Jalen Milroe could be a draft bust.
Let's get that out of the way immediately. The Alabama quarterback might not be accurate enough. He might be too much of a runner and not enough of a passer. There are plenty of valid concerns about his game.
But he's not the first NFL Draft prospect to have these concerns.
Remember Josh Allen's perception out of Wyoming? He was an inacurrate thrower in a bad conference.
How about Lamar Jackson? Well-respected NFL personnel didn't even think he should play QB.
Guess what: Milroe brings with him much of what those two do so well, and he's bringing it to the Seattle Seahawks with the No. 92 overall pick in Friday night's third round.
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Comparing him to Allen and Jackson is crazy, kind of. It's also got real standing.
Browns GM Andrew Berry recently said Milroe is even faster than Jackson. His 4.4 40-yard dash time would agree with that.
Milroe might've been the second-best runner with the ball in his hands in all of college football in 2024, behind just Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty.
In the modern NFL, quarterback rushing ability translates.
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Then there's the Allen side of things. People worried he wouldn't succeed if he didn't grow in his accuracy.
But Allen had the work ethic needed to do just that. Between his second and third seasons, Allen took a gigantic leap as a thrower, and it led him on the path to his eventual 2024 NFL MVP Award.
All the pre-draft reports suggest Milroe has a wonderful work ethic, which is how a player can come to the NFL with skills still to learn and then actually learn them.
He's raw, yes. So was Allen. So was Jackson.
And yeah, sometimes the raw QBs don't pan out. Trey Lance was a bust. Zach Wilson was a bust.
But on the second day of the NFL Draft, Milroe is worth any risk that comes with his selection.
He throws a brilliant deep ball. He runs like an All-Pro running back. The in-between stuff? That can be worked on and improved.
You can't teach Milroe's natural traits. He's gifted as all heck.
And maybe, just maybe, someday we'll look back at Milroe being taken outside of the first round and wonder how that could've ever happened.
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