Field Gulls
Perhaps the biggest expectation among the Seattle Seahawks rookies, after Grey Zabel, was to see what former Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe could do in his debut against the Las Vegas Raiders. How did he do? Let’s look at his film.
Jalen Milroe threw 10 passes, 6 of which were completed. He gained 61 yards in the process, no interceptions, and no touchdowns. He was pressured three times, sacked once, and improvised two runs that combined for 11 yards. Also on the ground, he had a zone read that generated 27 yards.
With the pocket clean, he had 9 attempts for 6 completions and 61 yards. Under pressure, only one attempt resulted in an incomplete pass. When blitzed, he completed 1 pass in 3 attempts for just 5 yards. Without a blitz, he completed 5 passes in 7 attempts for 56 yards.
Milroe had a sub-standard group at his disposal. The offensive line was weak, but I don’t think the worst issue was the receivers who played with him. Aside from one snap by Ricky White III and two throws by John Rhys Plumlee (a QB who recently transitioned to WR), the receivers couldn’t consistently separate.
This significantly impacted the QB’s play, especially on the final, decisive drives.
Still trying to explain the context in which he was inserted, I wanted to talk about my interpretation of Milroe’s behavior. The rookie was drafted amid doubts, due to his final season in 2024 at Alabama, which involved forced passes that ended up being intercepted.
Watching the game again, I can’t help but think that Milroe’s mindset was unified. He entered determined not to force any passes or hold onto the ball too much. If his first read (or at most the second) wasn’t clear, he would switch gears to run the ball.
An example of this is that he didn’t attempt ANY pass longer than 20 yards. He didn’t have many chances, but he missed the opportunity on the play above to test his arm deep, in one of the few moments his receivers managed to get separation.
On medium passes, he went 2-of-5 for 29 yards, and on short passes, he went 4-of-4 for 32 yards.
Finally, at times, Klint Kubiak’s calls could have been better, especially with a rookie QB at the helm.
I didn’t really like Kubiak’s call. The routes stop on the first down mark or earlier, on third down. Very risky. The only open route seems to be Cody White’s on the opposite side of where Milroe was looking.
He decides to pass the ball to Dareke Young, but the timing is poor. For this type of pass to work, the release has to happen at the moment of the cut. Milroe stares Young down too much and only makes the pass after he cuts off the route. This gives the DB a chance to fight for the ball, deflecting the pass. It was the closest...
