The real reason for Jalen Milroe's subpar quarterback play

Jalen Milroe has seemingly regressed, at least the last few weeks at quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide. The second-year starter for the Tide is actually in his fourth season of college football after arrive in Tuscaloosa during the Nick Saban head coaching regime in 2021.

What was Jalen Milroe’s recruitment ranking out of high school?

On3 ranked Milroe as a four-star recruit and the 89th overall prospect in the 2021 high school recruiting class. Arguably even more impressive is that Milroe was rated as the 16th best prospect out of the state of Texas, which produces is one of the states that produces the highest school talent in the country year in and year out.

Milroe tallied 3,825 passing yards, 559 rushing yards and 53 total touchdowns in three seasons as the starting quarterback for Tompkins High School in Katy, Texas during his time there.

Jalen Milroe struggled to get on the field during his first few seasons at Alabama

The Crimson Tide were loaded at quarterback when Milroe arrived in 2021 with quarterback Bryce Young taking the throne and Milroe backing him up for his first two years with the Tide. Milroe would see a start in 2022 for the Tide against the Texas A&M Aggies and led them to an overtime victory which many presumed was a sign of good things to come.

Jalen Milroe as a starting quarterback for the Crimson Tide has been full of ups and downs

After a promising first year as a starting quarterback in 2023 which saw the Tide fall just short of making the National Championship Game falling to the eventual national champion Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl, Milroe seemed to be a quarterback with his stock on the rise heading into 2024.

So far however, Milroe has seemingly fallen on difficult times since the game against the Georgia Bulldogs with the Tide going 1-2 since, losing to the Vanderbilt Commodores for the first time since 1984 and the rival Tennessee Volunteers.

Milroe looked to many to be at his lowest point in the loss against the Vols, looking everything but a leader on the sideline with a dejected-looking demeanor and on-field performance that was well below the standard many expected from the second year starting quarterback. Milroe failed to look through his progressions and looked to have a mindset of only throwing and looking to freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams throughout the contest.

Why is Jalen Milroe struggling at quarterback?

The easy answer may be to blame current head coach, Kalen DeBoer. However, it is not easy for any quarterback to change offensive coordinators. And that is something Milroe has had to do three times now in his four seasons in Tuscaloosa.

Milroe’s first offensive coordinator was current Boston College head coach, Bill O’Brien who was Saban’s offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide in 2021 and 2022. O’Brien failed to help the Tide produce a national championship in his two seasons in Tuscaloosa with their biggest quarterback recruit of all-time in Bryce Young, and an offense that looked vanilla in the eyes of many of the Tide faithful.

It is hard to fathom that O’Brien’s lack of creativity and maximizing his players’ potential during his time with the Tide did not trickle down to Milroe as well. Especially since in the 2023 offseason, Milroe came out and remarked that O’Brien told him he “sucked at quarterback” and wanted him to change positions.

Two years with a coordinator that clearly does not care to pay attention to, or develop you can be detrimental to anyone’s development. So, although Milroe appears to take strides in 2023 under then offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, his regression this year should not be that surprising. O’Brien put him two years behind the eight-ball compared to everyone else, and that is difficult to overcome in the long run.