Seahawks insider lays out conditions for Jalen Milroe to start over Sam Darnold

While they can't compete with the Green Bay Packers' historic run at quarterback, the Seattle Seahawks have had a pretty solid thing going at the game's most important position for almost 25 years now. Matt Hasselbeck became their full-time starter back in 2001 - and with the lone exception of the 2011 season with Tarvaris Jackson the Seahawks have had an established QB1 every single year since then - and most of the time they've performed at an above-average level.

It was definitely a gamble swapping out Geno Smith after three straight winning seasons, but if Sam Darnold can pick up anywhere near where he left off in Minnesota last year then that streak of strong quarterback play is going to continue in Seattle.

That's far from guaranteed, though - which is why the Seahawks brought back Drew Lock to be their top backup. They also drafted a quarterback before the seventh round for the first time since taking Russell Wilson in the third back in 2012.

Jalen Milroe represents a unique thing for this franchise - a legitimate developmental quarterback. His traits include stellar arm power, unmatched rushing ability and no small amount of gamesmanship. However, Milroe has a lot of work to do over the summer if he's going to look anything like a pro when we see him take the field in the preseason - and a lot more work after that if he's going to start anytime soon in a real game.

While it's an unlikely scenario, there is a chance that could happen in 2025. Here's how Seahawks insider Mike Dugar at The Athletic answered a fanmail question about what would need to happen for us to see Milroe starting over Darnold in 2025.

"It’s reasonable to expect Milroe to show flashes in the preseason, then spend most, if not all, of his rookie year on the bench behind Darnold. Anything more would be overestimating Milroe’s readiness and/or underestimating Darnold’s ability to look competent in Kubiak’s offense. That said, if Milroe and Darnold produce at comparable levels this summer, or if Milroe is only slightly less productive, then it makes sense to roll with the rookie."