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I don’t believe Jalen Milroe is a starting caliber NFL quarterback. I appreciate we’re only two years into his pro-career — but you don’t always need a lot of time to pass judgement.

He is too hesitant in the pocket. He is not processing quickly enough. He hasn’t shown an ability to throw with timing and anticipation. He appears determined to prove himself as a passer, rather than leaning on his ‘super power’ which is his ability to run.

Mike Macdonald was even featured on Hard Knocks encouraging Milroe to use his legs more often. The quarterback didn’t appear entirely receptive to the advice.

In truth, it’s probably his only way to stick in the league.

We don’t have to judge Milroe simply on his time in Seattle either. In his final year at Alabama, he was not a good passer.

He finished the year with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. 10 of those 16 touchdowns came against Western Kentucky, Mercer, USF and a 5-7 Wisconsin team. In games against LSU, Oklahoma, Auburn and Missouri he failed to register a passing score.

His completion percentage for the year was 63.3% and he finished with just 2834 yards. He had 18 ‘big time throws’ (33rd most in the NCAA, level with freshman DJ Lagway) compared to 10 ‘turnover worthy plays’.

He made up for this with his running production. Milroe scored 20 rushing touchdowns in his final season at Alabama with 879 yards at 5.9 YPC. He had 30 runs of 10 or more yards.

This is who he is as a player. There’s nothing wrong with drafting him with the idea of developing his passing skills. There’s nothing wrong with Milroe wanting to prove he can be more of a complete player either.

Yet we’re two years into the project and we’re still getting plays like this:

It looks worse on the All-22… pic.twitter.com/yriAkKp6jk

— Mookie Alexander (@mookiealexander) August 24, 2026

Mistakes happen. Interceptions happen. But you can’t combine them with the hesitation he shows in the pocket and his propensity to get sacked as a consequence — particularly on key fourth downs, as he has in the last two games.

At the moment — whether it’s for the Seahawks or anyone else — you couldn’t play Milroe, even in relief, and expect to win a game of football.

I started the piece by noting I don’t think he’s a NFL starter. That might be difficult to come to terms with as a player — but there are only 32 starting jobs and if we’re being honest, there aren’t 32 starter-level signal-callers. It was always going to be a long-shot that Milroe would join the ranks of legit starter.

What he needs to do now is show to the Seahawks, and anyone else watching, that he might not be the most accurate timing-and-rhythm passer but he can still help if you need him to play a game or three. He does that by maxing out what he does well — running — whilst letting the passing game play off that.

We saw it against Tennessee when he ripped off a 16-yard scamper. Yet it was his only rushing attempt in the whole second half. Keep doing it. Use your legs.

Is it a sustainable way for a quarterback to play for a 17-game campaign? Of course not. But the truth is, that’s never likely to be Milroe’s destiny. He needs to show that he can be a worthy backup who can come in if the starter is injured and have a skill that enables you to win a football game. For him, that’s his legs.

You adjust your game-plan and tailor it towards getting him on the move. It doesn’t mean abandoning the pass. It just means scheming him to run, then finding ways to attack opponents if/when they have to adjust to stop him.

It might not work. Teams might defend his running ability well, take away his key trait and then you’re not left with much. At the moment though, that’s what we’re getting anyway. The offense he led on Sunday scored zero points in a whole half. He has to listen to his Head Coach and run more often. It’s his only shot to stick.

Chase Daniel made $42m in his career as a backup quarterback. It can be a great life if you find a way to make yourself useful. Milroe has to have that mentality, at least for now. He can try so hard to prove he can be a pocket passer and end up without a gig — or he can show to the Seahawks or any other suitor that there’s something worth sticking with here.

At least by doing that he’ll buy himself more time to develop as a passer, if it’s even possible. Right now, he just isn’t showing enough to warrant stashing.

The thing that might save him is there doesn’t appear to be a heated battle for the last few spots on Seattle’s 53-man roster. If there was, he might be in trouble. This isn’t a team over the years that has typically carried three quarterbacks in the John Schneider era.

