After losing out on quarterback Justin Fields, the Pittsburgh Steelers are even more likely to spend a draft pick on the position. If they sign Aaron Rodgers, they’ll have a 41-year-old quarterback only promised to play one more season. If not, they’ll have Mason Rudolph and still searching for an eventual long-term option. It could lead them to Alabama’s Jalen Milroe.
Pittsburgh spent plenty of time with Milroe at his Alabama Pro Day. In fairness, Tuscaloosa is a usual stop and the Steelers’ dinner with Milroe included at least one of his teammates and likely more. Mike Tomlin’s meals are often with more than one prospect, getting a feel for how each player interacts with his teammates. It’s a bigger dinner bill but better draft intel.
Milroe is a polarizing NFL prospect. Athletic and dynamic, he finished second in the SEC last season in rushing touchdowns. In Alabama single-season history, his 20 scores rank fourth all-time behind Derrick Henry, Najee Harris, and Trent Richardson. As a passer, he has a big arm and can make any throw. As a teammate, he’s a likable leader and stellar off the field, winning the academic Heisman despite playing football’s most demanding position against top SEC competition.
But there are drawbacks. Big ones. Accuracy is the chief concern. Our scouting report knocked him for struggling to make even simple throws in the flat. Too often short passes were off-line, forcing his targets to adjust and preventing them from getting upfield. Milroe can hit the deep three but misses the layups. Often, accuracy is a mechanical issue. A flaw in footwork or hips or something else that creates the miss.
If all of this sounds familiar, it should. Jalen Milroe possesses baseline qualities to Justin Fields. Great athletes, big plays waiting to happen, but the need to refine their game and find consistency.
Pittsburgh bet it could fix Fields. Under new quarterbacks coach Tom Arth, the Steelers fixed his footwork and overall lower-body mechanics. It paid off. Fields’ accuracy improved. His completion rate finished at 65.8 percent, more than four-points higher than his previous season-best and over five points higher than his average with Chicago. More analytically, Pro Football Reference credited Fields with the lowest/best bad-throw percentage (15.8) and highest/best on-target percentage (75.0) of his career. Both were multi-point improvements compared to his time with the Bears.
There’s little doubt the Steelers believe they can build up a quarterback. Arth is smart and technical, Peyton Manning’s understudy for years in Indianapolis. Arthur Smith has revived Ryan Tannehill’s career and now Fields’, leaving them better than inherited.
It would be no surprise if the Steelers feel the same about Jalen Milroe. He’s often comped to Fields, including in our own scouting report. If his technical flaws can be fixed and accuracy improved, he could become a starting NFL quarterback. Unlike with Fields, drafting Milroe gives you at least four years to work with him. His 2025 season would ideally be a redshirt, though the team could dust off its packaged plays designed for Fields in 2024.
The Steelers are confident they can fix anything, including their own Super Bowl hopes. They’re probably confident they can maximize Milroe. Though he might not be the only quarterback prospect they court this year – remember, they spent time with all the top 2022 passers before picking next-door Kenny Pickett – Milroe offers what the team had and aimed to keep in Fields.
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