Kalen DeBoer believes Jalen Milroe will benefit from backup role with Seahawks

In his journey to getting drafted out of Alabama, Jalen Milroe spent one season under Kalen DeBoer. There may have been some struggles throughout the 2024 season but Milroe still heard his name called at the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay. His career will begin in the Pacific Northwest with the Seattle Seahawks.

There are little to no expectations for Milroe to be Seattle’s starter anytime soon. Sam Darnold recently signed a three-year deal worth over $100 million via free agency. Milroe will spend some time behind Darnold and hopefully continue his development.

It’s a move DeBoer appears to be in favor of. Not many coaches know Milroe better than he does at the moment, despite their short time together. Maybe Seattle can put together a similar plan as Alabama did for Milroe under Nick Saban before deploying him as the starter.

“It’s another set of verbiage and all that kind of stuff,” DeBoer said via ESPN. “So having a little perspective, kind of sitting back and seeing if someone else can do it isn’t all that bad. He did that a few years here, and then he got his chance.”

Milroe was a four-star recruit in the 2021 class, coming in at No. 89 overall and No. 12 when looking at quarterbacks according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. For two seasons, Milroe was on the bench, watching Bryce Young.

Winning the quarterback battle ahead of the 2023 season, the success was not there right away. Milroe was benched after two games, not playing in a near-disaster loss against USF. But just one week later, Saban reinserted Milroe into the lineup, and he never looked back the rest of his college career. DeBoer never wavered in potentially making a switch, even through some roller coaster performances.

In 38 career games played, Milroe has thrown for 6,016 yards, 45 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions while completing 64.3% of his throws. His biggest asset was undoubtedly the ground game, rushing for 1,577 yards and 33 touchdowns on 375 yards.

Maybe Seattle is able to find an immediate role for Milroe in certain packages, letting him use his legs. However, there appears to still be some development to go through before becoming somebody ready to consistently start in the NFL. DeBoer knows what taking some time watching from the sidelines could do Milroe well.