West Virginia's Pat White Still Has A Chance To Play QB In The NFL

Looks like my personal favorite college QB might get a chance to play in the NFL as a QB and not a WR after all, via Yahoo Sports:

Pat White says that when someone signing his NFL paycheck tells him to stop playing quarterback, that’s when he’ll let the position go. But after Sunday, NFL coaches might not be in such a hurry to put the brakes on White’s development as a passer. Left out of the conversation among this year’s big-time quarterbacks, White put up what appeared to be the strongest throwing performance of this year’s combine. This coming from a player who had been projected as an Antwaan Randle-El type – a future NFL wideout with occasional passing gadgetry.

But after appearing to outshine USC’s Mark Sanchez in drills, he might have changed some minds. “I think he showed that he can be a legitimate quarterback prospect,” said an NFC assistant coach who watched White’s workout. “If you cover one eye and just watch where the football is going, I don’t think you would question the skill level there. But the whole package is where you uncover that eye and say, ‘OK, he’s not the [ideal size].’ Then you have to get into some judgment calls.”

But at the very least, White is forcing those thoughts, and that made him Sunday’s biggest winner. He said earlier this past week that he’d consider a move to wideout if that’s what it took to make it on the NFL level. But he also avoided combine drills at that position, hoping to deliver a strong quarterback evaluation. He’ll still show his potential as a receiver at his West Virginia pro day, but not until maximizing his exposure as a passer.

“I am still working to be a quarterback,” White said. “And until somebody tells me ‘no,’ I am going to continue to. I also want to keep my options open and the best opportunity to play football. If that is the case, I do whatever is best for me.”

As expected, White ran the best 40-yard dash of any quarterback at the combine, notching times in the 4.48-4.54 range. But he opened eyes when he began throwing, working out in the same quarterback group with Sanchez. White squared up well and showed a good arm, particularly on a set of out routes, which typically separate the best quarterbacks from the pack. He delivered with good timing, and appeared to have consistently good ball placement.

It was a nice change considering the performance of some other notable quarterbacks – particularly Kansas State’s Josh Freeman and Ball State’s Nate Davis. Both had some erratic moments in their passing performances, and Freeman looked like a ball of raw skill that still had a lot of work ahead of him.

Sanchez had a solid performance, but it wasn’t jaw-dropping, which is what many evaluators thought he needed in order to challenge Georgia’s Matthew Stafford as the No. 1 quarterback in the class. Nobody is going to rush to put White in the Stafford-Sanchez category, largely because he has a frame (6-feet and 197 pounds) that will lend itself to durability issues on the next level. But if he shows he can consistently deliver with his arm, it might engender some patience from teams who will take a shot at developing his skills. At the least, he’s an intriguing option for a Wildcat-type package. At the most, White displayed Sunday that he could be much more.