NFL coordinators, coaches offer massive split in Jalen Milroe draft assessment

Jalen Milroe has dealt with doubters his entire career. Whether it was former Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien suggesting he change positions or Crimson Tide fans denigrating his in-game decision-making, Milroe has heard it all before.

It’s because of those experiences that the talented, dual-threat quarterback out of Alabama isn’t fazed by the wide spectrum of opinions coming from NFL personnel ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, which kicks off at 8 pm ET, Thursday from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Earlier this week, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero released a detailed breakdown of how various unnamed NFL coaches, executives and scouts view the 2025 quarterback class, including conflicting opinions about Milroe.

But while there is clear criticism about his ability as a pure passer, especially after throwing a career-high 11 interceptions last season, it’s Milroe’s natural athletic gifts as a dynamic runner that have some NFL coaches day-dreaming about his potential at the next level.

“He is the greatest runner of the football at the quarterback position I’ve ever seen. And there’s enough talent in the arm to make you want to play an offense that suits that,” one AFC quarterbacks coach told Pelissero. “It’s (Jalen) Hurts. It’s Lamar (Jackson). It’s Colin Kaepernick. There are some guys that have successfully done it, and if you want to baby him into the league that way and then let him flourish, who knows?”

Added another AFC coordinator: “(Milroe) has a lot of accuracy issues. But he’s a freak. He’s the best running quarterback I’ve ever evaluated. He’s like Cam Newton‘s power with Lamar’s speed. He can throw the ball down the field — his numbers over 20 yards are good. And he’s a true developmental-type player. He’s electric.”

Jalen Hurts, Jalen Milroe share similiar concerns entering NFL Draft

Hurts is an interesting comp for Milroe, especially given their similar experiences in Tuscaloosa. Prior to transferring to Oklahoma as a senior in 2019, Hurts experienced the full gamut of highs and lows at Alabama, locking up the starting quarterback position as a true freshman and leading the Tide to back-to-back national championship appearances before his infamous halftime benching in the 2018 College Football Playoff national title game against Georgia.

Following a one-year stint in Oklahoma working under Lincoln Riley, Hurts entered the 2020 NFL Draft dealing with many of the same passing critiques that Milroe now faces, mostly centered around perceived accuracy issues. Those issues made Hurts a second-round selection that year, which is where some view Milroe’s ideal draft spot. Of course, given Hurts’ MVP performance in Super Bowl LIX to end last season, there are those that view Milroe as a true diamond in the rough.

“Jalen Hurts was a better passer (coming out). Lamar Jackson was a way better passer,” an NFC scout told Pelissero about Milroe. “But I think you could probably hear a GM say, ‘All right, Jalen Hurts was picked in the second round; if you were to redo it, you’d take him in the first,’ … And Milroe is a much better runner. If he were a running back, he’d be a top-of-the-second-round running back.”

AFC executive raves about Jalen Milroe: ‘This is the fastest guy on the goddamn field’

Look no further than Milroe’s production in 2024, where he threw for 2,844 yards and 16 touchdowns but also led Alabama in rushing with 726 yards and a school-record 20 touchdowns on the ground to rank second overall in the SEC last season. Milroe’s sub-4.4 second time in the 40-yard-dash at Alabama’s Pro Day certainly helps his case this weekend, even if there are still red flags to his game.

“This is the fastest guy on the goddamn field. He was outrunning angles. He’s just so f—ing erratic. He’s a smart enough kid, but not a fast processor,” another anonymous AFC executive told Pelissero. “He’s into all these f—ing mental coaches. Has to see it open. Doesn’t have anticipation. He’s the typical big, rifle-armed f—er who throws everything f—ing hard and fast and will throw a good pass and then the next five, you don’t know where the f— they’re going to end up.”

Obscenities notwithstanding, it only takes one team taking a glass-half-full view of Milroe’s sky-high potential for all those red flags to go flying out the window on draft night.