Other than Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, Alabama's Jalen Milroe may be the most polarizing quarterback prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft class.
While ESPN's Ben Solak claimed as recently as April 9 that Milroe should be a third-round pick, his acceptance of an invitation to attend the draft indicates he'll find an NFL home on April 24.
Some have compared Milroe to fellow former Crimson Tide quarterback and Super Bowl LIX Most Valuable Player Jalen Hurts. For a piece published Friday, ESPN's Bill Connelly echoed The Athletic's Ted Nguyen and suggested that Milroe is a bigger project than Hurts was in the spring of 2020.
Specifically, Connelly noted that Hurts posted a 1.9% interception rate, a 6.1% sack rate, a 19.8% sacks-to-pressures and a 35.9% contact rate in college. To compare, Milroe was responsible for a 3.0% interception rate, a 9.9% sack rate, a 27.5% sacks-to-pressures and a 39.6% contact rate from 2021-24.
Hurts becoming a championship-caliber quarterback makes it easy to forget that some Eagles personnel allegedly considered replacing him with Deshaun Watson after his second season. Meanwhile, analysts and scouts have said throughout the spring that Milroe should develop as an unused NFL backup "for multiple years" until he improves his throwing mechanics.
"His interception rate rose from 2.1% in 2023 to 3.4% last fall, and in his last nine college games, he threw six touchdown passes to 10 interceptions," Connelly added about Milroe. "...He's going to need patience and a very specific system, and although both of those things exist in the NFL, not every quarterback gets that lucky."
In his latest mock draft posted on April 8, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. predicted that the New York Giants would make Milroe the fifth quarterback selected in this year's draft by taking him at No. 34. That could be an ideal landing spot for the to-be rookie, as the Giants could sit Milroe behind Russell Wilson and/or Jameis Winston until 2026 or 2027.
