What 'scares' coach about Alabama QB Jalen Milroe

Multiple analysts and reporters predicted throughout the second half of March that Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe could become a first-round draft pick depending on when Miami's Cam Ward, Colorado's Shedeur Sanders and Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart are selected. 

Via a piece produced by ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi that was published on Tuesday, an unnamed NFL quarterbacks coach voiced concerns about what Milroe will and won't be at the highest level.

"What scares me about Milroe is just the arm talent," that coach said. "It's super inconsistent. Sometimes, he makes some wild throws and then sometimes, he's missing five-yard hitches, sailing them over the guy's head. ...The athleticism is off the charts, but you can only do so much."

Former NFL player/executive and current ESPN analyst Louis Riddick noted in January that "a football team that doesn’t have patience and doesn’t have a good developmental program" shouldn't draft a project for the future such as Milroe. Milroe has since reportedly impressed in workouts, and some now believe the Pittsburgh Steelers could make him the draft's 21st overall selection.

Pittsburgh could sit Milroe behind a proven commodity such as current free agent Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons. If Milroe remains available through the end of the first round, the Cleveland Browns may grab him at choice No. 33. New Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees was Milroe's OC in college.

"I'd do the same thing Baltimore did with Lamar [Jackson]," an anonymous "AFC area scout who has evaluated Milroe" said about the signal-caller while speaking with Oyefusi. "They adapted to him and fit their offense around him. And over the course of however many years Lamar's been there, seven, eight years, Lamar obviously is an MVP, so I think he's just naturally progressed at being a passer, being a quarterback, however you want to put it, being a game manager. All those factors play into being a good quarterback."

According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Browns are "willing to adapt their scheme to fit the QB rather than selecting one who fits what they want to do." That could be something to remember if Cleveland takes either Penn State pass-rusher Abdul Carter or Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter at pick No. 2 and then targets Milroe later in the player-selection process.