Pat White will get his biggest chance yet to show what he can do as an NFL quarterback on Thursday night.
Washington coach Mike Shanahan confirmed today that he plans to start White in the preseason finale and keep him in the game for all four quarters. Starter Robert Griffin III and No. 2 quarterback Kirk Cousins are both recovering from injuries, and veteran Rex Grossman will be rested. (Presumably Grossman will take the field if White gets hurt.)
A spread-option quarterback in college at West Virginia, White was a second-round pick of the Dolphins way back in the old days of 2009, when people thought the spread-option wouldn’t work in the NFL. He never panned out as the Dolphins hoped he would as an all-purpose threat, but Shanahan decided to give him a shot as a quarterback this year.
It’s unlikely that White will make the regular-season roster in Washington, but if he plays well he could put enough on film to make other teams think of him as a quarterback option down the road.