I’m also not convinced if he was cut that someone else would claim him. He isn’t showing anything to believe that would be the case.

When he was drafted there was talk of him being a X-factor weapon with a ‘Milroe package’. They had to shelve that idea almost immediately because any time he was on the field bad things seemed to happen. He didn’t impress against Green Bay last season when given the opportunity to show what he can do. Through two pre-season games this year, it’s more of the same.

It’s possible he just doesn’t have what it takes. The Seahawks aren’t going to stick by him and give him another year just because they spent a late third round pick on him. In this final game against the Chiefs he needs to make some plays. His best opportunity to do that is get on the move. Don’t hesitate. Don’t linger too long trying to find a wide open throw over the middle. Don’t stand patting the football. Get on the move and create.

He will have a role as a backup quarterback in the league if teams believe he can at least make some plays and score some points — even if it’s not necessarily with his arm. It’s time for Milroe to lean on what he does better than most and not try to be something he isn’t.

You’re not a pocket passer. You probably never will be. Be the best running quarterback you can be.

Why I’m not worried about Jason Myers

In week 18 last season, Jason Myers missed two field goals against the 49ers. It helped make what could’ve been a one-sided pasting on the scoreboard a little too close for comfort.

Given the Super Bowl was due to be played in the same Santa Clara stadium a few weeks later, it was concerning.

So what happened when the Seahawks ended up qualifying for the showpiece finale? Myers kicked all five of his field goals and two extra points. He was a strong candidate to be Super Bowl MVP.

In total in the playoffs, Myers was 8/8 on field goals and 11/11 on extra points. Nobody remembers the bad game in week 18.

In pre-season so far, he’s missed a couple of kicks against the Titans and one against the Cowboys. Some people are fretting.

Don’t.

Myers, like all kickers, is only human. He has had bad games in his career. He has had spells where Seahawks fans have doubted him.

Yet the truth is, he’s always bounced back from these moments. He has genuinely been fantastic for the Seahawks. It wasn’t just the Super Bowl last season either. He won them the game against the Colts too — a critical win in the race for the NFC West title.

He’s going to miss kicks. He’s not going to be perfect. I was really surprised to see some fans thinking out loud, saying they were ‘concerned’ about his pre-season display.

If, one month into the season, he’s consistently missing kicks — let’s have a conversation about it then. Not now.

Being a trustworthy kicker isn’t about nailing every attempt. It’s whether you can reliably trust your man more often than not in key moments.

The Seahawks can do that with Myers. Over a number of years he warrants more faith than to overreact to an iffy pre-season.

Will the Seahawks explore the trade market?

I think it’s possible — at both safety and receiver.

I’m not convinced they will feel comfortable with just D’Anthony Bell and AJ Finley backing up Julian Love and Ty Okada. Especially given the injury situation with Nick Emmanwori.

If Tory Horton is due to miss time — Mike Macdonald is being extremely vague about his status — and with Jake Bobo now out for the year, this could be another area they look at.

It’s highly unlikely to be a big-name, blockbuster move. But they might be seeking to add.

Cut-down days are often talked about as a solution but the reality is players cut by weaker teams rarely appeal. The Seahawks, in the middle of a Championship window, are likely to be more pro-active.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a move or two. Receiver and safety are the two positions I think that are most likely to be targeted.

If you missed yesterday’s live stream discussing these topics, check it out below:

I’ve opened this thread to comment on the game. I’m watching the first half live, will catch up on the rest tomorrow and likely do a stream on Monday with reaction. I’ve posted some quick first half notes below.

First half thoughts

This was an outstanding performance in the first two quarters by the Seahawks. A genuine palate cleanser for last week’s game.

The juice that was missing against the Cowboys was clearly back. Players flew around the field. They were far more competitive in the trenches. Team-mates sprinted on to the field to celebrate the big plays and the sideline was bouncing.

The Titans played their starters in the first quarter against Seattle’s backups. The score? 16-3 to the Seahawks. Everyone raised their game and made the Titans’ starters look ordinary.

