You’re a third-round pick, you ran for more highlight-reel yards in college than most running backs, and the team that drafted you already has a Super Bowl-winning quarterback standing between you and the field. That’s Jalen Milroe’s reality right now, and it’s exactly why so many Seahawks fans can’t stop checking in on him.
He’s not the starter. He might not even be the backup. But he’s the guy Seattle fans keep circling back to, because his story isn’t finished yet — and stories that aren’t finished are the ones worth following closely.
Who Is Jalen Milroe? (Quick Bio for New Fans)
Milroe built his reputation at Alabama as a quarterback who could win a game with his legs before he ever proved he could win it with his arm. He ran like a running back, threw with real velocity on his best days, and left scouts split right down the middle. Some evaluators saw a future starter with rare physical tools. Others saw a track star who happened to play quarterback.
Seattle drafted him in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and the pick made sense the moment you looked at the quarterback room. Sam Darnold had just arrived from Minnesota on a “prove it” contract, and nobody knew yet whether his 2024 breakout would carry over. Milroe gave the Seahawks a developmental option with real upside in case Darnold’s season went sideways.
Instead, Darnold went out and led Seattle to a Super Bowl. That single season changed Milroe’s timeline more than anything he’s done on the field himself. He didn’t lose his shot — he just got a longer runway to develop.
Jalen Milroe 2026 Preseason Stats Tracker
Here’s where Milroe actually stands through Seattle’s first two preseason games of 2026.
Week 1 vs. Dallas Cowboys
- Passing: 5-of-8 for 36 yards
- Rushing: 5 carries for 36 yards, including a 20-yard scramble
- 1 fumble (recovered by Seattle)
- 3 sacks taken
Week 2 vs. Tennessee Titans
- Threw an interception on a late throw over the middle in the third quarter
- Took a sack on fourth down late in the fourth quarter, rolling out of a clean pocket but never getting the ball out
- Threw a second interception on the very next drive as Tennessee closed out a 19-16 win
Two games in, the story is a tale of two skill sets. His legs look every bit as dangerous as they did at Alabama — that 20-yard scramble against Dallas came on a simple keeper where he just outran the entire Cowboys defense to the sideline. His arm, meanwhile, is still the part of his game that keeps costing him. Two interceptions in one game is the kind of number that gets a young quarterback’s confidence questioned, fair or not.
This tracker updates after every Seahawks preseason and regular-season appearance, so bookmark this page if you want the full picture as it develops.
Year One vs. Year Two — Is Jalen Milroe Actually Improving?
This is the question that actually matters, and it’s the one nobody else is answering directly.
Milroe’s rookie preseason debut came against the Las Vegas Raiders, and he finished 6-of-10 for 61 yards with 38 rushing yards on three carries, including a 27-yard scramble down the sideline. He also nearly threw an interception on a late sideline throw and turned the ball over on downs after an inaccurate pass on fourth-and-1. Sound familiar? It should — those are almost the same issues showing up in 2026.
But context matters here. Beat writers who watched his 2026 camp reps before the preseason opener noticed something different: he looked more decisive in the pocket, and his process appeared faster than it did a year earlier. That’s nothing. Speeding up your decision-making as a young quarterback is one of the hardest, least visible improvements to make, and it usually shows up in practice reps long before it shows up in a highlight.
The verdict, two games into year two: Milroe is making the same kinds of mistakes, but he’s making them a little faster and a little less often. That’s real progress, even if the box score doesn’t show it yet. Quarterback development rarely looks like a straight line — it looks like this.
Film Breakdown — Jalen Milroe’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Numbers only tell half the story. The tape tells you why the numbers look the way they do.
Where he wins: Milroe’s best trait remains his ability to turn a broken play into a positive one. Against Dallas, when his first read wasn’t there, he didn’t panic — he tucked the ball and turned four steps into 20 yards. That instinct can’t be taught, and it’s the exact tool that makes coaches willing to be patient with a raw passer. His arm strength also shows up on intermediate throws, the 10-to-15-yard range where he’s flashed real zip when he trusts his first read and lets it go on time.
Where he loses: The interception against Tennessee is a textbook example of the problem scouts flagged coming out of Alabama. He held onto a throw over the middle a beat too long, and by the time he released it, a Titans defender had already closed the window. Late throws over the middle are the single most common way young quarterbacks give the ball away in the NFL, and it’s the exact mistake Milroe made twice in one afternoon.
The fourth-down sack tells a related story. He had a clean pocket and time to throw, but instead of getting the ball out, he tried to create something extra by rolling out — and the play died before he ever pulled the trigger. That’s the tension every dual-threat quarterback has to solve: knowing when your legs are an asset and when they’re actually costing you a rep you should have just taken as a pass.
