Jalen Milroe has 'most to prove' among top tier SEC quarterbacks

Jalen Milroe has the most to prove in the SEC among the top tier quarterbacks, according to ESPN’s Heather Dinich and Paul Finebaum.

Milroe, along with Carson Beck and Quinn Ewers, are some of the most talked about QBs and Heisman contenders in college football. But it’s Alabama’s star that has to prove he can take it to the next level in 2024.

Especially with  a new head coach, Milroe might just have that opportunity.

“I would say Milroe and I had a chance to talk to him yesterday,” Dinich said on First Take. “He’s looking me in the eye, he’s smiling and I said, ‘I know you don’t want to take 44 sacks again. So what do you have to do?’ And he’s cognizant of the fact that there are better decisions that he can make. I talked to Kalen DeBoer about this because when you look at Michael Penix Jr. at Washington, 16 sacks over 28 games in two years, that’s like a 1.5% sack rate. That is unheard of. So Kalen DeBoer is very good at putting his quarterbacks in position to be protected.” 

Yes, coaching can help Milroe protect himself. However, he is still the one on the field, pulling the trigger and knowing when to protect himself from unnecessary hits.

“But there’s also something on the shoulders of the QBs to know when to step up, to when to escape the pocket, to pull the ball down, and those are all things that Jalen is willing to look back on some of those things and perfect,” Dinich said. “And he’s working with DeBoer in order to do those things, but he’s got the deep ball, he’s got the total package.

“But to me of all those quarterbacks, because of that high amount of sacks, and obviously some of it is on the offensive line, but I think that that’s where you can see the most progress of all the QBs that we threw out there.”

Finebaum agreed that Milroe stands out between him, Ewers and Beck when it comes to proving they belong.

“Not only does Milroe have a lot to prove, because he got pulled,” Finebaum said. “I mean, let’s not forget the second or third game of the season last year, Milroe looked like he was done. But Alabama doesn’t really have an automatic backup. They have good players, Ty Simpson is fantastic, but we don’t know that much about him. 

“But Texas has the most famous backup in the sport, Arch Manning. So if something goes haywire with Quinn Ewers, Texas has a plan. It won’t be the end of the world, it will be at Alabama.”