Mel Kiper Jr.: Jalen Milroe 'vying' to be No. 1 QB in 2025 NFL Draft, explains current ranking

Alabama‘s 41-34 win over Georgia on Saturday was an instant classic and one of the best college football games in recent memory. It was filled to the brim with plenty of standout performances including a masterclass from Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe.

Milroe put together one of the best performances of his career on college football’s biggest stage, leading Alabama to a signature win with his arm and his legs. That performance led Get Up host Mike Greenberg to ask ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. where Milroe’s strong showing now leaves him as an NFL prospect.

“Vying for QB1 in this draft is what he’s doing Greeny,” Kiper said Tuesday morning. “You think about where Shedeur Sanders is from Colorado off a really good game, real good performance. Think about Cam Ward from Miami, Florida, Carson Beck, you think about a guy like Quinn Ewers coming back from that injury at Texas. So there’s five vying for QB1.”

Plenty of quarterbacks have increased their draft stock with impressive starts to the college football season. But Milroe stole the spotlight this Saturday after throwing for 374 yards with two touchdowns and rushing for 117 yards and two scores on the ground against the Bulldogs. Milroe is now contending with Sanders as the top quarterback in the 2025 Draft class, according to Kiper.

“I still have Shedeur Sanders there … But Jalen Milroe, 53 touchdowns, seven interceptions, that’s 53 combined passing/rushing over the last two years. 18-1 (touchdown-interception) this year, 16-2 (record) as a starter, and you see the progression,” Kiper said.

“He’s always been a great deep ball thrower, great deep ball accuracy. The progression has been short, intermediate precise passing, accurate passing there. Operations, the details, the pre-snap, he’s getting better at that,” Kiper explained. “Jalen Milroe to me right now is in the mix to be certainly QB1 and be a Top 10 pick overall and maybe even higher than that Greeny by the time we get to late April.”

Kiper recently had Milroe ranked as the No. 5 draft-eligible quarterback in college football before this weekend changed his perception. Kiper explained the stakes of Saturday’s performance for Milroe and why it resulted in such drastic changes in his status as a pro prospect.

“You say why was he five? I had to wait till the Georgia game guys, I’m not elevating prior to a game of that magnitude,” Kiper said. “So you respond after that performance and I always say if your talent of your team is equal or right around what the other one is, it’s a big evaluation game. In this case, they were both even on paper and he got the advantage after they fell behind, and he had to respond. He did … This was a heck of football game between Alabama and Georgia.”

Alabama and Georgia’s showdown definitely over-delivered as a game and potentially delivered Milroe a Heisman moment this season. As the draft stock of the high character, highly athletic quarterback for the Crimson Tide will be fascinating to continue tracking this year moving forward.