The 2025 NFL Draft is rapidly approaching, and the quarterback conversation has dominated recent headlines. Miami’s Cam Ward is essentially a lock for the first overall pick, and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders should go in the first round.
After that, the position group gets cloudy. It’s unclear if any other signal-callers will be first-round picks, but one Super Bowl Champion turned ESPN analyst is confident that a certain quarterback will hear his name called on night one.
Jason McCourty Expects a Surprise QB To Be Picked in 1st Round
Jaxson Dart, Jalen Milroe, and Tyler Shough (in any order) fill out the top five of this year’s quarterback class. However, none have gotten consistent first-round love in the pre-draft process.
Milroe is by far the best athlete of the group and has been compared to Lamar Jackson. The Baltimore Ravens traded back into the first round to select Jackson in the 2018 NFL Draft, and people feel the same could happen with Milroe.
PFSN’s scouting report on Milroe reads, “Blessed with a cannon of an arm, a muscular build, and tremendous athleticism, Milroe is the perfect proverbial ball of clay. He has all the prerequisites to be a coach’s dream with how impressive his physical tools are. The flashes are there with him on tape, and when he gets the right amount of touch and timing behind his passes, he can make some seriously big plays.”
Milroe was the quintessential dual-threat quarterback in his two years as Alabama’s starter. In 2023, he threw for 2,834 yards, 23 touchdowns, and six interceptions while adding 531 yards and 12 scores on the ground.
He followed that up with 2,844 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions last year, while adding 726 yards and an amazing 20 rushing scores. Milroe’s game in college was predicated on being a better athlete than everyone else. He’ll have a lot to work on as a passer, but the physical tools to contribute early are there.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg asked Super Bowl Champion Jason McCourty for a bold prediction heading into the draft on a recent edition of “Get Up.”
.@JasonMcCourty believes Jalen Milroe will be drafted in the first round 👀
Where will he land? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/ZqtnB3foHu
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) April 18, 2025
McCourty said, “With all the conversations around the quarterbacks, Jalen Milroe sneaks into the first round. The reason I say that is that general managers and talent evaluators love the idea of potential. Jalen Milroe fits that perfectly. He’s a guy that you can see all the upside in the world.
“His size, his speed, his arm strength. There’s somebody that will convince themselves, ‘I’m the guy that can turn him into the diamond in the rough.’”
Former New York Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum explained how the financial impact of a fifth-year option quarterback affects a team’s salary cap. With quarterback second contracts costing so much, Milroe wouldn’t have to be a top-tier player for an extra year of cost control to make sense. The panel believes there are teams at the end of the first and top of the second round that could take the Alabama product.
An added layer is that Milroe accepted an invitation to the draft and will be in the green room. The NFL must believe he has a chance to be a first-round pick; otherwise, why make him sit around all night on camera?