What Analysts and Coaches Are Saying About Jalen Milroe
Former NFL quarterback and current analyst Brock Huard put his finger on the exact tension showing up on tape. He’s said Milroe needs to cut out the “basement” plays — the turnovers and negative plays that erase the good ones — while still finding the right moments to lean on his legs instead of always trying to prove he can play strictly from the pocket.
Seahawks beat reporter Gregg Bell was more blunt after the Titans game, calling the middle-of-field interception an alarming decision and pointing out it’s exactly the kind of throw that leads to picks at the NFL level.
Milroe’s own comments tell a different, more measured story. After Seattle’s first preseason game, he credited offensive coordinator Brian Fleury’s play-calling and talked openly about the value of decisiveness and cashing in reps in the red zone — the language of a player who knows precisely what he needs to fix, even if he hasn’t fixed it yet.
Put those threads together, and you get a fair picture: the physical tools are not in question. The decision-making under pressure is. That’s an accuracy-and-processing problem, not an athleticism problem, and those tend to be the more coachable ones.
Jalen Milroe’s Path to the 53-Man Roster
Seattle’s quarterback room currently runs three deep. Sam Darnold is the unquestioned starter after that Super Bowl run. Drew Lock has locked down the QB2 job with a strong camp and a clean preseason opener of his own. That leaves Milroe fighting to prove he’s worth a roster spot as the No. 3.
Here’s the good news for Milroe: teams almost always keep a developmental quarterback with his kind of physical upside, especially one they invested a third-round pick in just one year ago. Here’s the pressure: preseason snaps are the only evidence Seattle’s front office gets before making that call, and every mistake gets magnified because there’s so little other tape to balance it against.
The most likely outcome is Milroe makes the 53-man roster as the third quarterback and keeps developing behind Darnold and Lock. A quieter possibility floating around Seattle’s building is that a strong finish to the preseason turns him into trade value for a team searching for a cheap, athletic quarterback later in the year. Either way, his next two preseason games matter more than almost anything else on Seattle’s roster bubble.
Jalen Milroe Dynasty & Fantasy Outlook
In a standard redraft league, Milroe isn’t worth a roster spot. He’s the third quarterback on a team with a healthy, productive starter, and that’s about as unrosterable as fantasy football gets.
Dynasty leagues are a different conversation. Milroe’s rushing profile alone makes him worth a speculative stash in deeper leagues — the kind of asset you tuck away on your bench and forget about until an injury or a coaching change opens a door. Quarterbacks with legitimate wheels carry fantasy floors that pure pocket passers can’t match, even in a backup role, because one starter injury can turn them into a top-12 fantasy option overnight. Just don’t expect anything from him this season unless Darnold goes down.
How Jalen Milroe Compares to the Rest of the 2025 QB Draft Class
Milroe wasn’t a first-round pick, so he’s never going to get graded on the same curve as guys like Cam Ward or Jaxson Dart. But among Day 2 and Day 3 quarterbacks from his class, his rookie-year debut actually stacked up well — analysts ranked his first preseason outing among the more impressive debuts from that entire quarterback class, mobility and all.
The bigger question a year later is whether he’s closing the gap on the players drafted ahead of him or falling further behind. Right now, he’s neither surging nor stalling. He’s tracking almost exactly on schedule for a developmental third-round pick: flashes of the traits that got him drafted, mistakes that show exactly why he wasn’t a first-rounder, and a slow, visible trend toward better decision-making. That’s not a thrilling headline, but it’s an honest one.
FAQs About Jalen Milroe
Is Jalen Milroe starting for the Seahawks? No. Sam Darnold is Seattle’s starting quarterback, and Milroe is currently competing for the No. 3 job behind Darnold and Drew Lock.
What are Jalen Milroe’s 2026 preseason stats? Through two preseason games, Milroe has completed 5 of 8 passes for 36 yards and thrown two interceptions, while adding 36 rushing yards on five carries, including a 20-yard scramble.
Will Jalen Milroe make the Seahawks’ 53-man roster? It’s the likely outcome given his draft investment and physical upside, though nothing is guaranteed until final roster cuts.
How does Jalen Milroe compare to Sam Darnold and Drew Lock? Darnold is Seattle’s proven starter coming off a Super Bowl run, and Lock has held onto the No. 2 job with a strong camp. Milroe remains the developmental piece of the group, still working through consistency issues as a passer.
Is Jalen Milroe a good dynasty fantasy stash? In deeper dynasty leagues, yes — his rushing ability gives him a real fantasy ceiling if he ever earns starter reps. In redraft leagues, he’s not rosterable.