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Former Alabama football star QB drops blunt view on Jalen Milroe after Michigan loss

Originally posted on NCAA Football on ClutchPoints
By Zachary Weinberger | Last updated Jan 1, 2025 12:49 PM ET

Alabama football quarterback Jalen Milroe has been under fire for his performance in the ReliaQuest Bowl as they lost to the Michigan Wolverines on Tuesday, 19-13. While Alabama football head coach Kalen DeBoer didn’t bench Milroe, former Crimson Tide signal-caller Greg McElroy gave his interesting viewpoint on how the team played this past season.

McElroy was on ESPN’s “First Take” talking about the loss to the Wolverines, where when analyzing his alma mater, he believed that the team was too reliant on Milroe to be perfect. He would cite the impressive wins over LSU and Georgia where Milroe was impressive, but when he was not, the team would falter.

“I think that this performance kind of summed up the season,” McElroy said. “Way too many mistakes, way too many inconsistencies, and it’s really headlined by the quarterback play. I mean Jalen Milroe, this team became extremely quarterback dependent as the season went along. If he played well they were unstoppable. LSU, Georgia, many other performances where he played really well. If he didn’t play well this team became as human as we’ve seen wearing crimson and white in nearly two decades.”

McElroy was with the Crimson Tide from 2006 to 2010 where he had a 24-3 record as the starting quarterback and won the 2009 SEC title and the national championship. Looking at it from one quarterback to the other, it is an interesting perspective to say that the team was too “dependent” on the signal-caller.

Alabama football’s Jalen Milroe was never considered to be benched

Michigan Wolverines defensive end Derrick Moore (8) sacks Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) during the first half at Raymond James Stadium. Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Milroe struggled against the Wolverines, having three turnovers, all in the first quarter with one interception and two fumbles lost. DeBoer would be asked about a possible change in the position because of the struggles and said he did not ponder on that according to AL.com.

“No, I didn’t (consider a QB change). There’s things he still did,” DeBoer said. “We scored the field goal with him using his legs, we went 95-plus yards in less than a minute. Just that factor and what we needed with him and his mobility added to the run game. The interception was early, and many of those incompletions happened down and in distances that weren’t favorable. I thought there were still a lot of good plays he made, too. I saw a fighter. The fight in his eyes. As long as I see that, I want to hang in there with the guys this program means a lot to.”

The junior quarterback would throw for 2,844 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions while also leading the team in rushing with 726 yards to go along with a whopping 20 scores. The Alabama football team finished with a 9-4 record, the first time since 2007 that the team didn’t finish with at least 10 wins.

This article first appeared on NCAA Football on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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