Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe is entering the 2025 NFL Draft, he announced via social media Thursday. Milroe, who spent two years as Alabama's starting quarterback, brings plenty of intrigue and upside to a relatively thin crop of high-tier quarterback prospects.
"To my teammates, my brothers, thank you for the blood, sweat, and tears we've shared," Milroe wrote in his announcement. "The bonds we've built will last a lifetime. To Coach (Nick) Saban, thank you for believeing in me and instilling the standard of excellence in me. To Coach (Kalen) DeBoer, thank you for challenging me and helping me grow into the player and leader I am today.
"To the entire Alabama family, thank you for embracing a kid from Texas and allowing me the honor of wearing the script 'A'. Representing this university has been one of the greatest honors of my life."
Milroe's decision comes just a couple of days after Alabama's 19-13 loss to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Still mulling his future, Milroe elected to play in the bowl game and made the start for the Crimson Tide. He completed just 16 of his 32 pass attempts for 192 yards and one touchdown with one interception.
That one interception was one of three turnovers that he was responsible for in the first quarter alone. Milroe was cleaner with the ball down the stretch, and he did have an impressive 40-yard rush to set up an Alabama field goal near the end of the first half. But that was the fourth time in Alabama's last five games that Milroe failed to reach 200 yards passing.
Milroe's Alabama career
Milroe signed with Alabama in 2021 as a four-star prospect out of Katy, Texas' Tompkins High School. He spent his freshman season as a backup to Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young and returned in 2022, earning his first career start against Texas A&M in place of an injured Young.
Young declared for the NFL Draft following his junior season, which allowed Milroe to battle Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner and redshirt freshman Ty Simpson for the vacant starting job entering the 2023 campaign. Milroe eventually won out and, despite his benching following a loss to Texas in Week 2, returned to lead the offense when SEC play began. He was named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award and finished his first year as a starter with 2,834 yards and 23 touchdowns passing and 531 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground.
Given his versatility, Milroe came into the 2024 season as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Though that didn't quite come to fruition, he still tallied 3,570 total yards of offense and a whopping 20 touchdowns rushing. Milroe did throw a career-high 11 interceptions, which is more than he had from 2022-23 combined. Milroe's 20 rushing touchdowns were the most by an Alabama QB in a single season.
Milroe's draft stock
Milroe seems like an ideal fit for the modern NFL game with his athleticism and big arm. He's comfortable making plays outside of the structure and, given his 33 touchdowns rushing in four seasons with the Crimson Tide, can really hurt a defense with his legs.
Milroe does still have strides to take as a passer if he wants to be a full-time professional starter. While he has the arm talent to make throws all over the field, both his accuracy and his decision-making need more fine tuning.
Though none of CBS Sports' draft experts projected Milroe as a first-round pick in their most recent mock drafts, Milroe currently sits at No. 32 in CBS Sports' prospect rankings, which puts him in the conversation as a Day 1 prospect. He's also the No. 3 quarterback directly behind Miami's Cam Ward and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, so it's not out of the question that a QB-hungry team could take a shot at him early.
What it would mean for Alabama
Obviously, Milroe's departure creates a vacancy at the most important position on the field. The Crimson Tide do have plenty of options to replace him.
Simpson, who signed with the Crimson Tide in 2022, served as Milroe's backup in 2024 and will have every chance to win the job. He will have to fend off former Washington transfer Austin Mack to do so. Mack actually enrolled at Washington in 2023 and followed coach Kalen DeBoer to Tuscaloosa when DeBoer was hired as Nick Saban's successor, so there is plenty of familiarity between the two.
Alabama also had five-star Keelon Russell, the No. 2 prospect nationally, in 2025. He will get the opportunity to compete, though it my be difficult to unseat some of the more veteran options in front of him. The transfer portal is also an option if a clear starter does not emerge through spring practice.
MORE: Crimson Tide transfer portal tracker | Bama247 is offering 50% off annual VIP subscriptions from now until Jan. 2, 2025
