Can Jalen Milroe Be the Guy for Alabama This Season?

If Jalen Milroe's athleticism gives him the edge over Ty Simpson, is he efficient enough as a passer to make the Tide a title contender?

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For the first time in a long time, the quarterback position is up for grabs for the Alabama Crimson Tide. From Jalen Hurts to Tua Tagovailoa to Mac Jones to Bryce Young, this program has been on a historically dominant tear when it comes to the quarterback position. But, with A-Day behind us and the 2023 season on the horizon, it feels like things are on shaky ground when it comes to the signal callers. During Alabama’s spring game, both Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson threw interceptions, and just looked generally erratic. With Milroe’s athleticism and dynamic play-making ability in hand, it gives him the edge in the competition – but, can he be the guy?

We know that this offense is going to undergo a bit of a transition under new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. The personnel would certainly indicate a shift in philosophy, and we know that’s something that Nick Saban likes to do – when the rest of the SEC was trying to play big bad bully ball, he got the Tide roster smaller and quicker…now, we’re back to square one. Alabama trying to dictate the style of play in the SEC, and if it works, the rest of the conference will be playing catch up. If Saban does indeed want to get back to the Alabama football of the late 2000s and early 2010s, Milroe might have the leg up because he’s constantly a threat to tuck the ball and run.

You certainly love to see that on 3rd & 15 if you’re a team that wants to run the ball at will. But, the turnovers and the decision-making could be a problem. Those early Saban Tide teams had quarterbacks like Greg McElroy and AJ McCarron, who might not have lit the stat sheet up, but were so efficient with the football that it made it nearly impossible to take the ball away and swing momentum from the Tide. They were a juggernaut in that regard. This will be the thing that actually limits Alabama in 2023 – do they have the quarterback (or can they find him?) that can run the offense the way this staff wants to run the offense?

To dive into that question a bit, I wanted to watch some tape on Milroe to see how he performed in his limited role in 2022. There’s not much to go by, but Milroe did have to step in and start for an injured Young against Texas A&M in a game that would end up being one of the weirdest and best of the 2022 season. Milroe went 12/19 for 111 yards, three touchdowns, one interception, and 81 rushing yards in that game as the Tide famously won 24-20 after a Haynes King pass fell incomplete from the two-yard line with three seconds left on the clock. Let’s fire up this tape and see what we find.

In that first play, you see a bit of both worlds for Milroe. On one hand, he clicks his heels and shuffles his feet at a moment when if he were in a sturdy base, he would’ve been equipped to fire that ball off to Cameron Latu with some good placement. That would’ve been a chunk play. But, it’s hard to fault him for making the safe decision to check down to Jahmyr Gibbs and convert the first down. You see his ability to extend plays with his legs while looking down field on full display there. In the second play, I do love the decision. I love the base. And, he does flash excellent placement there. I just want to see more zip on that ball. Less time in the air means less opportunity for a red zone pick where the traffic is a little tighter. Get it to your guy quicker.

They didn’t ask him to throw a lot, that’s for damn sure. They ran a lot of option stuff, handing off to Gibbs, tucking and running…but there were not a lot of reads and progressions to go through down the field. Milroe was holding onto the football – playing. He had a couple of ugly incompletions to Latu that looked like the result of improper technique and placement, throwing one way over his head and behind him, and another one at his feet. Texas A&M began to key in on the run game, and that’s when things got a little competitive because they didn’t seem to believe Milroe was a threat to push the ball down the field. It sucks that this is all the -real- tape we have to go off of from 2022 because it’s hard to say whether there were some nerves boiling up, what Milroe was coached to do if this staff was nervous about starting him before he was ready, and flat out what the game plan was. It’s not Milroe’s fault if the coaching staff was so tentative that they were going to play 1930s football out there.

All in all, Milroe does show flashes of proper technique, decent placement, and scanning the field…which are all hallmarks of an efficient quarterback. The problem is that he also has instances of doing the exact opposite on his tape. The traits are there for a solid run, but it’ll take an up tic in his consistency in order for him to join the ranks of the great Alabama quarterbacks before him.

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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

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