With the 21st overall pick in this week’s NFL Draft, there are a lot of directions the Pittsburgh Steelers can take their franchise. At that spot, a quarterback certainly feels like a possibility while the Steelers continue to wait on Aaron Rodgers. Two names that are floating heavily in regard to the Steelers are Shedeur Sanders and Jaxson Dart. However, former NFL QB Dan Orlovsky believes Jalen Milroe might be the best fit in Pittsburgh.
“The reason I say Milroe, a couple things,” Orlovsky said on ESPN’s Get Up on Monday. “Number one, the likelihood he’ll be there at 21. Number two, the receivers on the perimeter, both George Pickens and DK Metcalf. Could you imagine, a QB with the ability to push the ball down field like Milroe, and then the rare athletic ability that we’re watching?”
The likelihood Milroe will be there at the 21st pick, as Orlovsky suggests, is much higher than some of the other quarterbacks in the class. While Milroe’s potential is through the roof, he’s far more raw than some of his classmates.
With that said, he did receive an invitation to the first round of the draft. The league typically doesn’t send those invitations out unless they have some inkling that he’ll go off the board in the first round. This class is far less impressive at the position than last year. However, we did see six quarterbacks go off the board within the first 12 selections in 2024. It’s not entirely unreasonable that a run at the position could take place in the first round again this year.
It still feels likely that Rodgers will put pen to paper at some point. With that in mind, there’s a strong chance Jalen Milroe isn’t the Week 1 starter, if drafted. If he is, though, Orlovsky thinks the offense could look similar to the Baltimore Ravens, back when Lamar Jackson made his entrance.
“When you get these dynamically-athletic quarterbacks, and you got guys on the outside like DK Metcalf and George Pickens, defenses can’t get overly-complicated on early downs,” Orlovsky said. “Arthur Smith, the Steelers offensive coordinator, loves the run game, loves to design the run game. So I think you can, in many ways, build an offense that’s got early-Lamar [Jackson] stuff, where the quarterback run’s a big part of it.”
If Milroe does start, the Steelers’ receiving core should help him out a lot. If we’re comparing him to Lamar Jackson, Milroe would certainly have more talent to work with at WR early in his career than Jackson did.
With that said, Jackson was much more polished as a passer coming out of college. Milroe has shown glimpses of what he can do with his arm. He can make some outstanding throws, but he lacked the consistency to make him a lock to go in the first round.
Still, his ability as a runner makes him a true game-changer. Arthur Smith won four out of six games with Justin Fields last year. Fields has a comparable skill set to Milroe, but few would argue that Fields has the same potential. In that case, there are reasons to be optimistic about Milroe in Pittsburgh. The 21st pick might be a little rich for the liking of most. Yet, Jalen Milroe’s potential ceiling could make it all worthwhile.
