The 2025 quarterback prospect pool has received steady criticism, but teams will have an additional dual-threat option to evaluate. Alabama’s Jalen Milroe will be part of this year’s class.
Milroe announced his intention to leave Alabama on Thursday. Although Milroe has been in Tuscaloosa for four seasons, he only used three years of eligibility. He will pass on coming back for a redshirt-senior season, being set to join the likes of Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders as part of the 2025 QB class.
[RELATED: Interest In 2026, ’27 Prospects Outshining 2025 QBs]
Unlike Ward and Sanders (and Jayden Daniels, Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix), Milroe only played at one college program. He took the reins at Alabama in 2023 and displayed tremendous athleticism, combining for 32 rushing touchdowns during his time as the SEC power’s starter. This past season featured 20 Milroe rushing TDs and 726 yards, though it will undoubtedly be his passing ability that shifts under the microscope during the pre-draft process.
ESPN’s Scouts Inc. is not bullish on Milroe’s draft stock, slotting the Nick Saban recruit 64th overall currently. He sits behind Sanders (ninth), Ward (18th), Quinn Ewers (60th) and Carson Beck (62nd) at QB presently, though we are not yet in the pre-draft process. Still competing in the College Football Playoff, Ewers has also not made it known if he will enter the draft or remain at the college level. Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest ESPN.com big board slots Milroe third at QB — behind Sanders and Ward.
After averaging 10 yards per attempt in 2023, Milroe checked in at 8.9 this season. The four-star recruit from Katy, Texas, only finished with a 16-11 TD-INT ratio, completing 64.3% of his passes. The Crimson Tide certainly took advantage of Milroe’s rushing talents, as he logged 161 carries in 2023 and 168 this season. Deep-ball accuracy has been one of Milroe’s strengths, and he finished the regular season ranking eighth in QBR. A dominant performance against Georgia (374 passing yards, 117 rushing yards, four total TDs) keyed Alabama’s biggest win this season.
As of now, however, the 6-foot-2 prospect is not a surefire first-round pick. Though, the NFL has produced many recent examples of pre-draft rises based on the Combine, visits and workouts vaulting second-round types into Round 1 picks. And this year’s draft will feature a handful of teams with long-term QB needs. Milroe, then, will become one of the most interesting names in this class.
Come to Seattle
I second that.
Seattld Sea Dragons
This guy is not a good QB
He really isn’t. I felt he should go back to school another year. I feel bama knew they could upgrade and Milroe knew his NIL $ would take a hit so off to the NFL.
I know some Seattle fans that want him. I say go for it. Godspeed.
That’s the real reason he’s declaring. If he went back to school he would have to transfer. It’s hard to call Mildew a dual threat QB when he can’t throw.
This guy’s not ready yet. One more year and he might be.
Probably needs to sit for a while, but he’s got great athletic traits and people rave about his character. I’d have thought he might want to take more NIL money while seeing if he can boost his draft stock, but he’s likely the third best draft prospect in a year when a lot of teams need a quarterback.
Not an NFL QB. Running back that can throw a spiral.
The Eagles have that exactly.
Who cares? The guy is probably a 4th round career B/U Quarterback at best.
Jalen was/is far better if a passer than Milroe.
At the time he came out? I don’t think that the difference is that much, honestly. What Hurts had an edge in in terms of short range accuracy, Milroe exceeds in arm strength.
Hurts has the advantage of having gone to a very talented roster that’s built to supplement his mobility, and if Milroe is lucky enough to get the same, his development could have a chance at mimicking Hurts’ own. I don’t think that that’s an easy task to accomplish, though. The Eagles were one of the premier rosters in the league before Hurts started, and likely will be again for the next few sessons. Hard to replicate that. Plus, without Wentz succumbing to the injury issues that have now defined his career, Hurts probably wouldn’t be starting, either. It’s doubtful that Milroe ends up with that same path.
In my opinion, he has the physical tools but makes WAY too many bad decisions. Day 2 pick at the best, and certainly not an immediate impact player.
Day 2 is a reach. If I were a GM I’d take a flier on day 3. But day 1 or day 2 is too high IMO.
I very much agree… I can see somebody taking a round 3 chance, but I wouldn’t if I were drafting…
Anthony Richardson 2.0
And that is not a compliment…
Stay away from my Giants
That’s honestly an insult to AR as a prospect
Daniel Jones may be a closer comp.
Sure, he’s much smaller, more accurate, more experienced, and less cannon armed than Richardson, but other than being really different they’re exactly the same.
Other than starts they are the same. Mikroe Just has more starts (and both haven’t progressed with more starts). They are both all bark no bite. I’d take a hard pass as of now. But someone will fall in love.
Milroe has a completion percentage 10 points higher across almost twice as many pass attempts. He’s also very different physically.
He’s regressing though. I don’t like drafting a QB who is regressing. His stats in 23 were respectable. Not so much in 24. Plus I feel Milroe checks down a lot if he doesn’t push the ball deep. His intermediate throws are lacking.
He also had a new coaching staff come in and lost his top two receivers and best tackle. I’m not saying he’s a great prospect or anything, but there’s context for his step back. And my original point is that calling him the same as Richardson is silly. They’re just not.
Both Milroe and Richardson are strong running QB’s with mediocre passing game and poor decision making. That Milroe may be a slightly better version of Richardson can be persuasively argued.
I wouldn’t want either of them.
Probably should have transferred.
Horrible decision should have went back and transferred to a system that better fits him
With the 34th selection of the 2025 draft the NY Giants select
Maybe in the 3rd round. Not for my team, would have to be the 4th or 5th, but he’ll probably go at the end of round 1… Someone will go for it
Terrible decision. Woulda got paid to make it worth his wile to stay another yr n he coulda taken advantage of that xtra year of development. Improve his draft stock n another chance @natl chmpnsp @bama. Bad advisors. Right now he’s not an nfl QB.
Exactly. Another year where Milroe played better and lead his team somewhere would do much for his draft stock. Plus another year of starting in college would make him far more ready for the pros. Turns out that QB’s who start for years in college do better in the pros (Daniels, Nix, Pennix).
I completely agree with you, he should have stayed in college another year. That would have been the best thing for him and his development. I think the people advising him are looking at the fact that this is a weak QB class though, and trying to take advantage of that to get him drafted higher than he normally might go. If it works or not, we’ll see. Teams do foolish things when they need a QB, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility he gets drafted on day 2.
Imagine if browns take him first round lmao
Too often we look at what a player isn’t instead of what he is. Milroe is a 22 year old athletic qb with a big arm who has had success on the national stage. He may not be top of the draft but there are NFL traits here that are better than some of the names that are being talked about as top of the draft.