2025 NFL Draft: Mel Kiper defends mock trade by Pittsburgh Steelers to select Jalen Milroe

As he gets ready to head to Green Bay for the 2025 NFL Draft next week, Jalen Milroe’s stock continues to be a focal point. The former Alabama star presents an interesting case for NFL teams, and ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. defended a late trade in his three-round mock draft with Field Yates.

Kiper projected the Pittsburgh Steelers to make a trade in the third round to get Milroe. He had the Steelers acquiring No. 83 overall pick from the Las Vegas Raiders to select a quarterback after previously trading out of the first round in the mock draft.

Kiper’s reason for the move was simple. If Milroe is there and the Steelers still have a need at quarterback, he sees it worth the shot at potentially charting a similar path to the one the Ravens took with Lamar Jackson and the Bills took with Josh Allen.

“Got to get a young quarterback, and with Jalen Milroe slipping through the cracks and sliding down to a point where you’ve got to go get him,” Kiper said on ESPN’s mock draft special. “You’ve got to go get him, you’ve got to roll the dice. [If] you can do with Jalen Milroe, hey, look what the Ravens did with Lamar Jackson. Look what the Buffalo Bills did with Josh Allen. You’ve got to create a quarterback who can be consistent throwing the football and more accurate throwing the football.

“The talent is in abundance. Big-time arm – a rocket arm. Chiseled 6-2, 217-pound frame. An incredible speed and running ability. He’s going to be used in packages right away, but [whether] he’s ready to throw the football in the NFL at a consistent level or not, his running skills are big-time. So I think you roll the dice here, you go get him and you hope you can develop Jalen Milroe into a quality starting quarterback.”

Of course, the biggest quarterback question in Pittsburgh centers around free agent Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers continue to be viewed as the favorite to sign the former Green Bay Packers and New York Jets QB, although no deal has come to fruition. But even if they do end up landing Rodgers, Yates said the Steelers would still need a quarterback of the future in the 2025 NFL Draft. That’s where someone like Milroe enters the picture.

“When it comes to quarterbacks, what you don’t do is get cute in the draft,” Yates said. “If Jalen Milroe is somewhere still here – and Mel and I are not even totally sold that he will make it to the third round. But if he is there, if you’re the Pittsburgh Steelers, you make the aggressive move up the board.

“There are other teams … that could be in the quarterback market, and while Jalen Milroe has one of the most tantalizing skillsets that we have talked about throughout this process – throughout the show, as well – is he also is going to have some appeal to teams that don’t need a quarterback right now, that are thinking far ahead. So you can’t assume that just because the teams that need a quarterback right away have already made their investments, that he will get to you at that original slot with your third-round pick.”