It was good to see Elijah Arroyo involved as a big factor in the passing attack. He has a big opportunity to take a step forward in year two and become a key weapon, especially given Jake Bobo’s injury.

The team blocking on the Jacardia Wright drive was perfect. He also read it really well and you’ve still got to execute and finish the run. He did. Wright flashed in pre-season last year and showed he has some ability here. It’s just a shame on a big third down catch across the middle he didn’t get upfield to convert.

The defense had three drives vs Cam Ward and the Titans #1’s and they gave up just three points. They played how you’d expect a Seahawks defense to look. They were creative, physical and fast.

Chris Paul Jr and Chaz Surratt played well, following on from Tyreece Knight’s lights-out performance last week (Knight didn’t play, speaking to how he’s now very much part of the #1’s). Nehemiah Pritchett, Andre Fuller and D’Anthony Bell made plays.

There were a couple of negatives. Bud Clark’s injury looked bad — presumably a broken leg. That might be his rookie season over before it even gets started. The Seahawks may need to dig around the safety market.

Cody White muffed a kick. Jason Myers also missed an extra point and a field goal. He occasionally has a game like this. It’ll be fine. He had a game like this right before the end of the season against the 49ers then kicked the Seahawks to victory in the Super Bowl in the same stadium a few weeks later.

I stayed up until 1am for the kick-off and was rewarded this week. This was a far better example of Seahawks football.

The pass rush against the Cowboys wasn’t good. This isn’t disappointing for the here and now — but it was slightly frustrating in the context of the future.

The Seahawks don’t have a youth movement off the edge. DeMarcus Lawrence, now 34, has confirmed 2026 will be his final season. Dante Fowler recently turned 32. Uchenna Nwosu turns 30 in December.

Both Fowler and Nwosu are out of contract at the end of the season.

Derick Hall is the only long-term piece at the position currently on the roster.

We’ve seen in the past how weak depth and a lack of talent in your EDGE rotation can hurt a team. The Seahawks spent a period of time from the end of the Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett era until the start of Mike Macdonald’s tenure scrambling to find options.

They won’t want to end up in the same place.

If one of the younger players competing on Saturday had looked sharp — it would’ve been a great benefit. They didn’t need to look like the next big thing at outside linebacker — a pass-rush version of Ty Okada or Drake Thomas would suffice. Just someone who you could imagine rotating into a starting group.

None of those participating flashed that ability. I know some might claim Jalen Gaines did — but his one pressure came late in the game against questionable competition and he lacked the sudden quickness to turn a 1v1 win into an end product.

Jeremy Fowler’s recent report from Seahawks training camp noted that drafting a pass-rusher was on Seattle’s to-do list this year — but with limited early-round picks they couldn’t make it happen. They were connected at various times to R Mason Thomas — a second round pick for the Chiefs.

Had the Seahawks taken him at #32, they would’ve only created a hole somewhere else. They had four key need areas pre-draft — running back, cornerback, safety and pass-rush — based on the players they lost in free agency.

At least one position was going to miss out when you only had your native picks in the first three rounds. Therefore, there’s no criticism to jab the Seahawks with here.

Nevertheless, if this is the final year of Lawrence and Nwosu, and Fowler ends up being a one-year arrangement, they can’t really afford to simply rely on the draft next year to prop up their pass-rush arsenal. Especially when Hall is only coming off a two-sack season in 2025 and is yet to show he can be a lead dog off the edge.

The free agent options for next year are not great. The Seahawks are also not in a strong position to go wading into the market — with new money needing to be saved for the growing number of re-signings they’re having to make.

That could be an issue because both Lawrence and Nwosu were significant veteran signings — the kind of which might not be possible moving forward.

It’ll be interesting to see how they approach this situation. They have good interior options that do as much to help an EDGE rush as anything. For that reason, they might feel like a draft pick and a couple of choice veteran additions will be OK.

