Salk: Why QB Jalen Milroe could be biggest draft pick for Seahawks’ future

The Seattle Seahawks just crushed their draft. I mean, at least as far as we can tell right now.

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No one knows how well these players will perform at the next level nor how they will fit with the coaching, scheme, and locker room chemistry. I certainly don’t know. But when you look at the fit, player strengths and characteristics, and how it all affects the future of this franchise, this was a potentially mammoth weekend for the Seahawks.

I like that they spent their most valuable resource on an offensive lineman. They needed to take Grey Zabel, especially after 12 of the 17 players picked before him played on the line of scrimmage. They have a gaping hole in the interior of their offensive line and he represents a significant step in filling it.

There’s risk associated with second-round safety Nick Emmanwori, but it’s the right kind of risk. He is a physical marvel who plays a position that Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald has a reputation for utilizing in creative ways. If he can tap into that potential, the Seahawks may have taken a huge step in creating an elite defense.

They spent the better part of their next nine selections adding to their offensive line depth, finding the fullback that will play a larger (or at least existent) role in this new offense, and restocking their wide receiver room.

But one pick stands out.

For the first time since 2012, the Seahawks have drafted a quarterback. (OK, fine, the second time if you include Alex McGough, but that doesn’t sound as dramatic, does it?)

In selecting Jalen Milroe in the third round, the Seahawks are finally opening up the possibility of a new, homegrown franchise quarterback in Seattle for the first time in what feels like forever.

Are the Seahawks recreating that magical 2012 experience? Not exactly (obviously), but it’s sure similar. It’s not a remake, but more like a modern Hollywood reboot where the characters are similar but the plot and style has some new twists.

In our film, Drew Lock has been cast in the role of Tarvaris Jackson. Both had previous experience with the team and were respected and well liked both in and outside the building, but neither were likely to win the job.

Sam Darnold as Matt Flynn? This is probably the weakest comp, but both were signed in the offseason with the expectation that they would start, only for us to find out that they had contracts which guaranteed nothing after the first year. Darnold is a lot more accomplished than Flynn, and this doesn’t appear to be an open competition the way it was in 2012, but it’s hard to completely ignore the similarity. Both were anointed when they signed, but both were effectively on one-year deals in crowded quarterback rooms.

Finally, we get the new guy.

“And introducing Jalen Milroe as… Russell Wilson!”

Milroe is not as polished as Russ was coming out of college. He isn’t as good of a passer nor does he throw as well on the move. He has struggled when asked to learn new systems and in anticipating both pre- and post-snap decisions. But he is an even better athlete. Milroe ran a 4.40-second 40-yard dash, where as Russ’ was 4.55. He was rated in the 99th percentile for athleticism compared to Russ in the 84th. Daniel Jeremiah said that if he were to scout players on baseball’s bizarre 20-80 scale, Milroe’s running ability would have received the only 80 grade of any trait of any player in this draft!

But can he throw?

That is the $330 million question. If he can’t, he’ll be a Taysom Hill type – useful in certain situations, for gadget plays and maybe as an H-back. That is something and certainly not the end of the world for a third-round pick, but it wouldn’t make him a franchise quarterback.

Despite some real challenges, Milroe leaves Alabama as a 64.3% passer. In the SEC. That is higher than Russ (61%), Lamar Jackson (57%), Jake Locker (54%), Josh Allen (56%), Anthony Richardson (55%) or Taysom Hill (58%) during their college years, and just barely behind Jalen Hurts (65%). It’s actually higher than Michael Penix Jr. (63%), and just behind where Penix was at UW with Kalen DeBoer (65%), who coached Milroe last season. To be honest, that’s higher than Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech (63.5%), though I’m not sure that’s a fair comp.

Completion percentage isn’t everything. Heck, it might not be anything. He’s never thrown for even 3,000 yards in a season, and the 16-11 touchdown to interception ratio last year is concerning at best and horrible at worst. By comparison, Russ threw for over 3,000 yards every year of his college career and finished his one final season at Wisconsin with 33 touchdowns and just four picks. But it isn’t disqualifying, either. Heck, reigning MVP Josh Allen threw for just 1,800 yards with a 16-6 TD-INT ratio in his final year – and that was playing against Mountain West competition, not the SEC.

There are obviously decision-making concerns, but Milroe is reasonably accurate, has a great arm, and can run better than any of those players except Lamar. And while every one of those comps were drafted in the first round (except Hill and Russ), he was a third-round pick. So if it doesn’t work, the team isn’t locked into three seasons trying to figure out a way to jam a square peg in a round hole.

This is ideal.

Like any reboot, it’s hard to live up to the original. There are more Night Courts and Footlooses than Top Guns. But if Milroe can refine his passing, and if the Seahawks can find ways to feature his strengths and limit the exposure to his weaknesses, this could be the pick that sets up the next great era of Seattle football.