Joel Klatt examines Jalen Milroe concerns, intrigue as polarizing QB in 2025 NFL Draft

Jalen Milroe is set to be one of the more discussed quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft cycle. From his time at Alabama to the Senior Bowl and now in Indianapolis at the NFL Combine, plenty of teams are going to be watching Milroe. For all the potential he has, the big question marks have FOX”s Joel Klatt describing Milroe as “polarizing.”

“He’s immediately the most dangerous player on the field as soon he steps foot on the field,” Klatt said. “Jalen Milroe is a guy that’s going to be polarizing in this setting because people are going to get mad if you call him ‘Just a running quarterback.’ And then if you say ‘He’s got to work on throwing the football’ people get all upset.”

Most of the 2024 season did not go in Milroe’s favor. His peak came in the first half against Georgia and from there — outside of a decent Vanderbilt game — not much went in No. 4’s favor. Alabama was poor down the stretch, missed the College Football Playoff, and even lost their bowl game to Michigan.

Klatt likes more of what Milroe did during the 2023 season, his first as the Alabama starter. Real growth was shown from the season opener all the way to a Rose Bowl CFP semifinal appearance. Milroe was benched after two games but by Jan. 1, carried himself like a player who improved in a big way.

The strengths are obvious. Milroe is an electric runner with the balls in his hands and can connect on deep balls. Those are usually extra bonuses for a quarterback after mastering simple aspects of playing the position, though. Klatt says Milroe does not have the basics locked down to this point.

“He makes hard things look really easy,” Klatt said. “Like really easy, too easy. Like ‘Hold on a second. You’re not supposed to be able to do that.’ Whether it’s using his legs, throwing the football down the field. He is great at throwing the football down the field. However, he can make easy things look hard. That’s something that’s hard to overlook from an NFL evaluator’s perspective.”

In order to establish himself in the league, Klatt says Milroe will have to significantly develop the basic components of being an NFL quarterback. There is faith there from the FOX analyst and at least one NFL team will agree with him.

“I think the NFL is going to be polarized on Jalen Milroe but count me as one of the guys that believes in him,” Klatt said. “I think the growth that he showed in ’23 and the run to that Playoff performance and appearance with Nick Saban in his last year was incredible.”