As we continue going down the list of quarterbacks in this series of analyzing at least one 2025 prospect every day, today we’ll be going over Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe. The Alabama gunslinger has certainly made his name known and I’m excited to be able to talk about him here.
Last year was Jalen Milroe’s first year as a full time starter and him being impressive would be an understatement. Milroe led Alabama to a 10-1 record in the regular season having multiple impressive victories including against the Tennessee Volunteers, Louisiana Tigers, and Jaxson Dart’s Ole Miss Rebels. Jalen Milroe’s only loss in the regular season came against Quinn Ewers and the Texas Longhorns in just the 2nd game of the season. To top off an incredibly impressive year for the Alabama Crimson Tide Milroe went on to lead Alabama to win the SEC Championship Game against the at the time number 1 ranked Georgia, knocking Carson Beck and the Bulldogs out of the playoffs. Milroe against Michigan in the college football playoffs took JJ McCarthy and the Wolverines to overtime, before falling short to the future college football champions. As a first year starter for an Alabama team that had lost much of its star talent going into 2023, Milroe still managed to find phenomenal success.
Statistically Milroe without a doubt stood out for the Crimson Tide. He had 35 total touchdowns on the year with 12 being on the ground with his own legs. To compare to those 35 touchdowns, Milroe had 6 interceptions on the year. These interceptions aren’t ideal but they certainly are not the worst for a 1st year starting quarterback facing arguably the toughest schedule in all of college. Milroe didn’t have too many passing yards as a scrambling quarterback with just over 2,800 but he did add an extraordinary 531 yards on the ground including the losses taken on sacks. Milroe did have the 13th best quarterback rating in college of 80.5 with an okay completion percentage of 65.8%. Ultimately the stats aren’t the biggest highlight of Milroe’s success and I expect them to improve extensively going into 2024.
In the athletic department is where Milroe truly stands out as a potentially elite quarterback prospect for the NFL. Jalen Milroe doesn’t have prototypical size much like nearly every quarterback in this draft class yet he isn’t quite undersized at 6’2 220 lbs. Jalen Milroe has an incredibly strong arm with the ability to make any throw you’d want your quarterback to make at the NFL level. The real star of the show of course is Milroe’s athleticism as a scrambler though. Jalen Milroe runs in the 90th percentile of quarterbacks with a 4.6 40 yard dash time. Milroe even has a fantastic vertical of 35. The explosive athleticism is clear as Milroe has insane upside to be a superstar quarterback at the next level.
It is about that time to dive into the tape on Jalen Milroe from his first year starting. Milroe had struggles to open up the year with his only regular season loss and half of his interceptions being within the first 3 games of the season. Milroe progressed brilliantly as the season went on looking like a completely new player towards the back end of the year. As stated before Milroe has the arm strength to make every throw. He doesn’t just have the potential to make every throw though, he has made every single throw you could ask him to. Milroe can rifle a ball in with defenders closing in on both sides, even while on the move, or he can fling a ball to the sideline with a tiny window to make the play, or float a deep ball right in the cradle of his receiver. Time and time again Milroe has put his arm talent on display and while he isn’t the pristine pocket passer that has thrown for 4,000 plus yards in a season he has the upside and talent to do so. Jalen is poised under pressure with the ability to deliver a ball anywhere down the field even as he is being sacked, that is if the defenders even have an opportunity to catch Milroe. Jalen has certainly proven to be a guy you can rely on in the clutch as well, almost seeming like he gets better when the pressure is on and the stakes are high. Jalen Milroe is an extremely tricky gunslinger which is so exciting to see. He can throw from a multitude of arm angles and different platforms along with having an extremely effective pump fake that works just about every time as Milroe has the athleticism to make a play to his receiver or himself. Milroe’s scrambling ability is something that must be discussed as he is one of the most prolific running quarterbacks I have ever seen. Milroe has insane burst, able to hit the deck in the blink of an eye to make for a huge gain. Milroe isn’t afraid of contact whatsoever and will constantly evade pass rushers behind the line to extend the play whether it’s by him avoiding the defenders entirely or by breaking through tackles. Milroe is more than willing to put his body on the line for a run, getting physical after contact with his legs still churning. Once Jalen has his eyes on a first down or touchdown it seems like it’ll take an army to stop him from moving the chains. Most of the time though it’s hard for the defense to even get a hand on him as Milroe has great speed which paired with his extremely quick burst is killer. Milroe has the ability to run right past the linebackers in a moment’s notice as it looks effortless for him getting to the second level. His change of direction is maybe the thing that stands out more than anything though as he seems to lose no speed while dancing around the defense constantly shaking defenders and blazing bye. Jalen’s ability on the run brings a completely new dimension to the offense that every team has to prepare against, and they still fail to. Milroe can throw any ball on the run, has insane improvisation ability, and of course is a playmaker taking it on his own.
The tape isn’t all good though as Milroe without a doubt has his flaws and question marks as a prospect. Milroe needs a lot of work with his footwork and lower body mechanics which cause inconsistent accuracy on some throws leading to some ducks by the Alabama quarterback. Milroe also needs some training with anticipation on throws struggling to process when a receiver will get open, often only throwing once a receiver is wide open or already has positioning for the ball. This hasn’t proven to be too much of an issue per say but it will hold him back from being a great passer if he can’t improve on it. What has been holding him back is his ability to analyze a defense. Milroe struggles to see the whole field and often locks onto his first target without progressing through his reads. This forces many missed plays as he doesn’t find the open receiver, and causes Jalen to throw the ball into tight coverage resulting in many disappointing drives for the offense. These are all things that can be developed however and Milroe has a whole year to improve upon them and an NFL coaching staff should be able to work out those kinks as well.
If I’m an NFL team looking for a franchise quarterback I may look no further than Jalen Milroe. He has sky high potential with the ability to carry a team and the clutch gene to win. Milroe is a guy with the upside to simply take over the league if developed properly. I personally have not been a fan of Alabama quarterbacks in recent years as I believed Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert were far and away better than Tua Tagovailoa, I didn’t believe Mac Jones was worth a 2nd round pick, and I was higher on C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson than Bryce Young. Jalen Milroe is arguably the worst quarterback of those 4 Alabama products, and certainly the most unproven with the worst statistics of them so far. With that being said, I believe Milroe has more upside as a prospect than all of them and Alabama this past year wasn’t the juggernaut roster we’re used to seeing that inflated the QBs stats. I project Jalen Milroe to improve this season with around 3,500 passing yards and 31 passing touchdowns, adding another 13 on the ground for 44 total compared to 5 interceptions. If Jalen Milroe can put it all together as a prospect then he will be well worth a 1st round selection and his athletic profile combined with the competition he will face gives Jalen the potential to even launch himself up to being the 1st overall pick if he makes a huge enough jump.