Jalen Milroe may not be drafted as high as Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders, but he’ll certainly hear his name called during the 2025 NFL Draft.
The former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback is regarded by some as the third-best quarterback prospect in this year’s draft.
The 22-year-old is coming off of a prolific season in which he posted 36 total touchdowns (20 rushing) during his senior year with the Crimson Tide.
Entering the draft, Milroe is arguably the most intriguing quarterback prospect because of his dual-threat abilities.
Milroe rushed for 726 yards and his 20 touchdowns ranked second among all quarterbacks and eighth in the nation last season. However, some of his throwing capabilities are being questioned, mainly the accuracy of his intermediate throwing.
It’s the reason why Milroe is projected as a second or third-round draft pick. Although he’s not a surefire first-round pick, he’s one of the 17 prospects being invited to the draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
That invite has led to speculation that an NFL team may be zeroing in on him as a first-round pick.
“It isn’t for all of you to know,” Milroe told Card Player when asked if he has knowledge that he’s being drafted earlier than expected. “It’s definitely a dream of mine to attend the draft. I’m so excited to seize the opportunity. I’ll be able to tell my family of my own one day that I attended the draft and I’m able to seize every opportunity of it. I’m fulfilling my dream and I’m going to enjoy every bit of it.”
Senior Bowl Hand Size Measurement ‘Was Wrong’
While Milroe may not directly be answering the question of whether or not he knows he’s going early in the draft, he is putting to rest the whole topic of his hand size leading into the draft.
At the Senior Bowl, his hands measured at 8 3/4 inches, which is deemed small at the NFL level. However, his hands measured at 9 3/8 inches at the NFL Combine, which is considered average size for a quarterback and bigger than Ward (9 inches) and equal to Sanders (9 3/8 inches).
“It was wrong, they did it wrong,” says Milroe while laughing about the measurement at the Senior Bowl. “They just did it wrong.”
Among the teams that are showing interest in him leading into the draft are the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams and New York Giants.
“I think it’s a great opportunity when you have these meetings, especially close to the draft,” says Milroe in the one-on-one interview on behalf of his partnership with USAA. “Everything is relationship based, for them to be able to hear my story, hear why they coach, X’s and O’s and talk about their schemes.”
Milroe details what goes on in those meetings with teams leading into the draft and mentions he’s met with “a lot” of teams.
“During the whole process, I was able to meet a lot of teams,” Milroe says. “With those teams, specifically installations are involved, their process, understanding the day in the life of them. Say I was a quarterback for that team, just being able to know what’s asked of the quarterback each and every day and the standard.”
Meeting With Rams Went ‘Great’
The dual-threat quarterback is from Texas and singles out his visit to the Seahawks’ facility considering he had never been to Seattle prior, saying the scenery was “crazy” in a good way.
Just prior to the interview, Milroe had met with the Rams, calling it a “great” meeting.
“I just met with the Rams,” Milroe details. “Great meeting with them. No matter what team it is, it is so important just to talk ball with them, get an understanding of how I view X’s and O’s and the process of it is big. The meeting went well. Every one of them, I leave out, and they leave out so impressed with me.”
The 6-foot-2 quarterback explains why the process of meeting in person with teams is pivotal.
“It’s different from watching tape,” says Milroe. “To meet me in person and just be able to hear my process, hear everything as a whole, me as a player, my preparational phase that people miss, the intelligence I have. Every team I meet, they all leave impressed.”
Milroe’s personality and leadership traits stand out due to his maturity. A lot of that stems from coming from a military background — both of his parents served — and also when considering he began his career as the backup to Bryce Young at Alabama. Young eventually became the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft of the Carolina Panthers.
He details how that experience has prepared him for “adaptability” at the NFL level. In other words, he’s prepared to play any role, which means backup during his rookie season. Considering the teams that are interested in him all have veterans entrenched as the starters, Milroe will have to be prepared to potentially sit out most, if not his entire rookie season.
Milroe also details how he remains close to Young to this day and how he can always lean on the third-year quarterback for advice. He also brings up how any of the Alabama quarterbacks in the NFL — Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones are a few — or any veteran signal-callers are always a “phone call away.”
“I was able to see Bryce when I was in California,” says Milroe. “I trained in California, he trained in California. I was able to see him. No matter if we’re in person or not, everyone’s a phone call away. I’ll be able to talk to everybody during this process.”
Milroe mentions how it’s important to continually “grow your mindset” and says you do that by listening to others who already have the experience that you don’t have.
“What I enjoy the most is hearing from people that have been through the process, living in the shoes that I do,” says Milroe. “Playing the quarterback position, it’s a tough position. It’s so important that you continually grow your mindset, build on your craft, not getting complacent. Having mental toughness, but also being around people with knowledge that you do not have.”
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DJ Siddiqi is a sports reporter who focuses on football, basketball, baseball and pro wrestling. He has covered some of the biggest sporting events, including the NBA Finals and Wrestlemania and often interviews high-profile athletes. Siddiqi has interviewed the likes of Dan Marino, Emmitt Smith, Shaquille O’Neal, Tony Hawk and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
