The Super Bowl champions have been crowned, and the football sphere’s focus has swiftly pivoted towards the NFL Draft. But both team’s quarterbacks are a lesson headed into April. Philly’s success was largely down to the sum of their parts. A stacked roster not dependent on one player. That said, the MVP in the Super Bowl was still the QB. Which remains a requisite need no matter how good the rest of your team is. Jalen Hurts was a Day 2 pick and run-favoring quarterback who was deemed replaceable by Alabama. Who came in with more questions than answers. Those facets are all directly transferable to Jalen Milroe. Not to mention the obvious first name. Another of these is that Hurts was a backup during his rookie season.
It’s easy to forget that Patrick Mahomes was a backup through his first year in the league. When he stepped into the starting role under center, he was elite from the jump. This was because he had a grace period to hone his skills and adapt to the NFL. Mahomes walked into a program with Andy Reid at the helm. He sat and learned the ropes behind Alex Smith, a former No. 1 overall pick and 3x Pro Bowler. These two were huge factors in why Mahomes hit the ground running when he became a starter. Drafting a QB for them to “redshirt” is a recipe that has worked. One analyst believes franchises must do exactly that with Jalen Milroe. Both for their sake and his.
With merely 2 years atop the depth chart and 27 total starts for Alabama, Jalen Milroe is an unknown quantity. Heck, even the size of his hands isn’t a certainty right now! Although a dual threat, his best attributes remain his rushing and scrambling prowess. Micheal Vick, Cam Newton, Lamar Jackson. Even the aforementioned Jalen Hurts. We’ve seen this archetype of QB thrive in the pros. His arm, you’d think, is still a work in progress, though. At least in terms of his accuracy. However, the ceiling remains high if afforded time and coaching. We saw flashes of Milroe’s potential down in Indy at the Combine. All this is baked into Jason Fitz’s assessment of him and his NFL future. Both in the immediate and long term.
Speaking on “Inside Coverage” over the Yahoo Sports YouTube channel, Fitz wasn’t entirely negative of Milroe. But he’s not sold on him as a starter off the cuff, either. “If Jalen Milroe gets drafted somewhere where he’s not asked to play Year one, I would at that point throw confetti up if I were Jalen. Because it gives him a real opportunity to make it in the league,” he said.
Fitz proceeded to make a blanket statement about every QB in this class, including Milroe. Keep in mind this is considered a relatively weak class. At least compared to last year, which saw 6 QBs drafted in the top 12. Fitz concurs with this being the case. However, he believes sowing seeds of patience will reap rewards. Not even the consensus lottery picks Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders are excluded—Fitz believes they all need to sit a year!
“I believe most of these quarterbacks can be successful if they’re drafted somewhere they’re asked not to play for a year or two, and they get to develop into the best version of themselves,” he said. While explicitly naming Ward and Sanders in the cluster of the 6 or so prevalent names. “They’ve all got a list of fatal flaws.” Jason Fitz continued.
“If you took the time to work those out. In a world where there’s not the same level of eyeballs and pressure, and you can bring that quarterback along slowly. Like, I think they’d all have a shot.” He did, however, acknowledge that being drafted in round 1 will certainly mean you’re not afforded that luxury. Owing to both internal and external pressure. Which could ironically work in Jalen Milroe’s favor.
Despite a good showing at the Combine, there’s little to no buzz about Milroe and a first-round grade. This means he can A.) Head to a good franchise conducive to growth like Hurts or Mahomes. As well as B.) Remain alleviated of pressure as he grows into his man-body and improves his passing game. There are a lot of positives if you maintain a glass-half-full POV. Even new Alabama OC Ryan Grubb is helping change the narrative around Milroe.
Jalen Milroe victimized with some prejudicial line of questioning that Ryan Grubb addressed
Begrudgingly, Jalen Milroe had to face some prejudice during Senior Bowl week. One with racial undertones that almost every athletic black QB has had to contend with during their ascension from college. He was confronted about switching over to the running back position. “No, it’s always quarterback,” Milroe said. “Of course, the question is asked — switching positions, something like that, what I can do. “But you never ask a zebra to be a dog.” A very pro answer from an academic scholar who won the “Academic Heisman,” Ryan Grubb, who’s never coached Milroe, recognized this horrible notion and subtly addressed it during a spring football presser.
“I thought they did a really good job [last season]. Using Jalen with his legs. I know that’s not necessarily what Jalen wants to be known for. He wants to be a quarterback, and he is a very good one,” resounded Grubb. Interestingly, Jason Fitz floated a suggestion that the team that drafts Milroe could look at using him in certain offensive packages and situations as a pure runner his rookie year. Of course, he’s not a starter. Don’t think Jalen Milroe minds sitting, but he perhaps wouldn’t want to indulge in that idea. Once a perception of you is created as a non-QB, it’s impossible to shake off.
Jalen Milroe has the physical tools and intangibles to be a franchise QB in the NFL. Teams appear to recognize that. It’s essentially condensing down to whether he can develop that arm. Which massively depends on the coach and organization taking a punt at Melrose. The environment someone as malleable and raw as him goes into can alter the trajectory of his career. Would Mahomes have panned out as a potential GOAT candidate without Andy Reid and the Cheifs’ stability. Probably. Would Hurts be as high up the QB hierarchy himself without a well-run franchise that won another Super Bowl only a little while earlier? Less likely. A line in the sand awaits Jalen Milroe in less than 50 days.
The post NFL Gets Clear Warning on Jalen Milroe as Alabama QB’s True Intentions Cleared by Ryan Grubb appeared first on EssentiallySports.
