Russ Lande(former scout) on the rookies

[ckparrothead]

CK, I happen to totally agree with your above post. I like the Wildcat and I like the fact that it pushes defenses limits and makes their lives harder.

But weren't you critical a few weeks ago of the Pat White pick on the basis that he isn't the running threat that Ronnie is? You were talking about the fact that you wouldn't put Pat White in the I formation and run him a lot. My take was that he could be effective as the Darren Sproles change of pace player, but you seemed to disagree if memory serves me.

I think it's a big question mark, yeah. But it's less of a question mark him playing in Ricky's role.

It's a gamble. But I also like Pat White to potentially be a decent quarterback. We'll see how it works. I think Ronnie Brown is still the primary guy has to handle the ball off the snap...but that also remains to be seen.

 

[greasyObnoxious]

One item you forgot....he's never been hurt before...and that factor can't be measured until he gets hit. Now for the real news...the Pats are going to play much more out of the shotgun...can the Pats O-line protect Brady?

I have my doubts. Brady was never much of a running QB...and now wearing a brace on his knee will make him less of a threat to run. With Porter and Taylor rushing him...never mind what blitz formations the Dolphins will dream up...he will have less time to get rid of the football...so Welker should get a lot more catches than Moss.

good point, but still, Brady will be mobile enough to elude the rush IMO. i think they will be at least serviceable in pass pro. that should be enough for Brady.

 

[dlockz]

I think it's a big question mark, yeah. But it's less of a question mark him playing in Ricky's role.

It's a gamble. But I also like Pat White to potentially be a decent quarterback. We'll see how it works. I think Ronnie Brown is still the primary guy has to handle the ball off the snap...but that also remains to be seen.

why would it be less of a question in Ricky's role? If White is not the qb in that formation, the pick seems even more wasted. So we will have to hand off and flea flicker to pass the ball. Seems like a defense might get the hint when no linemen move downfield.

 

[ckparrothead]

why would it be less of a question in Ricky's role? If White is not the qb in that formation, the pick seems even more wasted. So we will have to hand off and flea flicker to pass the ball. Seems like a defense might get the hint when no linemen move downfield.

That's an oversimplification.

 

[DKphin]

I agree with all of that with the only x-factor being what if Pat White is good enough in the Wildcat to do EXACTLY as Russ Lande says, make the defense a step slow defending against the other players?

Make no mistake, the Wildcat won the Dolphins some football games. If Pat White's presence makes the Wildcat sharper, or even just keeps the rest of the league from catching up to it, then it means selecting Pat White won the Dolphins games too. Any pick that provides the delta between winning and losing multiple games, should be considered a successful pick.

Would you have really rather had Nate Davis? His throwing motion was messed up and he had a lot of other problems. Although I will agree he had good production in college. But, I also agree that White was picked way too high in the draft. The value with that pick was way off. He may contribute as a QB in the spread but, I don't see him being effective in a traditional formation. Maybe if you roll him out but the coverage is far superior in the Pros to what he has seen in college. He is not going to have the wide throwing lanes to help him out at this level.

 

[fishypete]

I think it's a big question mark, yeah. But it's less of a question mark him playing in Ricky's role.

It's a gamble. But I also like Pat White to potentially be a decent quarterback. We'll see how it works. I think Ronnie Brown is still the primary guy has to handle the ball off the snap...but that also remains to be seen.

I don't see White playing Ricky's spot...nor Ronnie's spot....both are true running backs and Ronnie didn't scare anyone throwing the football.

I believe we need to look at White playing what he does best...the Spread...not the Wildcat....to me the Wildcat of last year is dead. There's no reason to overload the O-line now...no reason to run 95% to the right side of the line...no reason to have a QB play a useless position so that the Dolphins were playing 10 against 11....thats all changed now.

When you look at what the running backs accomplished in that offense....both Slaton,Devine and White...there's nothing wrong with the running part of the game...Slaton...2007....5 ypc avg....White...6.8 ypc avg...in 2008....Devine...6.3 ypc avg...White...5.1 ypc avg.

I think we can all agree that Ronnie and Ricky are better running backs than Slaton or Devine...and White is the key to it all.

 

[ckparrothead]

When/if Pat White is lining up in shotgun in a formation that looks like the Wildcat, that really is a spread/option formation, to my understanding. To my knowledge, what makes the Wildcat the Wildcat is the fact that a RB is taking the shotgun snap directly.

 

[fishypete]

When/if Pat White is lining up in shotgun in a formation that looks like the Wildcat, that really is a spread/option formation, to my understanding. To my knowledge, what makes the Wildcat the Wildcat is the fact that a RB is taking the shotgun snap directly.

The wildcat formation, (or wildcat offense) a variation on the single-wing formation, is an offensive American football scheme that has been used at every level of the game including the CFL, NFL, NCAA, NAIA, and many high schools across America. The general scheme can be instituted into many different offensive systems, but the distinguishing factor is a direct snap to the running back and an off-set offensive line.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildcat_offense

 

[fishypete]

http://www.spreadoffense.com/


The spread offense begins with a no-huddle approach with the quarterback in the shotgun formation much of the time. The fundamental nature of the spread offense involves spreading the field horizontally using 3, 4, and even 5-receiver sets (some implementations of the spread also feature wide splits between the offensive linemen). The object of the spread offense is to open up multiple vertical seams for both the running and passing game to exploit, as the defense is forced to spread itself thin across the field (a "horizontal stretch") to cover everyone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread_offense