I hope Jalen Milroe isn’t being set up for failure at the NFL Draft

I have a fear for Jalen Milroe at the NFL Draft. It’s 2-fold.

The first is that the former Alabama quarterback will follow in the footsteps of Will Levis. That is, he’ll be the guy in the green room throughout the entire first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. On the heels of being shown by cameras all night, he’ll have to make the awkward decision if he wants to return on Friday. And to be fair, Milroe isn’t projected to come off the board as a potential top-10 pick in the way that Levis was, so perhaps he won’t get the same camera treatment if that scenario unfolds.

But that’s just part of my fear. My other fear for Milroe is that someone takes him in the first round and he’s immediately tasked with doing something that I don’t believe he’s capable of. That is, stepping in and looking the part as a rookie.

I know what you’re thinking — um, didn’t that basically just describe all possible outcomes for Milroe? Mostly, yes. My ideal scenario for Milroe’s NFL Draft experience would’ve been that he was surrounded by loved ones far away from Green Bay, he’d get picked at some point after Round 1 and he’d give us a great on-camera moment with Nick Saban.

You know. Sort of like when he was at the NFL Draft last year.

I’m rooting for Milroe to succeed in the NFL because when he’s right, it’s a sight to behold. But am I skeptical about his NFL upside and all the potential career-threatening places that he can end up? Absolutely.

Something that needs to be kept in mind is that Milroe going in the first round means he’s playing as a rookie

In the 2020s decade, Jordan Love is the only first-round quarterback who didn’t start multiple games as a rookie (that’s excluding JJ McCarthy because he suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason). That’s because he went to a team led by future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. As for the other 17 quarterbacks who came off the board in Round 1 and avoided a season-ending injury in the preseason, they were all thrown into the fire.

Speaking of the fire, Milroe throwing under pressure was a problem in 2024. He completed 43.5% of his passes (No. 77 in FBS w/ min. 30 drop-backs under pressure) and he had 5 turnover-worthy plays compared to 4 touchdown passes. But what would concern me even more than that was Milroe’s 9 interceptions when kept clean (tied for most in FBS).

My fear with Milroe is that his downside is so hard to watch as a rookie that by the end of Year 1, he’s Zach Wilson. And sure, you can tell me that Milroe’s got a higher floor because of his legs, but I’d tell you, reader of this column, that Milroe only had 200 scramble yards in 2024, which was No. 50 in FBS. A guy with 24 fumbles in a 2-year stretch as a college starter — I realize snapping issues played a part in that in 2023 — doesn’t seem as likely to do that less with a bigger ball, and the 8.8 rushing yards/losing game in 2024 tells me that while it’s ridiculous that quarterbacks having their ground-game totals punished for sacks in college, there was a clear plan to beat Milroe.

None of that is new information, yet the way Milroe has been talked about in the pre-draft process, there’s been momentum for him to be potentially the 3rd or 4th quarterback off the board. I mean, the invite to Green Bay for the NFL Draft is telling in itself, as is the fact that Milroe is +140 on FanDuel to be a first-round pick.

Of course, remember when Levis’ odds to be the No. 1 overall pick skyrocketed the week of the 2023 NFL Draft? Fun times. Make of those what you will.

So what’s the right situation for Milroe?

As someone who’d like to see the best version of Milroe at the next level, I wish he were a quieter topic of discussion during the pre-draft process. If he were being talked about as a third-round prospect who could find a situation like the one in Los Angeles with Sean McVay as a future Matthew Stafford replacement or even the one in Las Vegas with Chip Kelly and Pete Carroll with a potential Ashton Jeanty-Brock Bowers pairing, I’d be optimistic about Milroe’s future.

Check that. I’d be ecstatic about Milroe’s future if he landed in a situation like that. Shoot, throw in a situation like the New Orleans Saints with Kellen Moore now running that offense. If he and that front office decide that Milroe is a worthy Day-2 option to develop as the potential long-term starter, I’m in.

Maybe that’s still in play and this pre-draft talk about him as a first-rounder will prove to be misguided. While I also find myself rooting for Milroe’s future bank account, I’d like to see the guy that we saw in big-time games against Texas A&M in 2023, or against Georgia in 2024, or against LSU in 2024. That dude was unstoppable. Call me crazy, but I don’t think we see that dude if he’s a first-round pick who gets thrust into the wrong situation.

If Milroe hears his name called on Night 1, you’d better believe we’ll see highlights from those games with commentary from Saban and others about how special we’ve seen him be. Perhaps there’d be just a short amount of time spent on discussing the flaws that he’ll need to overcome to become a franchise quarterback. Whatever the case, a wide range of outcomes for Milroe’s future awaits.

Here’s hoping that Thursday night isn’t the first step on a treacherous path to NFL frustration.

Connor O'Gara

Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.