of their thought process.

"I think the implementation of the 'Wildcat' and other spread systems will definitely help me out," White said, "because of the style of offense we ran at West Virginia."


'Wildcat' makes Williams a wild card

The "Wildcat" may help Williams, or at least his draft stock, even more.

Unlike White, who had an impressive showing at last week's NFL scouting combine and may convince teams to draft him strictly as a quarterback, Williams did not fare well in Indianapolis.

He ran a 4.62 in the 40-yard dash, raising questions — if not red flags — even though illness may have factored in to his pedestrian time. Teams that aren't convinced Williams has the speed to play wide receiver on a regular basis may covet him for what he can do in the "Wildcat."

Williams took his share of direct snaps at Penn State last season, and he rushed for 243 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. The former high school quarterback also completed a couple of passes out of the formation, forcing teams to respect his arm and his legs.

When asked about the prospect of Williams playing in the "Wildcat" in the NFL, Penn State wide receiver Deon Butler, who is also eligible for the draft, said, "He'll be good at it. He can throw passes, he can run, he's big enough to take some of those bigger hits."

The punishment players are exposed to in the "Wildcat" is primarily why teams don't use their starting quarterback in the formation.

While the package gained traction in the NFL last season, it has been used before.

Arizona Cardinals coach and former Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt said the Steelers employed a direct snap earlier in the decade when they had Antwaan Randle El — the shifty wide receiver who excelled as a running quarterback in college.

The idea then, as it is now, is to put the ball in the hands of a dynamic playmaker and allow him to exploit a team that isn't sure how to defend the "Wildcat."

"I think the 'Wildcat' situation is something that a lot of us are trying to figure out what's the best way to defend it as well as use it." Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said.

"Until somebody finds a way to make something unsuccessful," said Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert, "they'll continue to do it."


Following the Dolphins' lead

Indeed, the NFL is nothing if not a copycat league. And the "Wildcat" became more prevalent after Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown executed it so adroitly that he rushed for four touchdowns and threw for another score against the Patriots.

It was enough of a concern for the Steelers prior to their regular-season finale against the Cleveland Browns that they prepared for the "Wildcat" in practice.

Rookie quarterback Dennis Dixon so impressed his teammates with the way he emulated Cleveland's Joshua Cribbs, an explosive open-field threat who played quarterback in college, that several of them said the Steelers should consider adding the "Wildcat" to their offensive repertoire.

"I think we should get our offense to put Dixon in there," Steelers Pro Bowl linebacker James Farrior said in December. "I think we can make some plays with him on offense."

That "Wildcat" sentiment, while widespread, hardly has launched a revolution in the NFL. The formation has given defensive coordinators something else for which they have to prepare, even if it is only used for a handful of plays.

And to think the Dolphins had doubts on the "Wildcat's" effectiveness before they unleashed it — and Brown, who averaged well over five yards a carry last season and made his first Pro Bowl — on the Patriots.

Recalled Sparano: "We might go out there for two plays, and if it backfires or it doesn't give us the look that we wanted, maybe we don't see it anymore.

"It just so happened we started to get a couple of the pictures that we wanted to see, and we were able to go with it a little bit longer."

Now what had been old is new again, and the "Wildcat" looks like it is here to stay.



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Tribune-Review
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The Tebow experiment is inevitable

by Tim Layden
SI.com

Nice of Tim Tebow to end the suspense early. But the debate on his future will continue unabated, and not just on blog posts and sports talk radio.

This debate has nothing to do with his place in college football history or fast-tracking his path to sainthood. Without taking another snap for the Gators, Tebow is already on the short list of the best to play the college game.

The commentary on his impeccable character is tiresome, but Tebow has already won a Heisman Trophy and two national championships. (If not for some very sketchy voting patterns this year, he would have two Heismans.) He could leave Gainesville next spring with two statues and three national titles, which would be unprecedented. I have no idea if he is a better college player than Doc Blanchard, but he's in the team picture.

Yet there is a far more intriguing argument on the table: Where does Tebow fit in the NFL? Does he fit in the NFL at all? I won't pretend to know the answer but I can guarantee there is no shortage of NFL executives and coaches dying to find out. And anybody who dismisses Tebow on the grounds he's just another college athlete who can't play the NFL game is on a different page from the people who will decide his football future.

