TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After a spectacular passing and running performance, former Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe helped his draft prospects immensely Wednesday.
There is a perceived big gap behind former Miami quarterback Cam Ward and former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders for the coming NFL draft, which is set for April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Milroe had shaky performances at the Senior Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine. But he clearly was more accurate throwing his scripted routes Wednesday at Alabama’s Pro Day. The ball came off his hand like a rocket and mostly was on target. He had a few drops and a couple of passes that sailed high.
Before throwing, the 6-foot-2 and 225-pounder dazzled the crowd with 4.4 seconds run in the 40-yard dash. There was buzz after he ran, as some clocked him at 4.37 seconds. The second 40-yard dash was clocked at 4.44 to 4.46 seconds.
“It’s one simple thing,” Milroe said about what he’s telling NFL teams. “There are a lot of things other quarterbacks do well, that I can do. But there are things that I do, that they can’t do. That’s something that I can use as an advantage when I play the game of football.”
Everyone knew that Milroe could run the ball from his last two seasons at Alabama. But times were shocking.
“I’m not one-dimensional,” Milroe said. “There are some things that I possess. Most importantly, I love football.”
Milroe knew that he need a strong showing. After the combine, former Ole Mississippi quarterback Jaxson Dart was widely considered the third quarterback in the draft.
“I had the opportunity to go through the process, have another opportunity to throw with my guys here,” Milroe said. “It was a lot of fun. It’s just one step closer to finding where home will be at.”
Pittsburgh, Cleveland, the Giants and Tennessee have unsettled quarterback situations.
Milroe went to dinner with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin on Tuesday night.
“I just thought it was a great opportunity to meet with the Steelers,” Milroe said. “I remember watching the AFC North and the battles that they had growing up. So now, to have the opportunity to be around coach Tomlin, I don’t take it lightly at all.”
The Steelers have the 21st pick in the draft. The Steelers don’t have a second-round pick. They have the 84th overall pick, in the third round.
“If the opportunity presents itself for me to be (Tomlin’s) quarterback, I’d take full advantage of it,” Milroe said.
The Katy, Texas native worked a year under Tommy Rees, who recently was named the Browns’ offensive coordinator. The Browns hold the second pick in the draft.
Milroe did not run at the scouting combine.
“A lot of people wanted me to run, I was going through the process (debating) if I would run,” Milroe said. “So, I gave everybody what they wanted. My goal was to get in the 4.3s. So, goal completed. That was first and second was to be able to show out playing quarterback.”
Despite the up-and-down performances before the Pro Day, Milroe has enjoyed his pre-draft process.
“The best thing about this process is getting to know a lot of people,” Milroe said. “During this process, you get to meet a lot of owners, (general managers), position coaches, head coaches and during (this) time frame, it’s so important just to build relationships and then also to talk ball.”
During his throwing script, Milroe started with shorter routes to show off his accuracy. He then went to some intermediate route before showing off his deep throws. He finished the script by making some throws in the red zone from 20 yards or closer.
“It was great,” Milroe said. “All the hard work done in the dark is going to come (to the light). Me and (quarterbacks coach) Jordan (Palmer) spent so much time together enhancing my game at every level.
“It was just great to be back in Tuscaloosa one more time. Throwing with our guys. We have a lot of great talent in our receiver (group), also our running back and both tight ends. We are a special group, and we had a lot of fun in showing the script that we’d been working on.”
Milroe completed 426 of 663 passes (64.3%) for 6,016 yards, 45 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He had 375 rushes for 1,577 yards and 33 touchdowns.
He led the Crimson Tide to the SEC title after the 2023 regular season, Nick Saban’s last as the head coach. He has more rushing touchdowns than any other quarterback in Alabama history. He could have returned.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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