The proverbial book on Jalen Milroe’s college career has reached its conclusion. It was more of a short story than a novel, with merely 2 years atop the depth chart and 27 total starts for Alabama. The discourse pertaining to him has now pivoted towards April’s NFL draft board. Milroe is projected to be picked anywhere between Day 1 and 2. The exact number where Roger Goodell will take his name is far from set in stone. Owing to his inexperience and liquid NFL grade, Milroe was one of the biggest stories at the Senior Bowl. How’d he take this opportunity to make in-roads with scouts and the front-office powers that be? Well, let’s just say he didn’t quite “let the naysayers know”.

Jalen Milroe is a bit of an unknown quantity by all accords. His best attribute is that he’s a dual-threat QB. The guy can leg it for a first down almost any time. That’s irrefutable. However, his arm is still a work in progress, to put it lightly. The ceiling is high, though, if he’s developed properly. As such, Milroe was being weighed up by franchises with extra scrutiny down in Mobile, Alabama. Senior Bowl week has reportedly been far from ideal for Milroe. Ironically, he was close to Tuscaloosa but still far from a linear route into the NFL.

Over on the @collegefootball IG profile, those that run it reported some alarming news around Milroe. “[Earlier] we [were] down [at] the senior bowl and draft experts say rough week for Jalen Milroe… No surprise man [is] athletic as hell and can throw the ball deep but is that something he can do consistently at the highest level? “ read the post. This is in line with reports stemming from elsewhere that scouts and draft personnel left Mobile with more questions than answers around Jalen Milroe. Not something that’ll help a player with limited film compared to someone like Jaxson Dart and Quinn Ewers, who are vying for a similar draft placement. Even though Ewers missed the Senior Bowl as he rehabilitates from injury, which may actually be working favorably given his adversary didn’t capitalize on the chance.

There is no smoke without fire. The aforementioned post is backed up by other credible reports around this affair, and the general sentiment has remained the same. @nflrookiewatch relayed that “Milroe reportedly “struggled” much of practice, throwing INT’s, skipping balls, and having issues with accuracy all day long. At one point, Milroe reportedly missed 8 throws in a row during 1-on-1 drills.” The issues around his passing proficiency continue to hinder Jalen Milroe. Albeit, he did air an absolute dot out 30-yards downfield to receiver Jack Bech out of TCU.

These damning revelations come in the wake of one potentially QB-needy AFC side supposedly weighing up Milroe as a real possibility. The signal caller will hope he hasn’t burned bridges with his showing. But the signs point to that being the case. Prospects yearn for a situation and franchise of this sort coming out of College. Milroe only had one year as a starter under Nick Saban. Now, there’s a future Canton inductee who’s reconsidering drafting him after reportedly warming up to the idea.

Mike Tomlin reportedly wants a piece of Jalen Milroe to add to his already stacked QB room

About a fortnight ago, Pittsburg-based reporter Andrew Fillipponi stated, “Source: There are Steelers scouts who ‘love’ Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe. Believe he’s a 1st round talent. And potential franchise quarterback. Mike Tomlin will see him next week at the Senior Bowl. Stay tuned.” As this was relayed to his over 100k X followers, it instigated discourse around whether this was a good move for the Steelers. They have Russell Wilson on a very cheap deal (for them at least, sorry, Broncos) as well as Justin Fields in the wings. Fields is a more intriguing aspect of this ordeal.

You could argue both Milroe and Fields are of a similar archetype. Running QBs who haven’t been able to compliment their athleticism with an arm. That wrinkle makes this either off-putting or more fascinating for a Steelers fan, depending on your thoughts on Justin Fields. Sitting Milroe for a year while he learns the ropes is a viable route with 2 starting-caliber QBs already in the building. Alas, the Senior Bowl really did throw a massive spanner in the works. Over the weekend, the Athletic’s Mike DeFabo reported something that almost does a full 180 in contradicting Fillipponi’s reports.

DeFabo has heard from inside the Steelers’ camp that they believe Jalen Milroe will be off the board well before they’ll be willing to pick him. The glass-half-full perspective on that shall be, ‘Hey, that means they’re interested for real,’ which relates to Fillipponi’s info. Conversely, the other perspective dictates that they don’t consider him a must-have. Or else they’d draft him in round 1, where he should fall to the Steelers. Whatever the case, Jalen Milroe is now staring at the Combine as his next shot at winning people over. He’ll have to make amends, or else he could slide down the QB hierarchy very quickly.