Alabama football’s starting quarterback job is up for grabs again, and Jalen Milroe is one of the signal-callers expected to be heavily involved in the battle to be the Crimson Tide’s next QB1.
Milroe is a former four-star recruit out of Tompkins High School in Katy, Texas. He will be the most experienced quarterback involved in Alabama’s upcoming quarterback competition.
The Texas native has played in 12 games for the Crimson Tide throughout his first two years in Tuscaloosa. He played in eight games during the 2022 football season, including earning a start against Texas A&M. Milroe threw for 111 yards and three touchdowns while throwing one interception in the Tide’s win over the Aggies.
Before signing a National Letter of Intent to play football at the University of Alabama, Milroe was considered one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the 2021 recruiting class. The Alabama quarterback finished his high school career at Tompkins with 5,350 passing yards, 1,220 rushing yards and 52 total touchdowns, and he helped the Falcons win more than 30 games over three seasons.
Milroe had more than 20 Division 1 offers coming out of high school, and he was once verbally committed to the Texas Longhorns. He flipped his commitment to the Crimson Tide in August of 2020, and the former four-star eventually signed with Tide in December during the early signing period.
Some of Milroe’s biggest plays during his early days at Alabama have come when he has escaped the pocket and created excitement with his speed. However, throughout his high school career, he displayed a pattern of running less and less. He carried the football 127 times as a sophomore, 67 times as a junior and only 39 times as a freshman. Tompkins Head Coach Todd McVey spoke highly of Milroe’s desire to make plays with his arm when he was his starting quarterback.
“Jalen is not just looking to run, he is looking to extend the play,” McVey told Touchdown Alabama in August 2020. “You watch Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City and (Lamar) Jackson and that is what they are trying to do, extend plays with their feet to throw. I think that it is good that he is learning this now. I know as a young guy he wants to take off at times, but he is scanning the field to the very last second.”
Alabama is hoping Milroe can show some growth as a passer in the future, similar to the way he made strides as a high school quarterback.
“He has grown in pure maturity as a quarterback,” Mcvey said in 2020. “Quarterback is the most different position on the field because you touch the ball every play. He loves that. During his sophomore year, he was surrounded by a bunch of guys, who had been in the program for a while, which allowed him to grow and not have all the pressure on him. By the end of the season, he had grown into the offense. Last year, he grew even more, not only with learning the offense but with learning to read defenses as well. He is also a hard worker in the weight room and is one of the strongest guys on our team.”
Watch Jalen Milroe High School Highlights Below:
Alabama football starts spring practice Monday, and the race for Jalen Milroe to possibly be Alabama’s starting quarterback begins.
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Justin Smith is the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via @Jdsmith31Smith
