Jalen Milroe spent the entire 2025 season as the third-string QB with the Seattle Seahawks. As a third-round pick, many thought that he could push for the starting job, especially given Sam Darnold’s resume up to that point. But Darnold proceeded to have the best season of his career, won a Super Bowl, and buried Milroe on the depth chart.
Advertisement
Now, with Darnold locked in for another two seasons, many may have already forgotten about Milroe. After all, he logged zero passing or rushing attempts in his rookie campaign. He did take three snaps, but they were all kneel-downs at the end of the game in garbage time.
Given how talented he was in college at Alabama, many wondered why Milroe didn’t see more action throughout the season. He could’ve been used as a gadget player on special play packages. But he recently shared the harsh reality of being a rookie QB in the NFL, especially one on a contender.
“The expectation for you to early on be successful is at a premium,” Milroe stated on Closed on Sundays.
The statement is quite true for most rookie QBs that enters the league. Even when it seems guys like Cam Ward have a clear runway to make a lot of mistakes, they still get critiqued heavily by their own team and fans. Many thought that the Tennessee Titans’ QB was underwhelming for most of the season, until he was finally able to establish some consistency down the stretch.
“The expectation for you to early on be successful is at a premium.”
Jalen Milroe gets real on NFL QB development narratives and who’s really responsible pic.twitter.com/prqucAF6Tl
— Closed on Sundays with Pat and Terrion (@closedsundaypod) February 25, 2026
Why is there so much pressure on young QBs to perform? Because they are the most expensive position in the league, and rookie QB contracts are cheap. So, organizations have been trying to build ready-to-compete teams with young QBs in recent seasons, as it allows them to spend more on other positions.
Even with the strong finish, though, there are still a ton of doubts surrounding Ward’s potential. The same could be said for guys like Shedeur Sanders, Tyler Shough, and even Jaxson Dart. But Milroe thinks that every QB’s journey to stardom is different.
“I will say, it takes time to be a great quarterback. It took Sam [Darnold] until year 8 to win a Super Bowl … Everybody’s journey is different. Some guys play early on, some guys don’t,” Milroe professed.
It’s the right mindset that the rookie needs to uphold to stay confident. As mentioned, he didn’t attempt a single pass during the season. So, he needs to believe that his time will come in the future.
We’ll keep tabs on Milroe heading into year two with the Seahawks. It was surprising not to see him get any game action this season. But that’s how good Darnold was playing for most of the year.
At the end of the day, Seattle can move on from Darnold after next season and cut his contract short if they want to. They most likely won’t. But if he regresses in any way or reverts to his old self, questions about Milroe will start to arise.
It’s hard to doubt Darnold after what he just did, though. Coming off the best season of his career, as a veteran, he should be fine going into next year and beyond. So Milroe will have to grind it out in Seattle while he can, and then try to hop on a job opportunity when his rookie contract is over.
