The curious case of Jalen Milroe. Going from one of the best QBs in 2023 to being marked as a joke in 2024 is quite the “fall”. Jalen Milroe had a first-class seat for the mentioned “fall”. See, this guy has been weird. Started solid for Bama with 3 back-to-back wins and even a solid W against the Bulldogs. However, things fell off fast. A loss to Vandy and a desperate win against South Carolina soon put Jalen Milroe on the crosshairs, and this guy was marked as “washed up”, and it was understandable why. Dude went from averaging at least 70% completion to falling to a low of 55% against the Vols. But then came the comeback.

The entire game against Mizzou was just a glimpse. While he was sacked twice and only had completion of around 61%, the Tide was recovering. Securing a 34-0 blowout win, Kalen DeBoer and Jalen Milroe were finally making a comeback. And when this team was put up against LSU? Well, we all know what happened. Brian Kelly and Co. were blown out of the water, and Bama secured a massive 42-13 win. And this is what brings us to what Kyle Henderson mentioned about Milroe’s draft news. “Do you think that Jalen Milroe is drafted in the first round of the NFL draft? I think yes,” Henderson mentioned.

But there is a catch. Milroe has a shot at making the first-round draft list if only he manages to play the way he has been playing recently. See, you gotta keep in mind that the entire fall off he had mid-season is not a good look on his resume. Mike Gillespie had recently called him out, saying that Bama won’t be doing great if Milroe decides to play one more year with the team.

At the same time, you also cannot deny the fact that if this dude gets in the right mindset, he is the best on that turf. Much like Josh Pate had mentioned, “If you could guarantee me 100% of Milroe, I’d roll with Milroe every day.” Coming off of that bye week, Milroe went for 4 rushing touchdowns against LSU.

Then, against Mercer, the dude got in 2 passing TDs and 1 rushing TD. In both games, his QBR did not fall below 91% and that says a lot. More so when the guy was averaging only 70% throughout the last 7 games. With the draft future back in his hands, Milroe has a shot at proving everyone wrong. However, now the question is, who will DeBoer rely on once Milroe is out?

Succeeding Jalen Milroe

After Bama got the W against Mercer with a massive 52-7 run, 3 heirs to the QB throne have come to light. See, in that entire game, DeBoer’s and Kane Wommack‘s D-line was the cream of the crop. These guys DID NOT let Mercer run the football.

However, on the offense, after Milroe was done with his carries, 3 other guys took his spot. Ty Simpson, Dylan Lonergan, and Austin Mack. And well, we can safely say that DeBoer has a lot of options to pick from when he needs Milroe’s successor.

Simpson went into the game and covered around 70+ yards with 5 total pass completions. Mack got in 1 touchdown, and Lonergan managed to grab 23 yards. These are not massive stats, but the way these 3 backup QBs played on that turf showed that they have the potential to be the next best. Pretty sure Tide fans cannot wait to see how the future unfolds for the team.