Seahawks' Jalen Milroe only starts if season is 'circling the drain,' insider says

"I understand the buzz and clamoring for Jalen Milroe," Breer wrote. "He’s a ridiculous athlete and outstanding kid. He was always going to turn some heads. The Seattle Seahawks also thought enough of him to take him in the third round, which is definitely not nothing.

"That said, he’s raw, and assimilating to Klint Kubiak’s offense, which is centered on detail and precision, is different than Alabama. The starter in Seattle, Sam Darnold, has played in offenses like Kubiak’s the past few years, and was even with Kubiak in San Francisco, where Kubiak was pass-game coordinator in 2023. For Milroe to start this year (absent an injury to Darnold), it’d have to be a situation where the Seahawks’ season was circling the drain and the staff wanted to get a look at what it has in him headed into 2026."

Considering that head coach Mike Macdonald adamantly defended Darnold as his starter earlier this week, Breer's comments seem to be on the money.

"I respect you’ve got to ask it, but this is a crazy question. It’s not going to happen," Macdonald said. "Sam is our starting quarterback. We love him. He’s doing a tremendous job. I think it’s funny that the media is out there for the first day, and all of a sudden, they know exactly how good we’re going to be and how good all the players are. All the tempos, we haven’t even put on pads yet. We haven’t made one tackle."

Milroe is an athletic freak, and Kubiak could feasibly draw up some packages to utilize his unique strengths. For now, though, it seems like that may be the extent of his usage.