If Jalen Milroe winds up going in the first round of the NFL Draft, a new report might offer a big hint as to why.
In an appearance on “Good Morning Football” Monday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that some scouts and executives believe Milroe is the best running quarterback they have ever seen. They even put him above Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson.
“The eye-opening thing that several — not one, several — coaches and scouts told me as I was making calls about all these quarterbacks is Jalen Milroe is the greatest runner of the football they’ve ever evaluated at the quarterback position,” Pelissero said. “Not Lamar Jackson. Jalen Milroe is the best runner that they’ve ever seen.”
Is @JalenMilroe a better runner at the QB position than Lamar Jackson?@TomPelissero on the "eye-opening" comments he's heard from NFL coaches and scouts 👀 (via @gmfb) pic.twitter.com/AwYm1gsSUf
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) April 21, 2025
That seems like an overstatement, to say the least. Milroe was an excellent runner at Alabama, and he ran for 726 yards and 20 touchdowns last season, both career bests. Jackson ran for more yards than that in his worst season at Louisville, and ran for 1,601 yards and 18 touchdowns in his final season of college. The stats are not necessarily everything, but there is clear distance between the two quarterbacks.
There is no disputing that Milroe is very fast. There is also some reason to believe his draft stock may be on the rise, and it is at least possible he might go in the first round. However, few outsiders are going to agree that Milroe is even better than Jackson was when Jackson was coming out of Louisville.
