NFL Draft
1/5/25
8 min read
Jalen Milroe 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Alabama Crimson Tide QB
Height: 6020 (unofficial)
Weight: 225lbs (unofficial)
Year: Redshirt Junior
Pro Comparison: TBD
Scouting Overview
Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe is a developmental talent. He boasts some elite physical ability — he’s the best running quarterback we’ve seen come through the process in several seasons and offers blistering speed in the open field with impressive contact balance.
A powerful arm and a sharp, snappy release anchor his pass skills. His growth as a passer was evident in 2024, but his consistency in ball placement and touch will need considerable work before he’s in a position to reach for the upper levels of his potential as an NFL quarterback.
Thanks to his undeniable physical ability and highly regarded football character, it won't be surprising if Milroe is drafted earlier than his readiness to play would suggest.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Has the arm to drive far sideline outs and fades outside the numbers and force defenders to space the full width of the field
- Escapability and quarterback run game abilities are off the charts. Can be a lethal force as a math changer with his ability to execute designed runs or beat man coverage
- Illustrates a sharp release in the pocket, allowing him more margin for routes to develop
Negatives
- Lacks the desired touch to pull the string on the football and layer throws into the intermediate areas of the field
- The nature of his release often generates a wide spray chart with his ball placement to targets at all levels and types of throws
- Decision-making as a runner is ambitious and could be less “home run” oriented
Background
Milroe hails from Katy, TX, and played high school football for Thompkins HS. There, he was ranked as one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country while earning a 4-star recruitment rating.
Jalen comes from a military family — his father, Quentin, served in the United States Marine Corps, and his mother in the US Navy. The background is evident upon meeting Jalen or listening to him at a press conference— there’s a maturity about him that NFL coaches are likely to love. At Thompkins, Milroe was selected to the Under Armour All-America Game and chose the Crimson Tide over offers from Texas, Florida, Oregon, and others.
Milroe redshirted his true freshman season in 2021, taking snaps in just four games as the backup behind Bryce Young. He made his first career start in place of an injured Young in 2022 against Texas A&M and then earned the starting role early in the season for the Tide in 2023 as a redshirt sophomore.
He was selected as a team captain and named Second-Team All-SEC. Milroe returned as the incumbent starter in 2024 and showcased improvement in all phases despite playing in a new scheme for Coach Kalen DeBoer. Milroe was awarded the 2024 William V. Campbell Trophy (the “Academic Heisman”) for his blend of play, academics, and community service.
Milroe declared for the 2025 NFL Draft in January of 2025 and bypassed his final year of eligibility.
Tale Of The Tape
Milroe’s uncoachable talent serves as the centerpiece of his NFL Draft resume. His ability to shred defenses with his legs, change the numbers in the run game as a quarterback threat, and his ability to access all levels of the field are potential solutions to the problems coaches must solve on a weekly basis when game planning for an opponent. And from that perspective, Milroe is an attractive option. As a matter of fact, he is the most physically talented quarterback in this year’s class.
However, the refinement of those abilities offers hurdles and uncertainties — making his valuation as a player a challenging one to unwrap and putting extra importance into the situation he ultimately lands in if he is to succeed as an NFL starter.
As a passer, Milroe has a confident vertical arm and will drive throws down the field from both inside and outside the pocket. He likes taking shots and is aggressive in his mentality. Although, the timing of some of these throws can be compromised if protection breaks down, and he is then reliant on the ball skills of his targets to complete the catch in muddy catch points.
Milroe is a capable drive-thrower. He attacks the far side of the field with deep outs, sail patterns, deep crosses, fades, and skinny posts that successfully slip behind a quarters safety, pinning down another route underneath. These throws are the highlight reel of what he’s capable of being and are most consistently hit from clean pockets and a sturdy base. Clouded corners can muddy some of these outside the numbers throws, and, particularly to his left, he struggles with layering them into throwing windows properly and gauging the depth of the corner and his target. Some of these throws sail high and out of bounds, others pull receivers back into coverage for dangerous contested targets.
Milroe is a more effective passer on the perimeter than he is in the middle of the field. Many of his targets underneath are hitches, shallow crosses, or angled routes out of the backfield against soft zone coverage. These throws, even in the shallow areas of the field, can be compromised with hurried process and delivery, yielding some frustrating results and missed opportunities to stay on schedule. Milroe has struggled with some situational splits, suggesting that he needs to refine his skills before he plays at the NFL level.
Milroe struggled in the red zone in 2024, where the passing space was more restricted, completing less than 50 percent of his passes and posting a 102.4 college passer efficiency rating (148.8 for the season). The ball placement and anticipation of timing throws are paramount here, and they simply aren’t current strengths of Milroe’s game.
Milroe’s passing success was also often predicated on the presence of play-action. His completion percentage was nearly 15 percent lower in 2024 without play-action and when forced into authentic dropback action. His passing splits and efficiency dipped against man coverage teams due to the need for ball placement out in front of receivers and tighter throwing windows.
It all paints the picture of a quarterback with more growing to do and should be afforded the opportunity to do so accordingly. There’s an investment to be made here, thanks to the flashes of drive throws, sideline lasers, and explosive play ability.
Inside the pocket, Milroe has the necessary sense of pressure and has found escape hatches out of the pocket when the rush collapses in. The regularity of his eyes staying downfield is something that can help him grow as he gains more experience — he runs to run vs. running to throw. He’s got good strength in the pocket to shrug off arm tackles and the burst to slide out of harm’s way.
As a runner, Milroe has explosive speed and game-changing ability. He’s a destroyer of angles on QB sweep, or if his runs carry him to the perimeter, he’ll blow the doors off most defenders in the open field. But he’s dense enough to be effective between the tackles as a QB power runner or QB draws on long and late downs with a fair chance to break a chunk run.
Milroe runs hard, and this unique blend of size, physicality, and speed offers an identifying variable to his future offense that can be a unique element for opposing teams to prepare for. This is where Milroe’s value pops right now. Diverse run schemes can find touches and opportunities early and try to build out complementary plays and looks based on the challenges he’ll present with 10 blockers on the field.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Milroe is not a one-size-fits-all quarterback. He is not likely to be a great fit for traditional West Coast offense schemes due to his ball placement inconsistencies and his lack of presence layering middle-of-the-field throws.
Teams with a power-oriented run scheme and an appetite to assimilate quarterback run scheme into their offense make the most sense, particularly if they have vertical passing threats on the perimeter to counterpunch off of.
Milroe should be considered a developmental starter, but his running ability could justify a package of plays early in his playing career, not dissimilar to how Baltimore rotated in Lamar Jackson during his rookie season.
Grade: 76.50/100.00, Third Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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