I don't quite understand the negativity on Jalen Milroe, particularly from people who think he wasn't even worth a third-round pick.
We're such captives of whatever the trending word is on a player that we stop seeing the reality of the situation.
Jalen Milroe is not Anthony Richardson, who completed 50% of his passes in college, and was selected purely on his athleticism. We also shouldn't over-react because Richardson has been a flop so far.
Let me take you back to 2023. After the 2023 college football season, Milroe was projected by some to be a top-10 pick in the 2025 draft. In 2023, Milroe completed 65% of his passes, passed for 2800 yards with 23 TDs and only 6 INTs. He finished 6th in the Heisman voting that year.
In 2025, he had a similar year in terms of completion percentage and yards, but threw only 16 TDs vs. 11 INTs. He did have 20 rushing TDs as opposed to 11 the year before. Based on this fairly minor change in his stats, his draft projection changed. (And btw, he had to go through a change in coaches from '23 to '24.)
Still, there were plenty of prognosticators who saw him going late in the first round. So getting him at 92 was not a reach.
Its worth noting Milroe didn’t necessarily have that star-studded elite offensive contributors that helped give Mac Jones and Bryce Young elite passing production and made them first round picks.
WR Jaylen Waddle (6th overall), WR Devonte Smith (10th overall), WR Jameson Williams (12th overall), RB Najee Harris (24th overall), WR John Metchie (44th overall), RB Brian Robinson, JR (98th overall) in their respected drafts.
Going into ‘24 Bama not only lost Saban but Milroe also lost his 2 best WRs and his best RB.
Jermaine Burton was drafted 80th overall, Isaiah Bond would transfer to Texas (was likely a 2nd/3rd round pick sans the legal issues) and RB Jase McClellan would be drafted 186th overall.
But you could still understand the difference in star power Milroe had to work with compared to his previous predecessors. And why the NIL era making it harder for Saban to recruit blue chip prospects was a big part of the cause and effect of his retirement.
It’s also worth mentioning Deboer was a honestly a step-down from Saban, especially with KDB losing both Grubb and Huff to the Seahawks, and was more or less forced to promote in-house with a lack of available options. Milroe was also a much different QB than the guys DeBoer excelled with in the past in Penix and Haener. Milroe started out well enough with some hiccups that saw him being benched but bounced back with some quality. But further in the ‘24 season vs better defenses Milroe and ‘Bama’s offense was on a roller coaster that would derail itself leading to three losses with Milroe being absolutely horrid in those games. However, I think ‘Bama’s struggles was almost entirely because Milroe was their offense, by mid-season teams had more tape and a better understanding of Doboer’s offensive success, and Bama just didn’t have enough around Milroe to really keep defenses honest and prevent them from keying Milroe. Bama really had to just live and die with its Heroball QB which should sound familiar.
That’s why Milroe reminds me a lot of Wilson, in the sense that certain defenses have the ability to scheme him out of what he does very well leading to some bad decisions and bad games. They both possess similar strengths: strong arm with deep passing touch, elite mobility and athleticism, more than enough positive intangibles, drive and motivation and leadership attributes plus moxie and grit to bounce back, as well as builds that make you feel strongly about sustainable long-term health and availability.
And both have similar weaknesses: reading defenses, holding the ball too long that is maybe both a progression issue or pursuing a deep ball opportunity issue, pocket poise that is hit or miss in the short to intermediate, quick passing game, as well as struggling more often than not to capture their passing lane opportunities with running themselves out of play designs and more into an erratic playground style of play.
However, I can’t find the data but I remember reading that Milroe posted QBRs of 75, maybe 80+ the past two seasons. And those type of player usually get draft earlier more often than not.
Had Milroe came out after ‘23 like others have said he easily could have been a top 40 pick.
Had he posted a similar season in ‘24 as he did in ‘23, Milroe likely would have been the 2nd QB drafted in this last class that was undeniably weak with top end talent. I think this past year showed that while talented, Milroe has a lot to work on in terms of being a guy able to consistently carry a team and offenses more or less have to build a scheme around his strengths and mask those weaknesses, and you’re seeing more and more NFL teams avoiding situations with building their systems around inconsistent or boom or bust type players because if it doesn’t work out and you have to scrape it and change course, it’ll set teams back or they are force to live and deal with it.
However, you have to feel good about Milroe’s situation. The PNW and Seattle environment is both a blessing and curse. For players that want the limelight and the fame and the high-roller lifestyle this isn’t the place for them. Players that tend to keep their heads down and work, and their noses clean, their names out negative headlines, a strong aura of professionalism they tend to find traction here more often than not. Most of if not all our best QBs in Seahawks history have been underdogs and the guys chasing fame or were supposed to be great didn’t cut it in the end. Wilson kind of feels like both sides of this coin.
So this may be a perfect opportunity with the Seahawks to sort of lose himself from all the noise and expectations and be forgotten about. So he can just go to work, learn and develop and refine his craft away from all the stardom introspection.
I have no expectations for Milroe to be great or even a starter, at 92. I’m fine with him just being a solid but dynamic, weaponized QB2. I’m fine with him being MacDonald’s Uber athletic scout team QB simulator. I’m fine if his skillset is just a transition to another QB they have in mind for the future and they are just getting the ball rolling on the offensive vision they wish to create. Anything more than that is a bonus but yeah obviously it would be great from a team standpoint if Milroe is capable and consistent to helm an NFL offense to be successful. Who doesn’t want that, I’m just saying, my expectations don’t need it to happen.
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