Jets' Mike White on NFL Draft Position: If You Ask Me, I Should Have Been 1st Pick

New York Jets quarterback Mike White, a fifth-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2018 NFL draft, isn't sure why he didn't generate more respect as a college prospect.

"I couldn't tell you. That's definitely the scouting departments across the league and what their interpretation of me is," White told reporters Thursday. "I have 100 percent confidence in myself. So if you ask me, I should have been a first overall pick. But that's neither here nor there. That's four years ago. I try to get my mind off that and be in the here and now and execute what my job is right now."

The 26-year-old Florida native split his collegiate career between South Florida and Western Kentucky. His numbers exploded after he transferred to the Hilltoppers, completing 66.4 percent of his throws for 8,540 yards with 65 touchdowns and 15 interceptions across 27 games in two seasons. He added six rushing scores as a senior.

Yet he didn't receive a ton of hype leading up to the 2018 draft and then spent his rookie campaign buried on the Cowboys' depth chart behind starter Dak Prescott.

Dallas waived White following the 2019 preseason, and he joined the Jets practice squad, where he'd spend much of the next two years aside from brief elevations to the active roster.

He's finally received his first extended NFL look in recent weeks with New York starter Zach Wilson sidelined by injury, and he's played quite well.

White has completed 72.7 percent of his throws for 702 yards with five touchdowns and four picks across three games. His 60.3 Total QBR would rank ninth in the NFL if he had enough passes to qualify.

Jets head coach Robert Saleh said Wednesday that White would get another start this week against the Buffalo Bills and wouldn't say whether Wilson would get the starting job back once he's fully recovered from a knee injury.

"If Mike is playing phenomenal football, it is what it is," Saleh told reporters. "You might call it a controversy or not. I can pull up an article from every single one of you guys that has mentioned that the best thing for a young quarterback is to watch, so there's no harm in either way."

White will face his toughest test to date against a Bills defense that ranks first in the NFL in both passing yards allowed per game (177.0) and passer rating allowed (62.9) this season.

If he plays well under those circumstances, it will be hard for Saleh and Co. to remove him from the lineup in the short term.