The New York Jets have been searching for their franchise quarterback since Joe Namath, the leader of the Jets’ first (and last) Super Bowl-winning team, played his last game for the franchise in 1976. Excluding brief periods of stability, the Jets haven’t been able to find that elusive game-changer at the quarterback position, a necessity for success in today’s pass-happy NFL. 

After a dreadful 2020 season in which the team finished 2-14, the second-worst mark in franchise history, the Jets were forced to admit that their third-year quarterback Sam Darnold, the 3rd overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, was not their long-term answer at the position. While it represented another wasted opportunity to find and develop a franchise signal-caller, the Jets’ ineptitude earned them the second overall pick in last spring’s draft, which they used to select quarterback Zach Wilson out of BYU.

Flash forward to the present day and the situation has taken a twist. Outside of a productive second half in the season opener against the Panthers and an electric performance in an upset win over the Titans, Zach Wilson has struggled to find much consistency in his first NFL season. To make matters worse, Wilson suffered a sprained PCL in the Week 7 matchup against the Patriots, a 54-13 loss that that left the fanbase demoralized, wondering if there really was light at the end of the tunnel. 

Alas, like a knight in shining armor, backup quarterback Mike White stepped up when his number was called and delivered one of the most memorable performances by a backup quarterback in NFL history. In a stunning upset over the 5-1 Bengals, Mike White had a performance for the ages, throwing for 405 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Jets to a 34-31 victory. While the NFL, unfortunately, didn’t get to see a full encore of the performance, as Mike White injured his forearm against the Colts the following week, a very real question has emerged: 

Should Zach Wilson be the starter when he returns from injury?

As crazy as it sounds, the Jets have had much more success offensively in White’s eight quarters of work than in six games with Wilson. No seriously, just look at the stats:

Zach Wilson (6 games): 57.5 Completion%, 4 TDs, 9 INTs, 1168 passing yards

Mike White (8 quarters): 72.7 Completion%, 5 TDs, 4 INTs, 702 passing yards

While we can’t deny that Wilson is the more talented of the two, it has also been obvious that the Jets’ offense has looked much smoother with White under center. White has excelled at some of the crucial aspects of the game that Wilson has struggled with, such as getting through his progressions, hitting his check-downs, and taking what the defense gives him. 

In an ideal world for the Jets, this situation will rectify itself with Zach Wilson using this time to recover from injury, learn from his mistakes and justify the franchise’s decision to invest their #2 overall pick in him. But for now, and as long Mike White continues to bring life to this offense, the Jets should ride the hot hand until Wilson proves himself ready to take back the keys to the franchise.