Jalen Milroe was one of the more electrifying quarterbacks in college football last season, which is why he’s now featured on On3’s list of the top 10 returning QBs in the country for 2024.
Andy Staples and Clark Brooks revealed and broke down that list Monday morning over on the On3 YouTube channel, where they discussed Milroe as part of that group. They find him to be a perplexing talent under center, capable of extraordinary highlights but also still in need of plenty of refinement.
“The offense they built around him last year, we called it the dink and bomb,” said Staples, examining Milroe’s intriguing 2023 season. “It was short high-confidence or ‘let’s go deep.’ It is fascinating to see someone who is so good down the field, and then, kind of as you get closer, it gets a little dicier.”
The analytic-minded Brooks then jumped in to tell the story of the stat sheet, which pegged Milroe as a frequent big time playmaker.
“So, high average depth of target (ADOT) — in the history of SEC stat-cat charting, no one had a higher makeup of yards come off the deep ball in a single season than him — over 40% of his yards,” Brooks revealed. “He’s in a class of his own in that regard.”
He then went on to explain that Milroe is a bit of a paradox, since he performed his best in the most high-stress and high-tension situations while struggling with down-to-down consistency.
“He could do a little better playing a little faster, processing things a little bit faster, because when he’s hesitant, that’s when all the sour stuff happens with his accuracy,” says Brooks. “In my opinion, he’s got to get a little better on first and second down and set himself up for better situations.”
However, those third downs are what make Milroe such a promising young QB.
“His late-down numbers were better than most SEC quarterbacks on first and second down. That should say a lot, because the degree of difficulty on later downs is much higher. On the do-or-die down, no one took care of business like him within the SEC last year. “
Brooks had even added a tweet showing off some of those remarkable numbers for Milroe on third downs. He wrote that the Alabama QB put up these figures on third downs with five yards or more to go in the Crimson Tide’s six “toughest” games:
“Jalen Milroe: 50% Success Rate, 17.1% Explosive, 7.1% Uncatchable, 0% Interceptable, 9.7 ANY/A.” Translation: some wickedly efficient production on the most challenging money downs. That’s why Clark Brooks is in no hurry to see Milroe’s flair reigned in.
“I wouldn’t say he has to play in structure, be that pocket passer. He’s going to need some of that backyard ball is in his game. That is often when he is his most aggressive. Some guys, when the play breaks down, they’re just looking for an outlet in space. Not the case with him, he’s just constantly trying to stretch the field within structure and outside of structure. So I think some of that chaos will be needed to maintain his potency.”
If Jalen Milroe can fine-tune his early-down play and become a little bit more stable while still maintaining his electric playmaking ability, Alabama could have a Heisman contender under center once again.
The post Jalen Milroe can make big plays, consistency on first and second down will be key in 2024 appeared first on On3.