Yesterday, we talked about a versatile player that may have fallen off the Vikings' radar due largely to his off-the-field foibles in Florida's Percy Harvin. Word has come today from the folks at Fox Sports that the Vikings got a visit today from another multi-faceted talent that could have a big impact on Minnesota's offense if he were utilized properly.
West Virginia quarterback Pat White, the NCAA's all-time leader in rushing yards by a quarterback, paid a visit to the folks at Winter Park today. White is an interesting prospect, to say the least. He was an extremely dynamic offensive player for the Mountaineers, having been named the Big East Offensive Player of the Year twice to go along with his records and his almost total rewriting of the Mountaineers' record books. But opinions on what White is going to end up as at the next level vary greatly depending on who you ask.
There are many people out there that assume that, in order to make it at the NFL level, that Pat White is going to have to change positions, and that theory has a bit of merit to it. He's a bit small for a QB at the NFL level, measuring in at about 6 feet tall and a shade under 200 pounds, and would need to work on his accuracy in order to be a successful NFL quarterback. He also has outstanding open field running skills, great quickness, and is said to be a very intelligent player.
However, there's actually a pretty wide-spread difference of opinion as to whether or not he's a legitimate quarterback prospect or not. Scott Wright over at NFL Draft Countdown says that White is the #11 rated QB prospect in the draft, behind such luminaries as Central Washington's Mike Reilly, Louisville project Hunter Cantwell, and Texas Tech system QB Graham Harrell, and places a mid-round grade on him. Mike Mayock of the NFL Network and Sports Weekly's NFL Draft Preview both have White ranked as the #4 QB prospect, and Sports Weekly projects White to go in the second or third round on Saturday. Our own Mocking the Draft says that White is a third-round prospect, but says that he probably won't be a QB at the NFL level.
Now, because of the fact that he'll have a lower price tag, and the fact that I, quite frankly, think he's a better football player, I wouldn't have nearly the heartburn with the Vikings taking Pat White in Round 2 or 3 of this year's draft that I'd have with taking Percy Harvin in Round 1. White has every bit of the versatility that Harvin does, plus the additional ability to get behind center at least occasionally. In my opinion, he's as fast as Harvin, as quick as Harvin, and doesn't have the type of injury history that Harvin has. Again, as I said in yesterday's article, I'm not sure if the current regime would be able to utilize him properly, but it would be worth a third-round pick to find out. . .and possibly a second, if the Vikings' war room doesn't think he's going to fall that far.
What say you, folks? Would you rather see the Vikings grab Percy Harvin in Round 1, Pat White in Round 2, pass on both guys. . .or, hey, draft them both (keeping in mind that the team has other needs as well)? Discuss it here, and we'll be back with more tomorrow!