Kalen DeBoer on comparing Jalen Milroe, Michael Penix Jr: 'Every guy's their own guy'

Between Jalen Milroe and Michael Penix Jr., Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer has gotten his hands on some highly-talented quarterbacks of late.

And though DeBoer is yet to coach Milroe in a live game yet, he’s already learned that Milroe and Penix share some key traits that give DeBoer confidence in both of them to succeed — Penix in the NFL and Milroe with the Crimson Tide. The commonalities, though, have little to do with how Milroe and Penix play football on the field.

“Every guy is their own guy, right?” DeBoer said in a recent interview. “And what I do know is that both of them are extremely great people and they want to achieve success at the highest level individually but when you really get to know them, they want what’s best for their teammates and this football team, whether it’s Jalen here, Michael there. It truly isn’t just something they’re saying, publicly, they’re living it and pouring into that each and every day.”

On the field, Penix was a far more ready passer than Milroe, who is a far superior runner and creator with his legs. A look at the quarterbacks respective 2023 stat lines is illustrative of the differences in Penix and Milroe’s games.

• Penix: 15 games, 65.5% completion, 4903 passing yards (8.8 yards per attempt), 36 TDs/11 INTs, 8 rushing yards, 3 TDs
• Milroe: 13 games, 65.8% completion, 2834 passing yards (10 yards per attempt), 23 TDs/6 INTs, 531 rushing yards, 12 TDs

Injuries have of course contributed to Penix being a less willing runner. Plus, Milroe can be a truly devastating offensive weapon as a ball carrier in ways even pre-injury Penix was not capable.

Penix, however, was a much more advance passer under DeBoer last season than Milroe demonstrated himself to be. Though, 2023 was just Milroe’s first season of full-time play, and the physical talent he has could make Milroe a truly devastating option if he can open up more as a passer in 2024 and beyond.

And DeBoer seems optimistic that Milroe has the same wiring that helped Penix continue ascending.

“They’re the ones that are holding themselves accountable and then passing that on to the rest of their team and so super talented obviously, in their own way,” DeBoer said. “Been just cool seeing Jalen, bit by bit, he’s watching clips from last year as we install things offensively, in particular. Just really embraced that and be excited about it and take on, just like Michael did, everything we throw at him. Because they want to grow and be their best. There’s the talent piece. But I think most importantly who they are as people, what their values are and just that, you know, they want what’s best for this program, what’s best for this team and they’re great leaders that way.”