Field Gulls
The new Seahawks OC has a rare talent in his QB room, how will he plan to use him?
As the Seattle Seahawks wrapped up their rookie minicamp, there was a palpable buzz from the media and coaches about this draft class. Arguably the biggest “draft winner” in terms of the praise John Schneider and Mike Macdonald received for essentially all of their picks, there is one pick and player that continues to draw the most intrigue.
With respect to the immense talent and day one production potential from rookies like Grey Zabel, Nick Emmanwori and Elijah Arroyo, it’s the quarterback mystery box that is Jalen Milroe who seems to be getting the most attention. With the third round pick, athletic skill set off the charts, and reportedly unrivaled leadership skills, it is hard not to be reminded of a certain player that checked those same boxes back in 2012.
While Russell Wilson dominated practices and preseason to the point where former head coach Pete Carroll had no choice but to start Wilson, that is an unlikely situation in 2025 with Milroe and Macdonald. Sam Darnold is coming off a top ten MVP season, and just signed a sizable contract that shows Seattle believes in his potential to be a franchise quarterback. Milroe is a far less developed passer than Wilson was, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t make an immediate impact on this offense.
After Jalen was drafted, Macdonald was quick to point out that the Alabama signal caller was going to be developed as a quarterback. “He’s going to be trained to play quarterback for us,” Macdonald said. “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.”
This response came off the heels of the natural connection between what Milroe can do, and what Saints swiss-army knife Taysom Hill has been doing in New Orleans for the past six seasons (the last of which was with Klint Kubiak calling the plays).
Under Kubiak, Hill played in just eight games before being injured, but made an impact in limited snaps. In his eight games, Hill would play quarterback, running back, tight end, and kick returner where he would amass 465 scrimmage yards on 62 touches and six touchdowns. Under Kubiak, it’s important to note that Hill only threw the ball four times, the lowest of his career. It is clear that Kubiak viewed Taysom as a weapon rather than a QB. This was made clear by Macdonald as well, “”The way (the Saints) used (Hill) was more in a tight end-fullback hybrid role, sometimes taking snaps; Jalen is a quarterback through and through,”.
The two players that many have compared to Milroe in terms of impact as an athlete are Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts, obviously those are two elite quarterbacks that have changed their game with far more than just their legs, but that added weapon has been deadly. While Milroe is...
