White in New England

Pat White Working Out For Patriots
By Ed Thompson
Scout.com, March 16, 2009

Scout.com Senior NFL Analyst Ed Thompson has learned that West Virginia QB Pat White is working out for the New England Patriots this week.

A source has told Scout.com that West Virginia quarterback Pat White will be working out for the New England Patriots on Tuesday, March 17.

After watching White's speed and nifty moves as a runner, some NFL scouts were projecting White as a potential wide receiver who could also provide plenty of excitement as a return specialist. He rushed for 947 yards, an average of more than 81 yards per contest and ran the ball into the end zone eight times.

But the Mountaineers' signal-caller has made it clear that he could also have a successful career as an NFL quarterback.
. . .
While Tom Brady is expected to be ready to resume his role as the Patriots' starter this season, his former back-up, Matt Cassel will be leading the Kansas City Chiefs offense this year. Cassel was traded to Kansas City after initially being designated as the team's franchise player, preventing him from hitting the market as an unrestricted free agent.

Currently slotted into the No. 2 role, by default, is second-year player Kevin O'Connell, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound passer out of San Diego State.

With White obviously on New England's radar, it appears that the Patriots are at least considering using one of their higher draft picks to give O'Connell a legitimate training camp battle rather than allowing him to automatically slide into the back-up role.
. . .
http://jac.scout.com/a.z?s=119&p=2&c=847842

UPDATE (3/20/09) - The Boston Globe reports:

According to league sources, White worked out as both a wide receiver and a quarterback for the Patriots, who might be viewing him as a versatile player that they could use in their own version of the Wildcat, which grew in popularity around the NFL after the Miami Dolphins used it to score a 38-13 victory over the Patriots on Sept. 21.

UPDATE (3/25/09) - Mel Kiper adds:

Pat White, maybe New England. You keep hearing New England,” Kiper said. ”They have some interest in Pat White for obvious reasons. They got torched by the Wildcat. Maybe now they want to return the favor and get the ultimate quarterback who can do some damage in that regard. So, if New England is in fact one of those teams who is going to look at him, the late second round isn’t out of the realm of possibility for him.

Pro-day in Mo-town II

Here's a rundown on the other players at pro day:

- Here's a video interview with linebacker Mortty Ivy. NFL.com reports:

...Ivy (6-1 5/8 and 239 pounds) put up 40 times of 4.84 and 4.78. He had a 28 1/2-inch vertical and a 9-foot, 2-inch broad jump with times of 4.44 in the short shuttle and 7.15 in the three-cone drill. He put up 17 reps on the bench press at 225 pounds.

- Dorrell Jalloh, wide receiver, caught passes from Pat White and ran a 4.55 second 40. The DA reported:

He also caught passes from White in all of his quarterback drills, including an over-the-shoulder grab on a deep pass that drew an loud applause from those in attendance.

- Pat McAfee, the punter/kicker, had an impressing effort. The DA reported:

McAfee kicked and punted for scouts and was especially impressive as most of his kickoffs traveled deep into the end zone.

- Interestingly, a linebacker who graduated two years ago, Marc Margo, also participated in drills for scouts.

- Ellis Lankster, a corner back, ran the fastest 40 time at 4.3 seconds.

- Backup linebacker Jim Lewis was impressive in his drills and ran a 4.5 second 40.

- Lineman Greg Isdaner didn't try to improve on his bench press but did participate in other drills. NFL.com reports:

...Isdaner (6-3 5/8 and 324 pounds) had 40 times of 5.29 and 5.28 seconds. He had a 25 1/2-inch vertical leap and an 8-foot, 6-inch broad jump, with times of 4.75 in the short shuttle and 7.73 in the three-cone drill.

- Lineman Ryan Stancheck tried to wow the scouts too. NFL.com reports:

...Stanchek (6-3 3/8 and 298 pounds) turned in times of 5.32 and 5.31 in the 40. He had a 27 1/2-inch vertical and an 8-foot, 7-inch broad jump with a 4.74 short shuttle and a 7.65 three-cone drill. He put up 29 reps on the bench press.

- Linebacker John Holmes, long snapper Adam Hughes, and lineman Stephen Maw also participated in drills.

Here's a general pro day video.

Pro-day in Mo-town

Pro hopefuls and scouts gathered today at the Mountaineers' indoor field. WVU players attracted scouts from 25 pro-teams and at least one head coach, Mike Tomlin. So far as I can find, Pat White has had the only mentions in the news. Except for a quick mention of Pat McAfee. I'll update on the versitle kicker and others as information becomes available.

