This is a guest post by Curtis Allen…
The Quarterback position is an ever-moving carousel. What seems stable today can quickly be disrupted tomorrow. Fail to develop a prospect in the pipeline and you leave yourself scrambling for options in a rough market. With that in mind, the Seahawks drafted Jalen Milroe last year.
I wanted to talk about his progress and what needs to happen for him to take the next step in his NFL career.
The Experiment
Milroe was drafted at pick #92 in the third-round with the pick acquired from Las Vegas in the Geno Smith trade.
Rob’s immediate thoughts after the draft on him:
There’s no doubt Milroe needs major technical work as a passer. His short and intermediate accuracy is all over the place at times and based on his Alabama tape, you’ll not trust him to throw for a key third down conversion based on his current playing level. However, his upside is tantalizing and if you can improve these aspects of his game you could end up with a genuine diamond. His running ability is akin to watching a Formula 1 racing car snaking around a circuit. His ability to turn corners and accelerate is rare. He will constantly give opponents headaches with his running ability. Aside from that, he does have a genuine cannon for an arm. He made some excellent deep throws and he’ll keep opponents honest downfield, which also brings his legs more into play. They can use him as a weapon immediately as he learns how to be a better signal caller.
He lived up to that report in person. The speed was hard to grasp. He did not appear to be moving with great exertion but was gliding through lanes with little wasted motion.
The arm strength generated excitement as well. From a pure talent standpoint, he has the arm strength to handle any play call the coaches send in. I personally witnessed him in camp throwing a bomb from midfield under duress – flat-footed – with enough force to keep the ball away from the defender and enough loft for the receiver to get under it. It was impressive.
However, his mechanics, game management and decision-making kept him locked in the third spot. Accuracy was a real challenge, particularly for the critical 5-7 yard throws the offense runs so often. Days in practice when he did not alternate between a beautiful play and an ugly play were hard to come by.
Using him as a package player during the regular season did not work well either. He gained four yards in three plays and had a fumble in the Tampa Bay game that the Bucs took advantage of for a touchdown on the ensuing drive. It was early enough that the Seahawks had time to recover, but they ultimately fell short by three points.
What started out as a lottery ticket pick that might provide exciting gains right out of the gate quickly came back to earth. He did not see the field for the rest of the season.
By no means should he be written off. The reason John Schneider made the pick was to develop a player behind Sam Darnold, without the pressure of him immediately being the backup. Last year that was accomplished, albeit without any of the on-field benefits that we hoped would come with that.
But What About This Year?
Taking that into consideration, Milroe needs to step his game up this season. Showing measurable progress will greatly increase his chances of becoming a starting Quarterback someday.
Milroe has had a whole calendar year to work with the coaches and tune his mechanics. A significant improvement is a reasonable expectation. No, not as much as challenging Sam Darnold for the starting job. Of course not. But pushing Drew Lock hard for the backup job is an achievable goal given his talent and the resources he has available to him.
The mechanics should be far sounder. Accuracy should be improved to a more acceptable level.
If those improvements are in place, Milroe can then take the next step and focus on keeping the offense on time and making good decisions with the play calls and protections he is given.
How will we know he is progressing? Listening closely to Mike Macdonald and Brian Fleury at press conferences will give us clues. Primarily though, actions speak louder than words. If Milroe starts getting scrimmage reps with the backups, even in rotation with Lock, that will be a nice sign. The Seahawks might occasionally push him with these kinds of reps this year to see the real-world benefit of his offseason work. He should also get plenty of reps in the preseason games.
What about the package plays? It is highly unlikely that we (or the press) will be allowed to see them in practice. But do not be surprised if they are part of the offense.
The extent may depend on Milroe. If he has done the work – ‘eaten his vegetables’ so to speak by becoming less of a passer and more of a Quarterback – the coaches will have much more trust to put him into real game situations. The confidence gained by a grinding offseason of work could be substantial and unlock some of those field-tilting plays we saw in college.
Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen can turn the game upside down with their incredible legs and their arm talent. But the game only exists to be turned upside down in those moments because they can regularly complete the quick slants or short outbreaking routes that require precise timing and the mechanics to execute them regularly.
Mentioning Milroe in the same sentence as those two legends is lofty talk. The only way he can get remotely close to their level is by receiving coaching and dramatically improving his craft with application.
Early reports on him from some present at the VMAC this offseason have not been very positive. To that I would say: just remember, it is still early. Last year some were very down on Sam Darnold early on. Some even hinted that Milroe might challenge him for the starting job, drawing comparisons to the Russell Wilson and Matt Flynn situation in 2012.
How did that work out?
A little patience is required, particularly with a young talented player at the game’s toughest position, who by comparison did not cost very much to acquire.
I have every faith that Milroe will put in the work. Raised by parents who were in the military, the charmed, comfortable life that many top football prospects have was not his. I have seen him in camp taking every opportunity to keep working with coaches and taking nothing for granted.
Bringing repetition to his motions and processing will benefit him greatly. If he gets to a point where much of his process is instinctual rather than thought-driven, he will succeed.
Milroe’s floor is somewhere near where Joe Milton is at. Flashing extraordinary talent but severely lacking in polish. Milton was traded to Dallas after his rookie season for a swap of late round draft picks and is currently competing with old friend Sam Howell to back up Dak Prescott.
His ceiling is somewhere near what Malik Willis is today, a player who came into the NFL very much a Work in Progress but has harnessed his talent and produced to the point another organization is willing to guarantee $45 million to him.
John Schneider and the staff will diagnose where Milroe is on that scale this offseason.
Making sure the team is prepared for 2027 is on the agenda right now for the General Manager, Scouting and Pro Personnel Development staff. And no position requires more field work and preparation than Quarterback.
To that end, they will be heavily scouting College Football this fall. With a projected twelve draft picks and a potentially deep Quarterback draft, the future of the position behind Sam Darnold is coming quickly. Do not be surprised to hear reports that Schneider and/or the scouts are present at games to look at eligible Quarterbacks this fall.
That is not to say with surety that Milroe will be cut or traded next year if he does not demonstrate improvement in an easily discernable way. In fact, the team might decide to keep all of their options open in 2027: extend Drew Lock, consider Milroe ready to take the leap with yet another year and offseason of development, and perhaps even draft another project and let them all battle for the spots.
But he has the talent and work ethic to render this discussion moot. Doing it this season would check a big box and allow the team to focus their resources on other positions.
We are about to find out if he can do just that.
