The Dolphins Love Using 2nd-Round Picks on Quarterbacks

Heading into the 2009 season, we know this much about the Miami Dolphins quarterback situation: Chad Pennington is going to be the starter, and for good reason. After 2009? Well, that's anybody's guess. Miami seems to be quite high on 2008 second-round pick Chad Henne, which played a role in the front office's decision to not offer Pennington a long-term contract extension after he helped guide the Dolphins to an AFC East title.

On Saturday, the Dolphins raised a few eyebrows when they used the 44th overall pick on West Virginia quarterback Pat White ... the third straight year they've selected a quarterback in the second round.

The supremely talented White joins former BYU quarterback John Beck (40th overall in 2007) and Henne (57th overall in 2008) as recent selections, while you can also include Daunte Culpepper in this exercise as Miami traded its second round pick for him in 2006. Basically, four of Miami's past six second round picks (it had two each in '07 and '08) have been used to select signal-callers. Even Matt Millen is impressed with that type of persistence when it comes to drafting the same position year after year.

In the case of Beck, the Dolphins have reportedly been trying to deal him for much of the offseason as he's been a disappointment after being the fourth quarterback taken in 2007. His only regular season action came during that forgettable 1-15 campaign, while his performance was underwhelming to say the least. Of course, in his defense, Otto Graham would have struggled in that situation.

The addition of White creates a number of questions and hypothetical scenarios. Is he going to play some wide receiver? Will he be the wildcat specialist? Is he looked at as a potential starting quarterback? According to general manager Jeff Ireland, via Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, the answer is the latter.

He said he views Pat White as someone who eventually will compete for the starting quarterback job. "He has an unusual set of skills," Ireland said. "He enhances our offense."

Here's the concern -- or what should be the concern -- if you're a Miami fan. When picking in the second round you should still be looking for potential starters. Assuming one of these guys (Beck, Henne, White) eventually becomes the team's starting quarterback, fantastic. But then that means you also, essentially, gave away three other second round picks for, well, backup quarterbacks (or in the case of Culpepper ... nothing).

Having said that, White, even if he fails as a quarterback, potentially offers the Dolphins far more value than guys like Beck or Henne if they should happen to be disappointments. There's still the possibility of him being used a receiver, or a Ronnie Brown-like option in the "wildcat."