Coming out of the 41-34 win over the Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe was riding high. He looked like a true contender to be the first quarterback off the board with his impressive performance against one of the best defenses in college football.
He was on fire in the first half against the Bulldogs leading the Crimson Tide to a 28-0 lead over the number one team in the country and wasn't phased when they lost the lead with a quick touchdown on a deep ball to freshman phenom Ryan Williams.
The last three weeks tell a much different tale of Milroe's stock.
Jalen Milroe's struggles harm NFL Draft stock
There are a lot of ways to look at Milroe's struggles over the last three games. Let's take a look at the raw stats first.
- 59-of-92 completions
- 64.1% completions
- 758 yards
- 3 touchdowns
- 5 interceptions
- 9 sacks taken
- 57 rushing yards
- 3 touchdowns
The raw stats aren't that impressive for someone who has elite tools like Milroe does. Against Tennessee, Milroe only had 4.09 yards per play according to Game on Paper . He struggled to make throws to all levels of the field and had a shocking low -0.38 EPA/play with a 32% success rate. When the offense runs through you, that's not something you can have.
What is the cause of his struggles? Well, there are multiple reasons why. His decision-making hasn't been great nor has his pocket management when pressure comes his way. The biggest flaw right now with Milroe has been his mechanics.
One thing that Milroe does consistently is not sync up his upper and lower halves. It's like his legs are on a slight delay with his arm and it causes a lot of issues with accuracy and ball placement. One of the biggest examples of that came on the interception to end the game against the Volunteers.
You can see Milroe throwing it with almost all arm and not using his lower half. It's become an alarming trend for him and one that is relatively common with players that have elite-level arms like Milroe does. Most quarterbacks generate their power from the lower half but some can generate all of it from their arm.
One other thing the lower half does for you is help stay accurate and utilize proper placement. When you have your hips facing the proper way, and you step into the throw, it takes away multiple variables and keeps things in sync. If you step into the throw with good mechanics, you are significantly more likely to make an accurate throw.
Ultimately for Milroe, he doesn't have good, or even decent mechanics right now. Knowing his arm talent is that good, he trusts it too much without developing aspects of his game that could make things easier.
Where does Milroe's stock currently sit? It's likely going to be all over the place depending on who you talk to. My comp for Milroe is Lamborghini Jalen Hurts where they share a very similar playstyle but Milroe has elite tools whereas Hurts has decent ones.
He could still go first overall but there is a lot of work that needs to be done. He needs to show some real growth with his mechanics and be more patient and confident with his decision-making. If he can do that, going top 10 isn't out of the question. Right now, he should go back to school because he's not close to a finished product and another year under Kalen DeBoer can help him grow significantly.
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