In November I wrote a story about the re-emergence of single wing-based formations and plays -- a.k.a. the "Wildcat'' -- in the NFL and college football. Tebow's name kept coming up, and without provocation. Example: When I spoke with Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator (and former Miami Dolphins head coach) Cam Cameron, he was talking about playing in the NFL with a full-time single wing-style quarterback. He expressed skepticism and then added, "Maybe Tebow can do it.''

I hadn't asked him about Tebow. But he mentioned Tebow just the same. Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, who has been a head coach in both the NFL (Dallas Cowboys) and college (Georgia Tech), did the same thing. And so did Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who introduced Tebow into our interview by saying, "Tebow, obviously, is a special one.''

The NFL is fascinated with Tebow because he represents a potential evolutionary step in offensive professional football. (Emphasis here on potential because it's all a guessing game at this point.)

Belichick says, "To win in the NFL you have to be able to throw the ball.'' And that is unquestioned. However, the complexity and athleticism of NFL defenses challenge the passing game in such ways that smart offensive minds are constantly trying to find a means to make the quarterback a more effective and dangerous player. They all would love to find a quarterback who is a threat to pass or run on every snap. All of them.

The option game has been a staple of college football for decades, whether in the Oklahoma T-formation under Bud Wilkinson in the 1950s or the Texas and Oklahoma wishbones in the 70s or the Vince Young/Pat White zone-read option in this decade. Yet the option has never translated to the NFL on the theory that professional defenses are too fast and too physical. Option reads would be ineffective because NFL players would overwhelm it with speed. And the quarterback would get mauled.

Slowly, however, rigid old rules are loosening. There is no movement afoot to install the Air Force flexbone in the NFL, but there is absolutely an interest in using option principles to complicate defensive preparation. "Somebody, someday is going to run the option in the NFL,'' says Gailey, "and when that happens, all bets are off.''

For now, the goal is more modest. Gradually, over the past several seasons -- culminating in the Miami Wildcat -- NFL teams have experimented with direct snaps to a single wing-style tailback. (With the Dolphins, that was Ronnie Brown). This forces the defense to account for an extra player as a potential ballcarrier and reduces the number of bodies they can commit to the box.

If that player is a threat to pass, the game is fundamentally changed.

Michael Vick proved himself a dangerous runner in the NFL. But he was never a consistently accurate thrower. Likewise Vince Young, albeit with a lesser body of work. Long before either of them, Randall Cunningham and Steve Young were effective throwers and dangerous scramblers, but with few designed running plays. The truth is the NFL has never had a player who can consistently threaten defenses equally with his arm and his feet. And the NFL collectively wonders if Tebow is that guy.

As I quoted Belichick in the Dec. 1 issue of Sports Illustrated, "It's going to be very interesting to see what happens when Tebow comes into this league. There aren't many players who can run and throw.''

Yet at lower levels of the game, dual-threat quarterbacks are becoming the norm. In youth and high school games, teams are running spread offenses with zone reads and quarterback off-tackle runs. It's remarkable that Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan were so successful in the NFL as rookies this year, and they are both traditional pocket quarterbacks in the mold of Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. But as Belichick says, "There's a lot of interest in what you could do with a real athlete back there, like an Elway, with his ability to run the ball.''

Said Gailey in SI, "Over the next 10 or 15 years, it's going to evolve because the runner-thrower is the kind of quarterback the college game is producing now.''

Tebow is the prototype of that quarterback. At 6-foot-2½, 238 pounds, he is big, strong and relatively fast. (Not Vick fast, but not Manning slow, either). He has the girth and toughness to withstand hits, although probably not a full season's worth of NFL hits. ("Look at how short the careers are for running backs in the NFL,'' says Belichick.). As a passer, Tebow is no Ryan, but he is a far more accurate thrower than Vick or Young.

The challenge for NFL thinkers is how best to use Tebow. Can he be a full-time quarterback? (Not likely, unless he is re-made as a pocket passer). How many times can he carry the ball, making himself a threat without getting, as Belichick says, "broken in half?'' (Maybe 10 times a week? Maybe only five?). Can an NFL offense function effectively with two quarterbacks. Say, Tyler Thigpen for 40 snaps and Tim Tebow for 20? What would this do to your salary structure? Is a Super Bowl worth paying two quarterbacks NFL-starter money?

No answers here. Not yet. But know this: The questions are being asked by the people who write the checks. The Tebow Experiment is forestalled for a year, but it will absolutely take place.




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