NFL Draft film room: Jalen Milroe the ultimate dual-threat

What could the Alabama QB bring to the Raiders?

With the Las Vegas Raiders holding the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Raiders might miss out on Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders and will have to take a hard look at the QB3 battle in this year’s class to draft a quarterback. That competition is up for grabs at this stage and one contender is Alabama’s Jalen Milroe.

Milroe’s dual-threat ability makes him an intriguing prospect. While he had a down year as a passer with 2,844 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, he was very effective with his legs by rushing for 726 yards (55.8 yards per game) and 20 touchdowns.

Additionally, the Alabama product has one of the strongest arms and is one of the best deep ball throwers in the draft class, tossing 16 “big-time throws” and just one “turnover-worthy play” on passes 20 or more yards past the line of scrimmage, per Pro Football Focus.

That combined with what he brings to the running game makes Milroe one of the most explosive quarterbacks in the draft and worthy of a deeper dive into his game.

What stands out about the clips above and Milroe’s arm strength is not only is he able to push the ball down the field, but he can keep the ball on a line when throwing deep. So, when receivers can get a step of separation on vertical routes, defenders have even less time to catch up and make a play on the ball.

Also, while Milroe’s accuracy on short to intermediate passes is sub-par, he’s fairly accurate on deep throws and can drop the ball in the bucket. That is kind of a frustrating part of his game because he can make the hard throws look easy and the easy throws look hard.

The post to Ryan Williams (an absolute stud, by the way) against Georgia is a great example of the two elements above. Williams beats Malaki Starks—widely considered the top safety in this year’s draft—but Starks recovers to be about a half-step behind Williams at the catchpoint.

However, a perfectly placed ball that hits the receiver in stride and is on a line beats the coverage for an explosive play.

As mentioned above, the Alabama product’s legs are a big part of what makes him an intriguing quarterback prospect. Not only does he have the athleticism in the pocket to evade sacks, but he also has the speed and elusiveness in the open field to turn potential negative plays into positive ones for the offense.

The first clip shows how that can frustrate a defense. The Bulldogs dial up a six-man pressure while the Crimson Tide are in an empty formation with a five-man protection, meaning the defense has a free-rusher.

However, Milroe makes the unblocked defender miss before escaping the pocket, putting a move on Starks to make Starks miss and nearly pick up the first down on first and 20. What easily could have been second and say 30 on the fringe of field goal range turns into a red zone opportunity inside the 10-yard line.

Building on the section above, what sets Milroe apart in this year’s draft class is that he’s a natural runner. He sets up blocks well, can turn on a dime, has easy acceleration to run away from defenders, is good at staying on balance through contact and can tightrope the sideline. With a creative offensive coordinator, Milroe is a legitimate threat on designed runs.

To be honest, it’s hard to pick one clip from the collection above that really standout as they’re all pretty impressive. But the one that shows the quarterback knows what he’s doing with the ball in his hands is the 19-yard touchdown run against Auburn (0:55 mark).

Alabama runs a read option with the slot receiver and the defensive end/read man sits at the line of scrimmage to play the receiver. So, Milroe keeps the ball and follows the pulling offensive linemen on the counter call. Notice how he stays behind No. 74 right until 74 makes contact with the safety.

That sets up the block perfectly and then Milroe has the agility to bounce it and get up the field. To finish, he kicks it into another gear to make the pursuing defender miss and hugs the sideline until he reaches paydirt. You’re not going to find many quarterbacks who can do that.

Milroe is still working on this part of his game as consistency is an issue, but he did show a few encouraging throws between the second and third levels of the defense. He certainly has the arm strenght to fit passes into tight windows and if his touch gets more consistent, this could become a strength of the Alabama product’s arsenal.

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Don’t get it twisted, Milroe is still a project who will likely need to take a year or two to sit and develop in the NFL. His accuracy on short to intermediate throws is an issue which is tied to bad or sloppy footwork.

However, with right coach that can clean that up, Milroe has plenty of talent to become a good starting quarterback at the next level. He reminds me of Jalen Hurts but with a stronger arm and even more athleticism.