Former Miami Dolphins second round pick Pat White has retired from a career in professional baseball, which he was pursuing. White had been cut after just one season in Miami.
The 26-year-old White signed a minor league contract with the Royals after being released by the Miami Dolphins last September. Kansas City then sent the outfielder to the Fall Instructional League. The Royals said Wednesday that White did not report to spring training.
Not to pile on, but picking White in the second round did not make sense to me at the time. The Dolphins were not grooming him to become a quarterback. Chad Henne was their guy of the future. White was an option quarterback in college anyway. He seldom had to make reads from the pocket and primarily had success throwing because defenses had to dedicate their resources to stopping the run, which allowed guys to run wide open.
The Dolphins took Patrick Turner and Brian Hartline later in that Draft, indicating they did not want White to become a wide receiver.
White was selected in the golden days of the Wildcat to add a throwing dimension to the option game. When looking at the holes on their roster right now, it looks staggering in hindsight that the Dolphins passed on potentially more valuable commodities for a gadget guy.
How is this relevant? It is worth considering since the Jets have to decide on how many resources to use up on Brad Smith. Even though Smith is more effective and arguably the player the Dolphins hoped White would become, is it really worthwhile giving him a lot instead of every down players?