Mike White (quarterback)

Mike White (born March 25, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of South Florida and Western Kentucky University.

Early years
White attended NSU University School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He did not become a starter at quarterback until his senior season, passing for 2,201 yards, 22 touchdowns and two interceptions and led his team to victory in the 3A state championship. He was named Class 3A Florida Player of the Year. He committed to the University of South Florida (USF) to play college football.

White was also a highly regarded baseball pitcher. He had a 9-2 record with a 0.43 ERA and received All-Broward County honors as a junior.

College career
White started five games as a true freshman at South Florida in 2013, but struggled completing 93 of 175 passes for 1,083 yards with three touchdowns and 9 interceptions.

Prior to his sophomore season in 2014, he was named the starting quarterback. In 10 starts, he completed 122 of 242 passes for 1,639 yards, eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions. In 2015, he transferred to Western Kentucky University after South Florida head coach Willie Taggart switched from a pro-style attack to a spread offense.

After sitting out the year due to NCAA transfer rules, White was named the starting quarterback to open the 2016 season, taking over the recently graduated Brandon Doughty. He started all 14 games, completing 280 of 416 passes for 4,363 yards with 37 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He compiled impressive stats even though he sat out in the second halves of different games.

He returned as the starter his senior year in 2017, completing 368 of 560 passes for 4,177 yards, 26 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.

Professional career
On November 30, 2017, it was announced that White had accepted his invitation to play in the 2018 Senior Bowl. On January 27, 2018, White completed 8 of 11 pass attempts for 128-yards and two touchdowns as part of Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien's South team that defeated the North 45–16 in the 2018 Reese's Senior Bowl. White significantly helped his draft stock with his Senior Bowl performance.

He attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and completed all of the combine and positional drills. His draft rise was hampered by his overall performance after he put up some of the lowest marks among all quarterbacks in combine drills. On March 30, 2018, White participated at Western Kentucky's pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional and passing drills. He attended a pre-draft visits with the Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, and Miami Dolphins and also performed a private workout for the New England Patriots. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, White was projected to be a third or fourth round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the eighth best quarterback prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com and was ranked the ninth best quarterback by Scouts Inc.

The Dallas Cowboys selected White in the fifth round (171st overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft. White was the eighth quarterback drafted in 2018. He became the second Western Kentucky quarterback to be drafted into the NFL and surpassed Brandon Doughty (2016) as the highest drafted quarterback from Western Kentucky.

On May 12, 2018, the Dallas Cowboys signed White to a four-year, $2.67 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $217,553.