QB Mike White

[TwoDeep3]

ach/Getty Images
Mike White
College: Western Kentucky

Position: Quarterback

Height/Weight: 6’4”/225 pounds

College Stats: 863 completions on 1,393 attempts, 1,1262 passing yards, 62% completion percentage, 74 TDs, 31 interceptions, 142.9 passer rating.

After transferring to WKU from South Florida in 2015, Mike White’s 2016 junior campaign under then head coach Jeff Brohm (now at Purdue) became the one that will probably define his college career. Following in the footsteps of another now-professional quarterback Brandon Doughty, White and the Hilltopper offense mostly cruised to their second straight Conference USA championship that year. In 2017, Mike Sanford Jr. took the reigns of the team and the offense wasn’t quite the same, but White showed once again what a stellar passer he is (when he actually had time to throw). Now, he has a very good chance of showing what he can do at the professional level.

Pros:

White is a gunslinger. When he sets up in the pocket, he’s truly as good a passer as any quarterback in this draft. During that 2016 season, he finished in the top ten in FBS in pass completion percentage, passing yards, passing yards per attempt, and passing touchdowns. He was also in the top 15 in overall completions. When you throw to guys like Taywan Taylor,Lucky Jackson, and Nacarius Fant, you get pretty good at throwing a deep ball and that’s one of the big things scouts noticed about him at the combine. But White isn’t just a long ball guy. He can do quick hits and short routes as well and really spread the ball around, which makes him great for an uptempo offense.

Con:

He’s REALLY not a runner, which makes him a little one dimensional. Not only is he slow, his ball carrying could be better. He fumbled 12 times in 2017, which you can certainly partially blame on his abysmal offensive line. But here's the thing about the NFL: the defensive linemen are big, fast, and eventually going to tackle you. White needs to be prepared for that.

Who’s going to take him and where?

White strikes me as a guy that would make a great and effective second stringer right now. Who knows? Maybe after learning from a vet, in a couple years, he could get be handed the keys and become an NFL starter. That’s why places like the Patriots, Washington, and the Saints interest me. They have good, veteran quarterbacks at the helm right now. But how much do those guys really have left in the tank? For the sake of making predictions I’m going to say

Patriots in the fifth round

++++

He has a 4.0 GPA
The Ticket says he was the offense for his college team the past two years.

 

[Ranching]

What about him

 

[revospeed]

I'm really excited for this pick. Very pure passer, less mobile than Mason Rudolph, but has a way better arm.

 

[BAT]

No mobility and fumble prone. Not a great combo, getting flashbacks of Drew Bledsoe.

Has Jerry said he throws the best pass he's ever seen?

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Read a tweet from one the beat writers that they would draft a developmental type QB today. The idea is to have a process similar to Pats. He has four years to develop into what they hope will be min solid backup in couple years. If his ceiling ends being higher as a potential starter, then it either competition for Dak or trade value. Just as Pats have done with many QBs.

So before any Dak haters start thinking replacement, forget it. You won't find a coach on this team that will say they expect this guy to be an NFL starter someday.

 

[robjay04]

No mobility and fumble prone. Not a great combo, getting flashbacks of Drew Bledsoe.

Has Jerry said he throws the best pass he's ever seen?

Romo wasn’t very mobile late in his career.

Don’t know much about him but does he have pocket presence? That’s more important than mobility.

 

[marchetta]

Mike White QB Western Kentucky

TALENT
ROUND 3

STRENGTHS
Mike might be the most complete quarterback in this draft. He has the size and solid arm talent and strength but what he brings to the position is the mental and football intelligence that most quarterbacks are still learning when coming out of college into the pros. He can play in any style of offense, under center or out of the spread. He shows good accuracy from the pocket and his leadership skills and management of the game plan is excellent. Mike can help a team right away as a back up and at some point in his career if given the chance to get on the field he could be a starting quarterback.

CONCERNS
Mike shows the ability to over think himself and miss on the plays that require the quarterback not to miss on. He is stout in the pocket but has to learn to manipulate the pocket and extend passing plays to give him a chance to reset and make throws that count at the most important times of a game.

