The Seattle Seahawks chose the collegiately electric Jalen Milroe in the third round of the 2025 NFL draft. The hope was seemingly that the quarterback would eventually turn into a solid starter. He just needed some seasoning.
The issue is that Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak has the [need to put Milroe](https://12thmanrising.com/seattle-seahawks-jalen-milroe-different-path-anthony-richardson) in at times he shouldn't. The quarterback has played just three plays through five games, and none of them have been productive. Week 5's snap was the worst of them all.
Trailing 6-0 after a couple of longish Tampa Bay Buccaneers' drives, Seattle took over at their own 41-yard line and worked their way into Buccaneers territory. Instead of building on the momentum that the starting quarterback had started, Kubiak inserted Milroe into the game to try a gimmicky run play.
Seattle Seahawks' Jalen Milroe experiment needs to stop
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One could argue that at least Kubiak wasn't [having Milroe throw the ball](https://12thmanrising.com/critical-observations-seattle-seahawks-jalen-milroe-dismal-performance-packers), and instead was trying to do the safe play of running the ball. But in the NFL, nothing is safe. The rookie quarterback took the snap, rolled slightly to his left, and pitched the ball to running back Kenneth Walker, but the pitch was high and outside.
Walker couldn't catch the ball, and it turned into a fumble, which the Bucs recovered. After forcing Tampa Bay to punt on the previous drive, the Bucs built off their own momentum gained from the silly choice of having an inexperienced Milrie try to pitch the ball and turned the turnover into an eventual touchdown.
13-0 against a good Buccaneers defense, even one that was banged up, seemed like too much. Maybe the Seahawks could come out in the second half and mount a second-half comeback, but that appeared unlikely. Seattle's defense was uncharacteristically missing too many tackles on defense, couldn't get much going offensively, and had missed a field goal.
One wonders what might have been different about the first half had Klint Kubiak put Jalen Milroe into such an important situation. The Buccaneers were thankful for the error and took even more control of the game.
In three attempts this season, Milroe has attempted two rushes for four yards, none of which have resulted in a first down. He caused the fumble on his third snap. He simply needs to sit and watch and not cause mistakes this season.
Thankfully, just as the first half was about to end, the Seattle Seahawks were able to mount a drive that ended with a touchdown pass from Sam Darnold to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Was the second half crazy? Yes, as the score reached 35-all until Sam Darnold threw an interception late in the game (one that glanced off a Buccaneers helmet) and set Tampa Bay up deep in Seattle territory. But what happened in the first half created what happened in the second half when Tampa Bay won the game with a last-second field goal 38-35.
Klint Kubiak shouldn't have taken a chance with Jalen Milroe. What if the rookie hadn't played in the first half? Would the Seahawks have never been in a position to lose the game late? We will never know, but we can guess.