BACKGROUND
One of the top Heisman candidates to begin the 2024-2025 College Football season and the leader of the Nick “Saban-less” University of Alabama football team was QB Jalen Milroe. Milroe to begin the 2024-2025 College Football season was expected to compete heavily with WR/DB Travis Hunter and fellow QB Sheuder Sanders for the heisman. To start the season, Jalen Milroe and The Roll Tide had started 4-0 and was ranked #1 by the AP Poll. Milroe looked good with only 1 interception thrown during the 4 game span. His first 3 opponents (Southern Florida, Western Kentucky, and Wisconsin) all were blown out by Alabama. Jalen Milroe had a total (rushing + passing) 14 touchdowns with no interceptions. Many fans had believed The Roll Tide to be “pretenders” rather than contenders due to the relatively easy matchups. Their real test came up against the #2 ranked University of Georgia.
The Alabama and Georgia game was a straight showdown. With both teams going back and forth, and young athletes like [then] 17 year old WR Ryan Williams showing out. Milroe threw 1 pick throughout the game, but threw for a season high 374 yards and 3 passing touchdowns to complement it. He was also dangerous on the ground with 75 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns, bringing his touchdown total on the night to 5 touchdowns. Alabama beat #2 ranked Georgia to remain #1 on the AP Poll. You would think Alabama would continue to power throughout the season, but they didn’t. Alabama proceeded to lose 40-35 to the unranked University of Vanderbilt football team. This is when Alabama’s struggle began. The Roll Tide football team dropped out of the Top 12 AP Poll and finished the season 9-4 following their bowl loss to University of Michigan.
Alabama struggled with inconsistency during road games, allowed too much points/yardage on defense, and struggled to adapt to the new coaching. In terms of Milroe, he was inconsistent and threw 6 picks combined during 3 crucial road losses; 3 of which came against the University of Tennessee. Alabama and Milroe also struggled with third-down conversions and turning the ball over. With these negatives, Jalen Milroe looks to start fresh in the NFL. But, his draft stock has lowered significantly. From once a potential 1st overall class to late round draft pick. Here are the best potential fits for Jalen Milroe.
LOS ANGELES RAMS
Jalen Milroe is very athletic. He is purely raw talent and needs a lot of development. If Milroe ends up in Los Angeles, he would be able to learn behind Rams QB Matthew Stafford who recently restructured a deal with LA. Stafford would be a great teacher for Milroe, especially since Stafford is regarded as a top 10 QB in the league and even a top 5 QB by some analysts. With Stafford as a mentor, Milroe would be able to improve his accuracy, learn to perfect his deep ball, especially with WRs in the future to stay like Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell.
Not only will Milroe learn a lot from Matthew Stafford, but he will thrive under Sean McVay’s playstyle and learn to make smarter decisions. His confidence will thrive and will bring a new QB playstyle the Rams haven’t ever had, a mobile and athletic QB. McVay is one of the smartest offensive-minded head coaches in the NFL, the league will definitely see a different and enhanced Jalen Milroe for years to come under the Rams.
MIAMI DOLPHINS
With growing concerns over current Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa’s health concerns and inability to avoid concussions, the Dolphins could pursue Milroe later in the draft. With Milroe’s athleticism and playstyle, the Dolphins would be loaded with serious speed in addition to WR Tyreek Hill, WR Jaylen Waddle, and RB Raheem Mostert. Not only is speed the matter, Mike McDaniel falls under the “Shanahan tree” where Sean McVay came from. Mike McDaniel is a strong offensive minded coach, and will definitely help mature and bring out the strengths of Jalen Milroe.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
After not making any moves for QB this offseason, the Steelers might make a gamble and go after Jalen Milroe. The Steelers last season flourished under a mobile QB with similar playstyle, Justin Fields. Fields had 8 total touchdowns and 1 interception in a span of 6 games with a 4-2 record. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin utilized Fields well by running the ball with him a lot. With Milroe’s elusiveness and speed, he might be a better addition.
However, the one issue is if the Pittsburgh Steelers select QB Jaxon Dart in the early rounds. If they do such a thing, Milroe will either not end up on the Steelers or have a potentially wasted career as a backup for a while, as well as not learning experience.
CLEVELAND BROWNS
The Browns have the second overall pick in the 2025 draft. This does not mean they are selecting Milroe second overall. The team’s needs include edge-rusher, QB, and WR. The Browns are generally known to have a very good defense throughout the years. They always lacked an offensive “gap” over other teams. If the Browns select edge-rusher Abdul Carter or WR/DB Travis Hunter for the second overall pick, it is expected the Browns will take an “insurance” QB in the later rounds such as Jalen Milroe.
Milroe will be able to start fresh in a new and rebuilding team and would get to sit behind and learn from veteran QB Joe Flacco. Though he will sit in a QB room alongside 3 decent QBs (Joe Flacco, Deshaun Watson, and Kenny Pickett), he would be able to develop and would be a strong development project for the Browns. But it would be very unlikely as the Browns look to draft a QB in next year’s draft and look to focus on giving another shot to the injured Deshaun Watson, veteran Joe Flacco, and Kenny Pickett.
BONUS FEATURE
The biggest bonus that Jalen Milroe has is his physique and athleticism. Milroe has a 4.37 40-yard dash and is listed at 6 ‘2”, 225 lbs. He has all the physical profiles of a typical running-back. Some scouts compared his QB ability with Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts and others compared his RB potential to Baltimore Ravens RB Derrick Henry. He had demonstrated explosiveness and his ability to break tackles similar to what a running back is expected to do. Jalen Milroe can speed off turns and make strong explosive cuts not many running backs can even do.
Some even say if he doesn’t develop into a good QB, he could develop into a strong running-back. A long shot would be a utility player like New Orleans Saints athlete Taysom Hill. However, Milroe has made it clear that he is a QB and will not play anything other than QB. His career path will not only be entertaining, but also interesting to follow in the coming years. Will he develop into a solid QB, will he end up a backup QB forever, or will he end up a top RB in the league? We shall see.
