The Seattle Seahawks have a solid QB room by many accounts. Others say Seattle has nothing but question marks at the position. All I know is that Jalen Milroe will pass Drew Lock on the depth chart by midseason.
Drew Lock may be reduced to the role of the Seahawks' emergency QB by Week 9. That's less a slight on Lock's ability than an endorsement of Milroe. If Milroe continues the growth he's shown from his first appearance at the VMAC up to minicamp, there's every reason to expect he'll be ready for the backup role.
As has been noted, and correctly so, Lock has a major advantage over Milroe in the competition for the backup role. Milroe has played in 38 games with 26 starts. Lock played in 50 games with 46 starts. And that's just in college. His pro experience is a bit more important. He's appeared in 36 games with 28 starts. That means Milroe has a lot of ground to make up. But I believe he will.
Jalen Milroe has what it takes to be the Seahawks backup
The knock on Milroe coming out of college was not on his physical ability, but his ability to make the right decisions. In their draft profile, Pro Football Focus (subscription required), praised him for his arm strength and his exceptional running ability. On the flip side, he held the ball for over 3.00 seconds on average. That was a major contribution to his high number of sacks in 2023, 44.
Last year, he cut that sack total nearly in half, down to 23. Unfortunately, he also nearly doubled his interceptions, from 6 to 11. To his credit, Milroe took the blame for the sacks, as he did for the picks. He is extremely aware of everything he needs to improve. So far, he's done just that, and his head coach has given him much-deserved praise for his improvement.
There's no doubt that Drew Lock looked great in minicamp. But if Milroe continues his growth, he presents the Seahawks with a very different skillset from Lock or Sam Darnold, for that matter. Darnold and Lock are very similar players. Both are drop-back passers.
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Both were pressured on 38 percent of their dropbacks. Lock scrambled just a bit more than Darnold, 4.9 times per 100 versus Darnold's 4.3.
It's an understatement to say that Milroe can run. His 726 yards and 20 touchdowns as a senior attest to that. Winning college football's top academic honor speaks to his intelligence. Being named a team captain in his junior and senior seasons shows his leadership ability. All of those factors have me convinced that he'll continue his growth this summer and into the regular season.
Could Milroe wrest the number one spot from Darnold? Well, sure, he could. Darnold didn't exactly look his best in minicamp, and the rookie looked great. But that's going to be a much more difficult task than taking the backup role. I expect Darnold will come through. And when the Seahawks need Milroe, he'll be ready.