BOTTOM LINE
Mike does not make the talent around him better…the talent around him makes him better. He is a competent quarterback and with the right coach and in the right system with good talent around him Mike can be a starting quarterback in the NFL. Mike should be given time to develop better “instincts” for his position. It just might be the answer to him becoming a quarterback similar to a Tony Romo. Mike might not have as strong an arm as Tony had but their style of playing the game and “over thinking” is similar. Tony had a problem committing to the play that was called and was always thinking right up to the snap that there is a better play to call. Mike seems to struggle committing to the play call and at other times being stubborn and too committed to the play call. Confused? Basically what I’m saying is that Mike things too much and it affects his play on the field and until he can let his talent direct the play instead of his thinking he will struggle to make plays at the most important times of a game. There is nothing wrong with Mike’s overall talent, he does have to work on his deep ball and he might struggle in the red zone fitting the ball into those tight zones but the truth is Mike’s biggest issue to overcome is “over thinking” every process on the field, on every play from the play call, to his mechanics, to what spot to throw to and remembering to look off defensive backs and on, and on, and on, and on. Now most of you are going to think, isn’t this what every quarterback does at the line of scrimmage? That’s true every quarterback goes through this type of thinking but the difference is, the good one’s do it without even knowing they do it, the quarterbacks who don’t make it… do it methodically thinking and check off each box in their heads as they go through the process. With repetition and a stable coaching staff and staying in the same offensive system for a few years, Mike could easily become a starting quarterback in the NFL that’s if he can eliminate the “over thinking” but that’s the hitch, some players never do, they never turn the page and stop over thinking.

-Drew Boylhart (The Huddle Report) [PARAPHRASED]

 

[TonyS]

Read a tweet from one the beat writers that they would draft a developmental type QB today. The idea is to have a process similar to Pats. He has four years to develop into what they hope will be min solid backup in couple years. If his ceiling ends being higher as a potential starter, then it either competition for Dak or trade value. Just as Pats have done with many QBs.

Only problem with this is that we haven't "developed" a QB since Romo and that was with a little time under Parcells and the rest self-taught after he left. Maybe our new staff can do this better. Hopefully!

 

[TheCoolFan]

Yeah looks like he's a statue...OL will need to give him all day to throw

 

[robjay04]

Only problem with this is that we haven't "developed" a QB since Romo and that was with a little time under Parcells and the rest self-taught after he left. Maybe our new staff can do this better. Hopefully!

I mean both Dak and Cooper Rush both developed pretty well. I’m not sure how you can say they’re self taught. Even if you’re not a Dak fan, he has played well above a late 4th round pick.

We also rarely drafted QBs when Romo was here. We drafted one?

 

[Mobinvans]

Was still some good DTS available, hate the pick

 

[xwalker]

No mobility and fumble prone. Not a great combo, getting flashbacks of Drew Bledsoe.

Has Jerry said he throws the best pass he's ever seen?

I would take Bledsoe in the 5th round...

 

[TonyS]

I mean both Dak and Cooper Rush both developed pretty well. I’m not sure how you can say they’re self taught. Even if you’re not a Dak fan, he has played well above a late 4th round pick.

We also rarely drafted QBs when Romo was here. We drafted one?

Dak was like instant rice, hard to say we developed him. Rush is still 2nd string with no real hope of overtaking Dak other than Dak failing repeatedly. Not seeing a bunch of arrows pointing that way, but hope we can emulate the Pats this way.

 

[BAT]

Romo wasn’t very mobile late in his career.

Don’t know much about him but does he have pocket presence? That’s more important than mobility.

Dont mistake 40 time with mobility. Romo was a maestro at extending plays with his spider sense and lateral agility. Do you see any Houdini in this kid?

 

[CATCH17]

Dak was like instant rice, hard to say we developed him. Rush is still 2nd string with no real hope of overtaking Dak other than Dak failing repeatedly. Not seeing a bunch of arrows pointing that way, but hope we can emulate the Pats this way.

In this offense.. It helps to be mobile because the pass scheme is archaic.

He looks good throwing the ball though. He hasn’t better downfield talent then our starter for sure.

 

[BAT]

I would take Bledsoe in the 5th round...

Not the Bledsoe that played for the Cowboys.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Dak was like instant rice, hard to say we developed him. Rush is still 2nd string with no real hope of overtaking Dak other than Dak failing repeatedly. Not seeing a bunch of arrows pointing that way, but hope we can emulate the Pats this way.

Remember we have four years to strike gold or let him walk start process over with another late round rookie.