Alabama quarterback in the Reese’s Senior Bowl is almost by default the most-talked-about player during the week, given both the game’s location and the Crimson Tide’s prominence in the college football world.
But Jalen Milroe has been not only the most-discussed player in Mobile this week, but the most-polarizing. After some first-round NFL draft buzz during the early stages of the 2024 regular season, Milroe’s uneven performance late in the year and a by-all-accounts poor showing during Tuesday’s Senior Bowl practice and part of Wednesday’s appeared to cause his stock to drop.
Longtime NFL draft analyst Todd McShay, formerly of ESPN and now of The Ringer, said on his podcast Wednesday that while Milroe’s athleticism and arm strength are unquestionable, the lack of accuracy he showed on short to intermediate passes was “concerning.”
The good news — aside that the draft is still nearly three months away and that the Senior Bowl is only a part of the process — is that Milroe appeared to bounce back during Thursday’s final Senior Bowl practice. During 11-on-11 drills, he showed better command of the huddle, was quicker getting the play called and snapped and was more accurate on shorter throws.
AL.com spoke to a number of NFL draft analysts who watched Milroe in-person all week, and came away with the following impressions.
“I think the light bulb kind of went off for him halfway through the second practice,” said Kyron Samuels, who works for the Sports Illustrated network. “And then today, he came out there, and it was start-to-finish the best day by far. Probably, in my opinion, it was the best quarterback effort from start-to-finish all week.