The Seattle Seahawks play their final preseason game of 2026 on Friday when the team travels to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. The starters won't play, and quarterback Jalen Milroe will play the entire game. The hope is he is as good as the Cleveland Browns' Dillon Gabriel.
The connection between the two quarterbacks is multi-layered. Milroe was a third-round pick for Seattle in 2025 and went 92nd overall. Gabriel was a third-round choice for Cleveland in the same draft and went two picks after Milroe. So far, Gabriel has had the best start to his career.
Milroe played a handful of downs as a rookie, and none were successful. He also had a costly fumble in Week 5 when the Seahawks were driving, and Milroe was inserted for one play. The fumble arguably ended up costing Seattle a game they lost by three points.
Can Seattle Seahawks' Jalen Milroe be the second coming of the Cleveland Browns' Dillon Gabriel?
Gabriel played in 10 games, threw seven touchdown passes and just two interceptions. He wasn't great, but at least he played.
Yet, entering 2026, both quarterbacks are set to be the QB3 on their respective rosters. In Milroe's case, he is trailing a good QB1 (Sam Darnold) and a solid QB2 (Drew Lock). In Cleveland, Gabriel is behind two quarterbacks, Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, who have no business starting.
But on Friday, Milroe needs to be his best version of Gabriel. The Browns played their final preseason game on Thursday, and Gabriel was fantastic. He tossed three touchdown passes against the New England Patriots' backups, completing 12 of 15 passes for 186 yards with a quarterback rating of 157.9, which is perfect.
Milroe will play the backups of the Chiefs, and with a poor performance, could make general manager John Schneider secretly wish he had chosen Dillon Gabriel at pick 92 in 2025 instead of the former Alabama player.
Milroe is an elite human being and has rightfully earned the respect of those in the Seattle Seahawks organization. The team doesn't think of signing embattled cornerback Terrion Arnold without Milroe giving positive feedback about Arnold. The trust between Seattle and Milroe is real.
But he still needs to show he can be a good quarterback on the field, and through a season and a training camp of the next one, he hasn't yet indicated he should ever get real snaps.
With a great performance against Kansas City, he would at least give the team hopes he can be a quality player if he is forced into action. If nothing else, Jalen Milroe could show he is as good as Dillon Gabriel of the Browns.
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