With the 2025 NFL Draft quickly approaching, the Pittsburgh Steelers are still looking to fill out their quarterback room. QB Aaron Rodgers doesn’t appear any closer to making a decision, but the Steelers haven’t shut the door on that eventually happening. They have certainly been doing their homework on the quarterbacks in the draft, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe.
The Steelers, including head coach Mike Tomlin, had a private dinner with Milroe prior to his Pro Day workout. That’s a big part of the Steelers’ method of evaluating prospects they are seriously interested in drafting high. Evidently, they’re not the only ones who think Milroe deserves to go high, as he is one of 17 players who will be attending the draft.
But does Jalen Milroe match what the Steelers are doing on offense? Well, analyst Charles Davis thinks so.
“Let’s say he goes to Pittsburgh, which is back to being a run-first, not-through-your-wide-receivers type of a team,” Davis said Friday on Bleav in Giants. “You want to go running it and then get it to ’em out wide. Now you’ve got DK Metcalf there, you’ve got [George] Pickens there. These are two guys that can get deep on you. It’s almost like option football in college. Run it, run it, run, step back, throw that bad boy way over the top. That’s where it feels like Pittsburgh is headed. That might be perfect for Jalen Milroe.”
Could @steelers fans see the return of the Kordell “«Slash»” Stewart style offense? @BleavNetwork 🤔👇🏾 pic.twitter.com/Tl5RLSac23
— Carl Banks (@CarlBanksGIII) April 18, 2025
A great way to help a young quarterback adapt to the NFL is by having a robust running game. It takes pressure off the quarterback by keeping down and distance manageable. And we know Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, along with Tomlin, loves to run the ball. The team needs to bolster its running back room with Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell the top two backs currently.
But a strong running game can also help strengthen a team’s ability to use play-action. When I took a look at six college quarterbacks the Steelers have been linked to, Milroe’s play-action stats were very interesting. Milroe ran play-action on 23.3 percent of his drop backs. That was almost rock bottom among all FBS quarterbacks who attempted at least 100 passes in 2024. But he completed 75 percent of his play-action pass attempts. That was the ninth-best completion percentage in the country. And it was a jump of 13.1 percent from his overall completion percentage.
So why the heck didn’t Alabama use play action-more? That’s neither here nor there, but Milroe’s completion percentage suggests that play-action could help him settle into the game. And as Davis said, having DK Metcalf and George Pickens at wide receiver certainly helps. Former NFL GM Mike Tannenbaum thinks the Steelers are particularly suited to supporting a young quarterback due to those receivers, plus TE Pat Freiermuth. Targets who all possess a big catch radius and can help give a quarterback some needed cushion while trying to adjust.
Analyst Daniel Jeremiah said Milroe has “the highest upside of anybody in this draft” during a pre-draft conference call on Friday. There are certainly reasons, including Milroe’s dynamic running ability, to think that he could develop into an NFL quarterback.
But the Athletic’s Mike DeFabo thinks the Steelers won’t draft him, even in the third round if he’s available. So who knows what will happen during the draft? Regardless of the speculation, there is certainly a belief that Jalen Milroe has some incredible tools that, if nurtured properly and in the right environment, could make him a dynamic NFL quarterback.
