‘There’s a Vision’: Former QB Coach Explores Jalen Milroe’s Fit, Future With Seahawks
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After two stellar seasons at Alabama, Jalen Milroe will begin his NFL journey as an intriguing developmental backup for the Seattle Seahawks. [/caption]
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - In the leadup to the annual NFL draft, no position receives more scrutiny from team personnel and draft pundits alike than quarterback every spring, and this past cycle analyzing and critiquing the 2025 crop of signal callers wasn’t an exception to the rule.
Reports surfaced about Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, having poor pre-draft visits with teams. Some draft experts pondered Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart’s pro readiness based on the offensive scheme he thrived in at Oxford, while others wrote off Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough solely due to his age after spending seven seasons at the college level.
Even as a former Heisman finalist and All-SEC performer, Alabama star Jalen Milroe wasn’t exempt from the quarterback evaluation circus, having his strengths and weaknesses combed through with a fine comb by analysts and teams alike. As evidenced by a 4.39 40-yard dash time at his pro day, the ex-Crimson Tide starter possesses rare athletic tools, but his production dipped as a passer in 2024, including throwing seven fewer touchdown passes with five more interceptions, which provided more ammunition for critics who casted doubts about his viability as an NFL prospect.
Despite having a unique blend of track speed and a cannon for an arm, in part due to his statistical regression as a senior, Milroe fell out of the first two rounds of April’s draft before finally being selected by the Seattle Seahawks with the 92nd pick in round three. However, his former quarterback coach Nick Sheridan doesn’t view that fall as a bad thing, believing the landing spot has more bearing on the player’s potential success at the next level than where they are picked, especially for one as productive as his disciple with 72 combined touchdowns since 2023.
“He's a winner, he's a champion. I just think he accomplished so much in such a short amount of time,” Sheridan said during an interview with the Locked On Seahawks podcast. “And I think when you stack up what he was able to do in a two year span as a starter, I think it's comparable to anybody in the draft, and I think there's things he can do in his game that you'd be hard pressed to find anybody else in this draft that's capable of doing. This is how I always feel as a college coach when you have a player that's being evaluated in the NFL, you just want them to go to the right fit where there's a vision for them, a belief in them to help them on their journey and their transition to the NFL. And it certainly sounds like he's found that and it certainly sounds like the ‘Hawks are super excited about him and I'm thrilled for him as well, because I don't think if you watch the last two years for him as a starter, I don't think there's anything that he can't do.”
Just two years ago, Milroe appeared to be on the verge of being an eventual first round pick. Taking over under center for Bryce Young, who the Panthers selected first overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, he threw 23 touchdowns and rushed for 12 touchdowns while averaging 10 yards per attempt as one of the nation’s premier deep ball passers, finishing sixth in Heisman balloting.
But Milroe wasn’t quite as effective following the arrival of new coach Kalen DeBoer, who came to town with his explosive offensive scheme after a highly successful two-year run at Washington. Though he did have a whopping 20 rushing touchdowns for the Crimson Tide steering the ship for DeBoer and remained a dangerous weapon as a runner, his interception rate nearly doubled along with just 16 touchdown passes and a yards per attempt average that dipped more than a yard as Alabama lost three games in the SEC, the most by the program since 2010, including an upset defeat at Vanderbilt.
In 2023, Milroe didn’t have a single game where he threw more interceptions than touchdowns, and he had eight starts where he threw more touchdowns than picks. Unfortunately, after a red hot start in the first three games, he wasn’t able to come close to replicating that success as a senior, finishing with more interceptions than touchdowns in four games, including an ugly three interception, no touchdown showing in a blowout loss to Oklahoma that knocked Alabama out of the College Football Playoff.
Through all of the ups and downs, Sheridan never saw Milroe’s confidence waver. And if there’s a silver lining to a somewhat disappointing regression last season, he didn’t let those handful of poor performances impact his leadership and carry over into the next game, as he finished his college career without ever losing back-to-back starts as the Crimson Tide still finished with a 9-4 record.
“I don't think he ever flinched,” Sheridan remarked. “I think everybody knows that there's ups and downs, that come with the season, come with being in the NFL. And I think, to credit J. Mil, in his time as a starter, he never lost two games in a row. That never happened. I think he always bounced back anytime we had any adversity. I just think that's who he is. That's who his family is, that's who his parents are. He's just a really hard working, hard charging kid that puts his best foot forward each and every day. He learns, he grows, he loves the preparation. And so I just thought, in the times that there was adversity for our team, I thought he was rock solid. And I think that's a testament to who he is as a competitor, but even more so who he is as a person.”
With only two years as a starter due to Young’s presence in front of him, Milroe entered the pre-draft process with questions about his pro readiness on several fronts, including his ability to transition through progressions as a passer, pocket presence navigating pressure, and inconsistent accuracy in the short/intermediate game. He didn’t help his cause as much as hoped at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, continuing to struggle completing shorter passes with mechanical issues apparent, and throwing at the NFL combine didn’t move the needle much either.
To Milroe’s credit, though, he recognized where he needed to grow as a passer to reach his goals at the next level, going into attack mode with his personal coach Jordan Palmer, who also works with clientele such as Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, and Milroe’s new teammate Sam Darnold. When one team asked him where he needed to improve during pre-draft meetings, he reportedly responded with, “How much time do you have?” He checks off the accountability box, more than willing to delve into the flaws in his game and what he needs to do to improve upon them.
