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# Jalen Milroe’s Development Among Key Storylines as Seahawks Begin Phase 2 of Offseason
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/jalen-milroe-development-key-storyline-seattle-seahawks-phase-2-offseason/
- Published: 2026-05-09T22:54:51.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:53:00.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, Seahawks, Jalen Milroe, Drew Lock

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="7000"\]

![  Seattle Seahawks quarterback Jalen Milroe (6) warms up near the sidelines during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/seattle-seahawks-quarterback-jalen-milroe--286-29-warms-up-near-the-sidelines-during-the-game-against-the-green-bay-packers-at-lambeau-field--mandatory-credit-3a-jeff-hanisch-imagn-images-format-original.jpg)

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Jalen Milroe (6) warms up near the sidelines during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images \[/caption\]

Keeping most of their roster intact this offseason after capturing a Super Bowl LX win, the Seattle Seahawks will open OTAs later this month with the same exact quarterback group they had when they left the field through a flood of confetti at Levis Stadium in February.

The clear headliner of the signal caller collective after guiding Seattle to a second Lombardi Trophy, Sam Darnold added more hardware to his collection this spring, marrying his fiancé Katie Hoofnagle in California. The two-time Pro Bowler has two years remaining on the three-year contract he signed in March 2024 and following an impressive 2025 campaign where he threw for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns, he’s vaulted into franchise quarterback status and will be looking to take another step forward amongst the NFL’s elite at the position.

Behind him, Drew Lock has proven himself as a capable gunslinger in limited opportunities during two stints with the Seahawks and brings 28 career regular season starts to the table. Few teams have a better backup option on their roster in terms of talent and experience, ensuring he will hold onto that spot as the team’s primary insurance policy in 2026.

Considering Darnold’s status as the undisputed starter and Lock’s firm grip on the backup job, second-year quarterback Jalen Milroe isn’t in an ideal situation to see the field anytime soon, at least beyond the possibility of Seattle revisiting using him occasionally in Wildcat packages to capitalize on his immense athleticism and running ability. But even with such circumstances, his growth on the practice field will be heavily scrutinized for a number of reasons in coming weeks as he sees plenty of reps in his second NFL offseason program.

When the Seahawks opted to select Milroe with the 92nd overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, they rolled the dice on a remarkable athlete who flashed as a passer at Alabama, but struggled with consistency in that regard, particularly with noteworthy flaws in his throwing mechanics. In two years as a starter for the Crimson Tide, he threw 39 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, averaging north of nine yards per attempt as one of the nation’s best downfield passers while completing a solid, yet unspectacular 64.3% of his collegiate attempts.

At his pro day workout in Tuscaloosa, following the decision to bypass athletic testing at the NFL Scouting Combine, Milroe ran a blazing 4.40 40-yard dash and threw for teams, choosing not to do any of the other athletic tests once again. But that elite 40 time tantalized teams, as some wondered if he may go much earlier than anticipated in the upcoming draft due to his rare physical tools and upside.

Just a little over a month after signing both Darnold and Lock in free agency, general manager John Schneider decided to pull the trigger on Milroe late in the third round, finally taking a page out of former tutor Ted Thompson’s playbook to draft a developmental quarterback oozing with traits. Prior to that selection, Schneider had picked only two quarterbacks - Russell Wilson and Alex McGough - in 15 drafts at the helm, a fact that the executive had regretted several times publicly.

Last spring, Milroe seemed to take well to the coaching of then-quarterback coach Andrew Janocko, who has since left for Las Vegas to join Klint Kubiak’s staff as an offensive coordinator, exhibiting tangible improvements mechanically during OTAs and training camp. Most notably, after struggling with throws sailing on him in the Senior Bowl a few months earlier, he appeared to be throwing from a wider base and while there was an occasional relapse in that regard on a handful of passes, his accuracy improved over the course of Seattle’s offseason program.

Primarily playing with third and fourth-string players, while his completion rate dipped down to 56% and his mechanical issues reared their ugly head from time to time and he did fumble three times in the finale, Milroe continued to show more positives than negatives in the preseason. He finished with 255 passing yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions in three exhibition games, adding 87 rushing yards while averaging close to six yards per carry.

On the heels of a mostly successful preseason, Kubiak intended to sprinkle Milroe into the game plan for a handful of plays each week, providing another wrinkle for opponents to have to prepare for. Keeping him active for three of the Seahawks first five games, those efforts didn’t bear any fruit, however, as his first two carries went for four yards in Week 1 and Week 3 and then a disastrous speed option call resulted in a fumble recovery that ultimately cost the team in a 38-35 loss to the Buccaneers in Week 5.

From that point, Milroe only suited up on game day as an emergency quarterback for the remainder of the season, as Seattle all but abandoned the plan to continue mixing him in as a Wildcat dual-threat weapon.

Despite his intended role not coming to fruition as hoped, when asked about Milroe’s lack of opportunities and where he may fit into the Seahawks’ future plans offensively at the NFL annual meetings in Phoenix, Macdonald remains bullish on the young quarterback being able to help the franchise on the field moving forward.

"I believe he could have last year," Macdonald said. "It's the way things shook out. It was best for the team for him not to be active on game day and have a larger role, but plenty of ability to do so throughout the year. I was really excited about his development. I know he's going to work his tail off."

Barring injuries to Darnold or Lock in front of him on the depth chart, even if new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury decides to pivot back to using him occasionally in Wildcat sets, Milroe will have at least one more season where he will be learning on the practice field and the sidelines. Patience will have to continue to be a virtue for the young signal caller, who will have to keep putting his best foot forward to improve every day with hopes of a more expanded role down the line.

Still, Milroe’s ongoing quest for refinement as a passer remains a priority for Macdonald and the front office, as further growth in that department could open the door for him to become the Seahawks’ primary backup by 2027\. If the organization becomes more confident in him being ready to handle playing quarterback in regular season games, Lock will be a free agent next March and would be more expensive to re-sign than elevating a third round pick into the role with two years left on a cheap rookie deal.

It’s also possible that if Milroe exhibits stark improvements as a passer and all-around quarterback in the preseason, other teams could be calling Seattle offering up draft picks to acquire him. Just as Thompson did with the likes of former Seahawks star Matt Hasselback, who began his career with the Packers as a late round pick out of Boston College, Schneider could flip an asset that likely wouldn’t be playing meaningful snaps in the Pacific Northwest for valuable draft capital.

On the other hand, if Milroe’s passing and fundamentals don’t take the jump Macdonald and company hope to see this spring and his development appears to stall out, the player faces the prospects of not seeing any tangible action throughout the duration of his rookie contract, which would put a major damper on his prospects of getting a shot to play somewhere else. For the Seahawks, that wouldn’t be the first or the last time an NFL team has drafted a traits-based quarterback that didn’t pan out, and they could throw another dart at the board in similar fashion in the next few drafts.

Either way, while Milroe’s NFL journey won’t be solely defined by where he stands as a quarterback this spring, his future as a gadget weapon in Seattle or potentially receiving a shot to start elsewhere rides on his growth as a passer and taking a big step forward entering his second season remains crucial. Already in the second year of his rookie deal, the clock is ticking for him to demonstrate substantial progress, making him a player worth watching closely over the next two months and into training camp when it opens in late July.