I do remember the Benson Mayowa and Bruce Irvin days though, mixed in with an aggressive move to get Darrell Taylor. It didn’t work — and I’m not sure banking on Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy and Rylie Mills to bail a similar rotation out is a safe bet.

It’s why I think there could be a veteran move to be made at some point over the next seven months — either before the deadline or when the new league year begins. Someone on a deal that isn’t necessarily expiring, that can be acquired without needing to immediately pump new money into the deal.

It’s why, without wanting to go over old ground too much, a Maxx Crosby trade remains appealing even though it’s a complete mystery if or when he’d be available again. He’s signed for the long-term already, so you could find a way to slot his salary into the structure — even if things needed re-jigging.

They could also do what they’ve done in the past with Leonard Williams, Ernest Jones and Rashid Shaheed — sign a player on an expiring deal, get a feel for them and then extend them. That will be harder to do from now on though, given multiple players have been given bigger second contracts and cap and cash space is running thin.

The other factor will be that the Seahawks are now coached by Macdonald — who seems firmly on top of his brief and feels unlikely to ever allow a situation to happen where his roster is weak off the EDGE.

Or, he might be able to get a lot out of whatever options he has — just as he did with Kyle Van Noy and Jadeveon Clowney in Baltimore.

It is going to be an area to monitor though. I think the Seahawks will have their ear to the ground at this position as we edge towards the trade deadline. If they can get someone who is more than a mere rental — it’ll certainly help for 2027 if key players move on. And we’ll need to keep an eye on the top pass rushers in college football this year.

There are a lot of good things going on with the Seahawks this summer. The performance against the Cowboys in week one of the pre-season most certainly isn’t one of them.

It was surprising to see just how badly they played. It felt like nothing functioned, on either side of the ball. Every play on offense felt laboured. The defense had no answers apart from the performance of one outstanding player in Tyrice Knight (more on him in a moment).

The perspective is that none of the true starters featured in this game. Even so, it was disappointing to see the difference in levels compared to the Cowboys.

There was no pass-rush to speak off. Underneath Seattle’s excellent leading D-line, it appears they haven’t been able to develop a young up-and-comer. To put it bluntly, it felt like they were playing without a rush. Only Mike Morris showed in flashes. On my first viewing, nobody else put their hand up to show they mean business. It was a nothing burger of a display.

On the second level, Noah Igbinoghene had a couple of good moments and there was a stark difference in the way he stood out compared to some other Seattle’s other defensive backs. It felt like Dallas was targeting Shemar Jean-Charles and he simply had no answer in those situations. He got himself into bad positions and couldn’t play the ball. The touchdown he gave up was awful. I also have no idea what Michael Dansby was doing on the touchdown he gave up.

The positive on defense was Knight, who was clearly the best player on the field. He seemed to be constantly around the football in coverage or attacking downfield vs the run. He led the Seahawks with 10 tackles despite not playing the entire game. You couldn’t take your eyes off him pre-snap because you knew he was the one guy who was going to do something. Sadly, too often he was the only one. He looked like a quality starter playing against backups.

On offense it was painful to watch. There was no real connected flow to the play-calling — which could be put down to the chopping and changing at quarterback. Even so, Drew Lock seemed to operate on taking occasional wayward shots mixed in with risky throws into tight coverage. He completed 9/13 for just 40 yards and continues to look like an odd mix of supreme arm talent without the ability to make the most of it.

Even so, watching Lock was a veritable treat compared to what Jalen Milroe offered up. I’m sure this will be judged to be overreactive — but I’m just not seeing it with Milroe. Last pre-season I already began to have my doubts that he had sticking power in the league — but you could put it down to his rookie status. This is year two and I just don’t think he has what it takes.

His processing is so slow. He holds on to the ball, pats the ball, and then by the time he tries to scramble it’s often too late. Either make a call and show you can throw with anticipation and timing, or just be an athlete dude. At the moment his hesitation is crippling every play when he’s on the field. Worst of all — it’s taking away the one asset he has which is his athleticism and ability to run, because he’s setting off when the rush has the time to attack him from multiple angles.

