Jalen Milroe Not Viewed as a First-Round Lock

It's Christmas Day in the NFL, also known as the first day of the NFL draft. 257 players will hear their names called over the next three days, and their lives will change forever as they accomplish their dream of playing in the NFL. One such prospect is Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, but Milroe's draft process has been anything but quiet.

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Milroe had an up-and-down Senior Bowl, but jumped back into the first-round conversation with stellar performances at the NFL combine and his Pro Day in Tuscaloosa. Milroe is in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for the NFL draft, which begins tonight. Could Milroe hear his name called on night one?

If he does, it will likely be because a team traded up for him. Andrew Filliponi of 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh said one rumor is that the Pittsburgh Steelers' highest graded quarterback is the Crimson Tide's signal caller, but the Steelers are exploring options to draft Milroe without taking him at the 21st pick.

Tom Pelissero spoke with NFL scouts and coaches, who all raved about Milroe's athleticism. One coach said Milroe had Cam Newton's power combined with Lamar Jackson's speed. That talent alone is worthy of a first-round pick.

NFL draft expert Daniel Jeremiah was asked about Milroe in a pre-draft meeting with the media, where he echoed the sentiment of scouts and coaches about Milroe's talent, but also the concerns about accuracy.

"It's hard to find a comp for him. I can start there. He is an elite, elite, elite runner. If you just did a cut-up and just with the ball in your arm and running and you stacked him up with a really, really good running back class, just looking at him just as a runner, he would not look out of place at all," Jeremiah said. "He is dynamic. He can make you miss. He can break tackles. There is zero question that he's going to have an impact with the ball under his arm.

However, there are areas of concern for Milroe.

"In terms of the things to work on with him, he's not consistently connected between his eyes and his feet. That impacts his accuracy. The decision-making, you referenced the turnovers, to me that comes with playing, that comes with learning. You know, being in a little different system this year, that didn't go quite as smoothly as you would have hoped. I do think he needs time. I do think he requires patience. Talking to teams, though, if you were to use the word--the phrase with him that's used more than any other of all the quarterbacks in this draft, that's the lottery ticket. If you want to just take a lottery ticket that you could hit huge on if it all works out and all comes together, he's got the highest upside of anybody in this draft, and that goes all the way up to Cam Ward at No. 1. But he is a long way from getting there. So to me it's a classic second
-round pick. You get your first pick in the bag. You feel comfortable about it. It's a double-off-the-wall. Now you can stop choking up and swing for the fences with Jalen Milroe. That's how just about everybody universally views him. We'll see where he ends up going. In terms of a comparison, the only thing I can say is as a runner, he's as impressive as Lamar Jackson was as a runner coming out. Lamar was light years ahead of him in terms of the passing game at that point in time, and Lamar has continued to just improve each and every year in that department as well."

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.