Draft analyst says NFL teams view Alabama QB Jalen Milroe as 'lottery ticket'

In one week, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe will be drafted by an NFL team. But where and when the Crimson Tide starter will go is one of the top questions ahead of the 2025 draft.

NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah views Milroe as a Day 2 pick at the moment, but in talking to teams, many believe Milroe could be a star if he continues to develop his game.

“The phrase with him that’s used more than any other, of all the quarterbacks in this draft, that’s the lottery ticket,” Jeremiah told reporters on Friday. “Like if you wanna just take a lottery ticket that you could hit huge on if it all works out and all comes together, he’s got the highest upside of anybody in this draft, and that goes all the way up to Cam Ward to No. 1. 

“But he is a long way from getting there. To me, it’s a classic second-round pick.

“You get your first pick in the bag. You feel comfortable about it. It’s a double off the wall. And then now, you can stop choking up and you can swing for the fences with Jalen Milroe. That’s how just about everybody universally views him, so we’ll see where he ends up going.”

Milroe, a redshirt junior, declared for the draft two days after Alabama’s 2024 season ended. Milroe appeared in 38 career games and made 26 starts, including all 13 of the Tide’s contests in 2024. He threw for 2,844 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while completing 64.5 percent of his passes and also rushed for 726 yards and 20 touchdowns.

With a week left until Round 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft, Milroe is currently the No. 4 quarterback in the field, according to CBS Sports, behind Ward, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart. It’s “hard to find a comp” for Milroe, Jeremiah said, but his ability as a runner sets him apart from the other quarterbacks hoping to hear their names called.

“He is an elite, elite, elite runner,” Jeremiah said of Milroe. “If you just did a cutup and just with the ball in your arm and running and you stacked him up with a really, really good running back class, just looking at him just as a runner, he would not look out of place at all. 

“He is dynamic. He can make you miss. He can break tackles. There is zero question that he’s gonna have an impact with the ball under his arm.”

“In terms of the comparison, the only thing I can say is as a runner, he’s as impressive as Lamar Jackson was as a runner coming out. Lamar was light years ahead of him in terms of the passing game at that point in time, and Lamar has continued to just improve each and every year in that department, as well.”

It will be interesting to see where Milroe ends up, especially if it is a team that needs a starting quarterback. The Alabama product could benefit from sitting behind and learning from a proven player at the next level. Jeremiah noted on Friday areas he sees for improvement.

“He’s not consistently connected between his eyes and his feet,” Milroe said. “That impacts his accuracy. The decision-making, the turnovers, to me, that comes with playing, that comes with learning. Being in a little different system this year, that didn’t go quite as smoothly as you would have hoped.

“I do think he needs time. I do think he requires patience.”

The 2025 NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 24, and runs through Saturday, April 26.

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