Is it possible for a rookie quarterback who many fans and analysts alike said would be starting by midseason to become an afterthought by Week 3? That is essentially the position Seattle Seahawks’ rookie Jalen Milroe finds himself in as Mike Macdonald gets his crew ready to host the New Orleans Saints this Sunday.
And that is the best of all possible worlds for both the player and the team.
Enthusiasm for Milroe in the off-season stemmed from two sources. First, there were his extraordinary athletic gifts. Milroe is a sensational runner and has a very strong arm. The other reason so many believed he would be starting before the 2025 season was up was a fundamental disbelief in Sam Darnold.
Klint Kubiak is taking baby steps with Seahawks rookie Jalen Milroe
Despite his Pro Bowl year in 2024, there were many who believed that it was an anomaly, more dependent on his ideal surroundings in Minnesota than on the QB himself.
After just two weeks, the book remains wide open on both of those assumptions, but a couple of things are coming into focus.
First, Darnold is playing pretty well. He has not been as productive as he was with the Vikings, but he is far better than he was in the six years preceding his season under Kevin O’Connell. He was shaky in his first game against San Francisco but looked much better in Week 2.
More importantly, it seems obvious that even if Darnold were not performing, Seattle would not immediately turn to Milroe as a savior. Jalen Milroe has the talent to be a star, but that is true of prospects every year. Too many of them wash out because they are not properly developed and supported.
Milroe was the fourth of a dozen QBs drafted this summer. In his final season at Alabama, he threw 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. That works out to a 5.0% TD rate and a 3.0% pick rate. Not one of the other eleven drafted QBs had a TD rate that low or an interception rate that high.
Most of them weren’t even close to those numbers. Toss in his six lost fumbles, and you can see why Milroe was considered by most scouts to be a very gifted work-in-progress.
That doesn’t always sit well with an NFL fan base desperate for a franchise QB or a coaching staff in fear for their jobs. There is a tendency to rush young QBs onto the field, whether they are ready or not.
Milroe did get on the field surprisingly early in his very first game. He ran for one yard, then did not return. By Week 2, he was inactive.
Those active/inactive decisions are often dependent on injuries at other positions. Seattle was very thin in the secondary heading into Pittsburgh and may have needed to devote an additional spot to the defense. Milroe is not the backup to Darnold. That job belongs to Drew Lock.
So Mike Macdonald decided to sacrifice whatever special gadget plays Klint Kubiak may have designed for his rookie for the Steelers game.
But that doesn’t mean Milroe won’t pop up again, perhaps as early as this week.
Simply by running the one play in Week one, Milroe had to get some attention from the Steelers coaches as they prepped for their game last week. Perhaps his inactive status in Week 2 will have the opposite effect on Tennessee’s brain trust. Perhaps they won’t prepare for what Milroe can do.
That’s exactly what the Seahawks want. Because though he is still far away from being an NFL starter, Jalen Milroe already has a place in the league. With Kenneth Walker III kicking into gear, read options and QB draws from Milroe become serious weapons.
And it’s not as if he can’t throw. He’s not Tim Tebow. Milroe has a very good arm but he is inconsistent. That comes from his lack of top level experience. Kubiak can certainly design a package of one-read throws.
The QB can read one player and quickly decide to throw or run. In time, if brought along properly, he will grow comfortable going through more complicated progressions. But for now, things should be fairly vanilla.
Jalen Milroe is gifted enough to make vanilla plays yield results. Having him slip off the radar early in his rookie year will turn out to be a blessing down the road.