• Milroe brings athleticism and arm strength: His 95.8 PFF passing grade on passes thrown 40 or more yards downfield is the best in the draft class.

• Accuracy is a concern for the Alabama product: It’s hard to succeed in the NFL if you aren’t consistently hitting the routine throws, and Milroe struggles to do that.

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2024 PFF Grades and Stats (rank out of 56 draft-eligible

Background

Jalen Milroe is a 22-year-old, 6-foot-2 and 225-pound quarterback out of Alabama. He sat behind Bryce Young in 2021 and 2022 before winning the starting job in 2023 and leading Alabama to an SEC championship. He finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2023.

Strengths

Arm Strength

Milroe’s best asset is his arm strength. He has a cannon and natural ability. His arm shows up the most on deep balls. When he lets it loose over 40 yards, he’s one of the best in the business. Milroe’s 95.8 PFF passing grade on such throws is the best in the draft class. Arm talent is where he can win as a passer at the next level. It allows him to be imperfect with his timing because his arm can make up for it. Sometimes, he needs to reign in that arm strength and learn to throw with some touch on shorter passes, but when he gets to show it off on the deep ball, it’s special.

Athleticism

Milroe is an exceptional athlete. As soon as he steps into the NFL, he’ll be one of the league’s most athletic quarterbacks. He had his fair share of scrambles at Alabama, which used him as a designed runner often. He racked up the sixth-most yards on designed runs, produced the third-highest rate of breakaway rushes (15-plus yards) and tallied the ninth-most first-down gains on the ground among quarterbacks. Outside of designed runs, he was very good when forced to scramble. He showed a good understanding of when to get out of the pocket and use his legs. More importantly, he didn’t take too many sacks, specifically on first and second downs. The NFL team that drafts him should take advantage of his legs as he develops his passing tools.

Weaknesses

Accuracy

Milroe will never be the most accurate quarterback, but he needs to improve enough to become a middle-of-the-pack passer. One way to evaluate a quarterback’s accuracy is by looking at how they perform in the intermediate areas (5-20 yards downfield). His rate of uncatchable passes thrown in that area was 30.1%, fourth lowest among draft-eligible quarterbacks. For perspective, only two NFL quarterbacks in 2024 had a worse uncatchable rate. It’s hard to succeed in the NFL if you aren’t consistently hitting the routine throws, and Milroe struggles to do that. Part of that stems from his mechanics. He seems very robotic in how he throws the ball, and it’s not a smooth delivery. His hand size could also be a problem. His hands are under the 9-inch standard for NFL quarterbacks, which could explain some of his issues with delivering the ball accurately.

Processing Speed

Milroe needs to improve how quickly he gets through his reads. Many of his best throws and decisions seem to come pre-determined. When he gets a favorable pre-snap look that doesn’t change post-snap, he can make some solid anticipatory throws. However, when that first look gets a little muddy, things tend to end poorly. He seems to get stuck at times on that first look when he can quickly flip his head to the backside to find open receivers. By the time he moves off his first look, the timing on the backside is usually late, causing tight-window throws. He’s shown some flashes, but he’ll have to drastically improve his processing speed at the next level to succeed.

Summary

Milroe in his current form is a typical high-ceiling prospect who has the athleticism to be a dynamic quarterback at the next level. To reach that ceiling, he’ll need a lot of development. His arm talent and running ability will elevate his floor, but that won’t be enough if he can’t improve how fast he processes information and his accuracy on routine throws. He’ll need to be in a quarterback-friendly system that won’t require him to play right away, with a coach who has a track record of developing quarterbacks. Malik Willis‘ situation in Green Bay is the path for Milroe to be successful at the next level.

Draft Grade: Late third or fourth round