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Pat McAfee reacts to Jalen Milroe's 4.37 40-yard dash at Alabama Pro Day

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•03/19/25•

BarkleyTruax

Pat McAfee
Pat McAfee - © Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Former Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe made headlines after he ran reportedly a 4.37 40-yard dash at the Crimson Tide’s Pro Day on Wednesday. Drawing reactions from some of the biggest names across the sport, ESPN’s Pat McAfee was live on air when the Crimson Tide dropped the news on social media.

“Congratulations to Jalen Milroe for running in the 4.3’s. Hell yeah,” McAfee said. “… If you watched him play football, that would make sense. No doubt it would be like, ‘Okay, yeah. If they would have said this was a 4.37, before we watched either of those 40s would have been like, yep. Yep. That is Jalen Milroe, because when he’s on a field, he is faster than everybody. That is just how it goes.”

During his first attempt, Milroe’s 40-yard dash attempt clocked between 4.5 to 4.52 seconds. His second attempt was the one with the magic number, however other scouts have him slightly slower. These numbers came after he chose not to run at the 2025 NFL Combine.

On Wednesday, Milroe explained why he didn’t run while in Indianapolis, noting that he wanted to use the opportunity to build a relationship with NFL teams. He planned to focus his athletic showcase for the Crimson Tide’s Pro Day.

Instead, he decided to let his body of work in college speak for itself. After all, Milroe rushed for 1,577 yards and 33 touchdown during his college career. His rushing total is on top of the work he did passing the football, totaling just over 6,000 passing yards and 45 touchdowns during his four seasons in Tuscaloosa.

This led to McAfee making an interesting comparison for Milroe. He compared him to former NFL MVP, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in one specific way.

“There are not a lot of Lamar [Jackson’s] out there, you know, like Lamar is a incredibly talented 1 of 1 type athlete and player,” McAfee said. “So it’s like, what does Jalen Milroe want to do? Does Jalen Milroe want to potentially explore other options, get on the field while also developing as quarterback? … I think, for a guy that’s this athletic, just saying he’s not gonna be an NFL guy, because he’s not an NFL quarterback at this moment, I think, kind of undercuts the thing that this is an NFL athlete.

“This guy is an NFL football player. No questions asked. Like, no questions asked, he is an NFL football player. So it’s like, ‘What ends up happening with Jalen Milroe?’ will be a fun story to kind of follow along with.”

Milroe has been working with renowned quarterback consultants and former NFL QBs Jordan Palmer and Mike White while out in California to refine his skills in an effort to impress scouts ahead of next month’s 2025 NFL Draft. And by most accounts during Wednesday’s Pro Day, it appears to be mission accomplished for Milroe’s camp.

The next time Milroe will be in front of the public eye will be during the 2025 NFL Draft, which will be hosted in Green Bay this year. The annual event is scheduled to take place from Thursday, Apr. 24, through Saturday, Apr. 26.