In 2012, Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider selected a third-round quarterback after shelling out for a signal-caller in free agency. He did so again in 2025.
The Seahawks selected Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe with the No. 92 overall pick in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday night.
"This is definitely a dream come true," Milroe said in a conference call after being drafted, per the team website. "The best thing about it is I was gathered with family throughout this whole process. It's definitely a unique journey for sure, not knowing where you'll go, but it's all about that right spot, and I know I'm in the right spot moving forward."
The selection is the pick the club acquired in the trade of Geno Smith to Las Vegas back in March.
The move comes after Seattle signed Sam Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract in free agency. The Seahawks also inked Drew Lock as a backup.
Schneider suggested all offseason that the Darnold and Lock signings wouldn't preclude his club from adding a rookie to the equation. The Milroe pick likely will spell the end for Sam Howell in Seattle. Schneider said previously he had taken trade calls on Howell.
Milroe enters the NFL with enticing dual-threat ability, particularly electric with his legs, but has a ways to go as a passer.
At 6-foot-2, 216 pounds, the redshirt junior is a dual-threat who threw for 45 touchdowns and ran for 33 more in his polarizing 38 games (27 starts) for the Crimson Tide.
The 22-year-old is an outstanding runner and athlete for the position, able to rip off big plays easily. Milroe's speed is easy to see on tape -- backed up by a 4.4 40 time at his pro day -- but he also offers good toughness and physicality with the ball in his hands, relying on his sturdy build for extra yards. In this day and age, it's not hard to see how Milroe's electric running ability can be weaponized.
As a thrower, though, Milroe was far too inconsistent, ripping off some NFL throws into tight windows one series and misfiring on easy passes the next. There's excitement in scouting circles over Milroe's raw tools, as well as his intangibles, earning praise for his character, intelligence and discipline as a worker, perhaps stemming from his military upbringing.
Milroe was a two-time captain at Alabama, first in Nick Saban's final season and then in Kalen DeBoer's first with the Tide in 2024.
After backing up eventual No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young in 2022, Milroe took over as Bama's starter in 2023. After losing his second start to Texas and being benched the following game, Milroe regained his starting job and led the Tide to a playoff spot, finishing the season with a 23-6 TD-INT ratio and 12 rushing TDs. Milroe struggled versus Michigan's defense in a Rose Bowl loss, coming up short on fourth-and-goal in overtime -- the final play of Saban's career.
The 2024 season started well for Milroe, who earned early Heisman buzz after a wild victory over Georgia. But that all came to a screeching halt in Bama's shocking loss at Vanderbilt, with Milroe throwing a pick-six and coughing up a critical fourth-quarter fumble. He largely struggled to adapt to DeBoer's offense.
Sitting behind Darnold for at least a year gives Milroe an incubation period to develop as a passer and become a better processor from the pocket. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald came from Baltimore, where he saw first-hand how difficult Lamar Jackson was for opponents to defend. He gets himself a developmental project with that dual-threat upside.
Adding a developmental quarterback behind Darnold -- whose contract the club can get out of if things go sideways -- always made sense. The club made its move with Milroe, who is confident he can reward Seattle for doing so.
"There's nothing I can't do on the football field," he said. "Are there things I can improve on? Absolutely. But there's nothing I can't do on the football field. I've thrown every type of touchdown, stepped up in the pocket, thrown on the run, gone through my progressions, I've thrown a checkdown that scored, I've used my legs. When looking, pick and choose what you want on the field, I can do it. I say that humbly, not over-arrogant, it's just more knowing what I bring to the table and knowing that it's a different dynamic on the football field that I know I'm going to utilize in the NFL."
The 'Bama product represents the third quarterback Schneider has drafted since he took over in 2010.
He memorably got Russell Wilson in the third round of the 2012 draft despite having signed Matt Flynn to a lucrative deal a month earlier. Wilson won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks and went to nine Pro Bowls with the team.
Seattle hopes it works out as well as the last time it snagged a third-rounder -- even if it takes a bit longer for that QB to hit the field this time around.