Back to White. By all accounts, White appears to have continued to impress. The most interesting development would be a local TV station saying White was not asked to perform wide receiver drills. However, NFL.com and a couple others said Coach Stewart was the one to lay down those rules. Rule or not, most left after White was finished throwing.

Also, if you're interested, here's a Q&A session with White.

Update (3/13/09): Mike Mayock of the NFL Network reports (video) that many scouts were disappointed in the no wideout drill rule. He also suspects that if White does not show a willingness to play positions outside of QB, it will hurt his stock.

Video interview with Pat White

Mel Kiper on QBs

Some White Reading

"Sources from around the league have told the Examiner that the Bears and Panthers have been interested, and his stock definitely rose at the Combine. For his efforts, he was named co-winner along with Ohio State WR Brian Robiske of the General Motors Top Combine Performer."
-- Matt Pawlikowski, The Examiner

""It's a run-pass formation," White said [of the wildcat formation]. "The defense could be running one way and the ball's shooting out the other. Or sometimes you can sneak someone deep on a pass. I think I can do both of those. I don't know if that offense is tailored to me, but it does give me extra benefits.""
-- Rick Gosselin, The Sun Sentinel

2003 Undrafted Players

An updated version of this blog post is available at WVUPros.com

Angel Estrada: In 2004, the Ohio Valley Greyhounds of the National Indoor Football League (NIFL) gave Estrada his first professional start. Estrada dominated the league in defense while playing both sides of the ball and special teams. On the defensive side, he lead the league with 14 interceptions as well as recording 65 tackles and 21 pass break ups. For his efforts the team gave him the Rookie of the Year Award, the conference awarded him as the Defensive MVP and the league chose him as an All-Star.

In 2005 the AFL's Nashville Kats signed Estrada, where also played both sides of the ball. Before the regular season was over, Estrada was released.

The New York Dragons picked up Estrada for the remainder of the 2005. He played 4 games and caught an interception despite an injury to his hamstring. In 2006, he stayed with the Dragons and racked up 40 tackles, one interception and two forced fumbles while playing in 11 games.

The Grand Rapids Rampage contracted Estrada before the beginning of the 2007 season. He suffered an injury, however still played five games. Despite the few amount of games, he still racked up 26 tackles.

Estrada returned to the Dragons for the 2008 season. He preformed again though injury, recording 16.5 tackles.

As far as I can guess, Estrada is still with the Dragons but it's hard to tell for sure since the AFL season has been canceled due to the recession.

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Lewis Daniels: The cornerback also began his pro career with the Ohio Valley Greyhounds in 2004. He had 28.5 tackles and 3 sacks his first season. They re-signed Daniels in 2005, a year where he totaled 61 tackles and 5 interceptions. In 2006 he totaled 39 tackles and had 3 interceptions. Daniels was not included in team statistics in 2007 and I was not able to find any other information on him.

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Kenny Sandor: The offensive lineman was also with Greyhounds, but started in his draft year, 2003. He received a few starts in his first year after several injuries to starting players. Sandor received NIFL All-Star status for his help giving the team's running back, Rayshawn Askew, the rushing title. He was re-signed along with Lewis Daniels in 2005. Like Daniels, Sandor was not included in team satistics in 2006 and I could not find any other record of him playing anywhere else.

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Jason Davis: The Texans took Davis, a defensive tackle, after the draft. He spent his fist three years (2003-2005) on the practice squad before being sent to play with NFL Europa's Berlin Thunder in 2006.

After a season in Europe, Davis was waived from the Texans. For the rest of 2006 he jumped around the NFL, spending time with both the Cowboys and Colts, before turning toward the AFL.

The Philadelphia soul signed Davis in 2007. He only produced one assisted tackle that year.

It looks like the following year the New York Dragons signed Davis. Beyond the one article, the books on him start to fade.

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David Upchurch: The Steelers picked up defensive lineman Upchurch after he went undrafted in 2003. He spent all of 2003 and two weeks of 2004 on the practice squad before he was released.

After being released from the Steelers, Upchurch was signed with AFL's Orlando Predators but was given NFL waiver. He spent less than a month with the Ravens practice squad before being signed by the Chargers.

In 2005, Upchurch went back to the Predators. He had 7 tackles on the year after being hampered by an injury. Like Jason Davis, Upchurch's record fades. I'll update them both if I find more later on.

Pros vs. Joes

Adam Jones will be making his second TV appearance by starring in Spike's Pros vs. Joes.

No word yet on if he'll receive an NFL contract but you can't blame the guy for trying to make ends meet.