More specifically during a media session following the first of two Seahawks rookie minicamp practices earlier this month, Milroe told reporters he had prioritized improving upon his lower body mechanics as part of the throwing operation with the goal of becoming a more efficient passer at all three levels. Those efforts could be seen in the minicamp, as he demonstrated better footwork and resulting accuracy during drills than what he did in Mobile three months earlier.
Sheridan isn’t surprised at all, as he knows Milroe “loves the chase” for personal growth and improvement as much as any player he has coached, citing spacing and timing in the NFL as the adaptations that will impact his footwork the most at the next level in Seattle.
“His acknowledgment of things he wants to improve on I think is what makes him unique and special,” Sheridan said. ”That's the piece of being a football player that he loves. The challenge that is going to be there for him for the rest of his career is that he's always going to be searching for those inches and those margins to try to improve. When specifically to footwork, when you're transitioning to the NFL, every system has different intricacies of what they're going to ask the quarterback to do. There's base fundamentals that transfer over no matter what offense that you're going to play in, but certainly with their staff and what they're asking the quarterback to do. And also the rules of the game in the NFL, the spacing is slightly different. The rules are slightly different than they are in college. I think that natural development will take place as he continues to learn what they're going to ask him to do relative to a footwork standpoint.”
Coming to Seattle, Milroe will have the benefit of time on his side, as the Seahawks signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract in March as the replacement for Geno Smith, who the team traded to the Raiders days before. Leading up to the draft, general manager John Schneider also brought back veteran Drew Lock as the primary backup, which means the team won’t have to rush the athletic rookie into a starting role before he’s ready.
This will afford offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, quarterback coach Andrew Janocko, and the rest of Seattle’s coaching staff adequate time to develop Milroe behind the scenes, working on shoring up the areas of his game that must be refined if he’s to become a starter down the road.
But that doesn’t mean Milroe can’t have an impact early on in his time with the Seahawks either. While Sanders, Dart, Shough, or any other quarterbacks from this year’s draft class won’t be checking into the lineup unless they win starting jobs or sub in for an injured starter for their respective teams, the uber-athletic playmaker has a rare set of tools that could make him a threat in sub packages, particularly in short yardage and red zone situations.
Opposing teams wouldn’t be able to simply gear up for the run if Milroe entered the huddle for the Seahawks due to his passing capabilities. Meanwhile, his ability to do damage as a runner both on designed runs and extended plays would give defenses a lot to think about on a third/fourth down and short situation or near the goal line, and though he downplayed comparisons to Saints hybrid quarterback/tight end Taysom Hill, coach Mike Macdonald hinted hours after the team drafted him that he could be deployed in that fashion understanding firsthand the stress a mobile quarterback places on opposing coordinators.
Touting his work ethic, preparation, and running ability as pro-ready skills at his disposal, while he scoffed at the notion that Kubiak would need any advice on how to implement his new weapon, Sheridan has no doubts Milroe can make positive contributions rotating in for a handful of plays every game if the Seahawks chose to utilize him in that manner.
“As far as specific packages, they have a great staff there. I know they'll do a great job of finding the different things they need to try to help them win. That's always on the forefront of any coach's mind is what can best position our team to win. And so I certainly think that there's things that Jalen possesses that can help them win. And just like it is for any rookie that gets drafted, that's why they're drafted. That's why the organization selects them. The thing I know about J. Mil is he'll be prepared. I know he'll be willing to contribute to the team in whatever way they ask him to. I know he's excited about the opportunity to continue to learn and grow.”
Like any quarterback drafted outside of the first round, Milroe’s journey to a potential starting quarterback gig in Seattle will depend largely on how Darnold performs after signing a multi-year contract. If the former top-10 pick out of USC continues his ascent after a breakout year in Minnesota in 2024, the pathway may not be there for the Katy, Texas native to push his way into the lineup under center anytime soon regardless of his development on the practice field, and situational usage may be his only way to see the field over the next three years.
But if Darnold reverts back to subpar play from earlier in his career with the Jets and Panthers and struggles out of the gate running Kubiak’s offense, which obviously would be a worst case scenario in the short term for the Seahawks, and Milroe flashes in limited snaps as a change-of-pace wildcat quarterback, the noise will quickly get louder from 12s wanting see the dynamic young signal caller in a more expanded role. In time, while the franchise won’t bench the veteran simply due to fan sentiment and will be patient with him given the investment made this offseason, that noise - and Milroe’s burning desire to be great - could force their hand down the line.
Having enjoyed his lone season coaching Milroe with one of college football’s blue blood programs, no matter how things wind up playing out in the Pacific Northwest, Sheridan expects nothing less than for him to give everything he has in pursuit of a starting job in the NFL and to be the consummate teammate as he begins the next chapter in his football career with a team that has a vision for what he could become.
“There's nobody that's going to put in more time than he will. There's no one that's going to care more than he will. That's been instilled in him from his parents.He's got great parents that love him. They've raised him to be a great person, a hard working person that cares not only about himself but those around him. Those are the things that I remember the most. And obviously the smile. He's got a great smile for sure. So he's just a great kid and I'm super excited for him. He's earned it and I can't wait to see what the future holds for him.”