It speaks volumes really when Joe Milton comes on to the field and is noticeably better with his processing. He also showed easy arm strength and the ability to attack the second and third level. I don’t think Milroe can.

I’d argue both Milton and Sam Howell looked significantly better than Milroe, which is not a promising sign. He finished 5/8 for 36 yards and took three avoidable sacks.

At Alabama he was a dynamic athlete who can make crazy plays with his legs, putting in the occasional great moment with his arm. Even at this pre-season level, he just doesn’t look up to it.

I don’t think the Seahawks are going to end this experiment imminently but I think the writing’s already on the wall. They don’t have one in the chamber at quarterback. If there ends up being some tricky roster conversations to have down the line — I wouldn’t assume Milroe is safe unless he plays a lot better than this. I just don’t see a NFL player so far — and I’m not sure anyone would claim him.

My other quick reflective notes are that Jake Bobo is such a useful player to have on the roster. He’s naturally instinctive, reliable and shows good hands. Beau Stephens showed some good blocking on the run during a George Holani attempt, then came back and dumped his opponent on the floor on the next snap to clean out a gap on his side. He also had some rookie moments though — and while the potential is clear, I doubt he competes to start right away. On special teams they had some good returns, although Jason Myers missed an easy kick.

I made the right call not to stay up until 1am to watch this game, after a long 24 hours working in London. This was a poor effort by the parts of Seattle’s roster who are fighting for a job.

It doesn’t mean anything overall because Seattle’s starting core is deep and talented. But every one of these games is an opportunity for someone to put their hand up and standout. Only Tyrice Knight did that really — and he’s already established as someone who is very capable of playing meaningful snaps.

I’ll be doing a live stream at 2pm PT today discussing all of the latest news from the Seahawks. You can watch below or on YouTube (please subscribe!):

For the last few days, it’s felt more like a competition to sign Terrion Arnold rather than a series of visits and tryouts.

Despite the accusation of orchestrating the kidnapping and beating of three men, he’d become a cornerback in demand.

He was featured on Hard Knocks, who even showed clips of his workout in Seattle. Both Mike Macdonald and John Harbaugh of the Giants spoke about him at the podium in a way that felt almost like a pitch.

He had other visits with the Texans and Saints.

As discussed on the stream yesterday, given the serious nature of the allegations, the teams surely have intel on what the outcome is going to be. How has Arnold — a valuable former first round pick just two years ago — gone from being cut by the Lions in a flash to doing a tour of the country and now signing with a new team?

His attorney and agency have claimed there’s not sufficient evidence to proceed with the charges. If that is true, he will not face prison. Then it’ll be up to the NFL to determine how much they want to get involved.

The whole thing has been baffling. Pre-2024 draft you would’ve been hard pressed to find a more celebrated player in terms of character. When this story emerged, it was shocking. But determining how involved he was, and proving it, is the key to what happens next for any prosecutor.

Regardless, it appears he’s getting another chance in the NFL based on the news he’s signing with the Seahawks. I don’t think they would’ve made this move if they thought he was going to end up in jail. They have multiple people in their building — staff and players — who know Arnold and may be willing to vouch for him. They’ll have done extensive work before the draft and it’s believed he was a potential Seahawks pick in round one, had Byron Murphy not made it to #16.

I think it’s safe to assume they’re fully across the individual and the legal situation.

It speaks well that he’s made the right decision, in my opinion, to join the Seahawks. Having read through the story in the Athletic — I think moving to the other side of America to join an incredibly professional, veteran-led organisation is just what he needs now.

Some fans might not like the move but personally, I have no problem with it. I trust the Seahawks have done their homework. I trust they have information that we don’t possess that will be guiding their decision.

From a strictly football point of view it’s a heck of an opportunity for Arnold to come in, be coached by a proven staff and try to resurrect his career. For the Seahawks — if they can make this work, they just acquired a first round prospect still in the early development stages of his career at a position of need.

Hard Knocks ended on a Terrion Arnold cliffhanger last week. I’m already looking forward to seeing what the third episode has in store.