The Seattle Seahawks selected Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe with the No. 92 pick in the NFL Draft's third round. There was immediate speculation that Milroe might slide between a few different positions due to his outlier athleticism, but Seattle isn't hearing any of that. He is a quarterback and a quarterback alone.
When Mike Macdonald was asked about Milroe's immediate outlook, the Seahawks head coach got straight to the point.
"The way (the Saints) used (Taysom Hill) was more in a tight end-fullback hybrid role, sometimes taking snaps; Jalen is a quarterback through and through," Macdonald told The Athletic. "He's going to be trained to play quarterback for us. When he's in there, he's going to be playing quarterback. But the athleticism is going to come to life when he's on the field."
Mike Macdonald silences all doubt over Jalen Milroe's outlook on Seahawks roster
Seattle will almost definitely install specific packages to unleash Milroe's unique speed and strength as a runner, but it will always be as a quarterback. None of the quasi-tight end or fullback shenanigans New Orleans broke out for Taysom Hill.
The main reason, aside from Milroe's lifelong dedication to learning and playing quarterback, is that he has a future at the position in Seattle. Hill was never going to start games on a regular basis for the Saints. Macdonald preached "urgency" with Milroe's development, citing the desire to get him up to speed and on the same level as Seattle's vets.
"We don't use patience a lot around here," Macdonald said. "There's always going to be an urgency in how we're developing our players, how we're training them. Jalen is going to be right there with everybody else."
This is the correct approach — and a strong sign of the leadership in Seattle. Milroe, like many mobile quarterbacks before him, was subject to silly narratives throughout the pre-draft process. Like Lamar Jackson before him, however, Milroe figures to put any non-QB theories to bed quickly. Sure, he has a lot to work on. He threw 11 interceptions in his fourth and final campaign with the Crimson Tide. But, for every weak point in Milroe's game, there's a singular advantage tied to his absurd blend of quickness and strength. He's a tank running the football, with more than enough arm talent to develop into a fruitful distributor once his poise and accuracy improve.
Seattle took the highest-upside swing available to them in the third round. It might not pay off, but at least the Seahawks will see this through to its logical conclusion instead of getting pointlessly sidetracked.
Milroe was the fourth QB off the board behind Cam Ward (No. 1), Jaxson Dart (No. 25) and Tyler Shough (No. 40), somehow eclipsing Shedeur Sanders in what will go down as the strangest QB draft in a while.
It's not hard to derive the logic behind Seattle's decision. Yes, the Seahawks just paid Sam Darnold $100.5 million, but his contract is only guaranteed for one year. Same for Drew Lock, who feels like nothing more than a career backup at this point.
Seattle is hedging its bets on Darnold and setting up a long-term contingency plan. At worst, Milroe spends the next few years as Seattle's backup with an eye toward the future. If the Darnold experiment goes south, then there's a world in which Milroe is starting in Week 1 of the 2026 campaign.