The Seattle Seahawks welcomed Sam Darnold into the organization to be the team’s starter, but they’re still making sure there’s a contingency plan for the future of the position in place.
The team selected Jalen Milroe out of Alabama in the third round of the NFL draft and sees quite a bit of promise in the young player. General Manager John Schneider noted how talented Milroe is, while acknowledging how difficult it can be for quarterbacks to step in and play immediately.
“Obviously, [he has a] high ceiling,” Schneider said in a recent appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, according to Pro Football Talk. “All these guys that come in — last year’s class was kind of a unicorn, really. But all these guys coming in, it takes a minute.
“It takes a lot of time for these guys to develop and get those pro reps. And, you know, [he had] several different coordinators, I think like three or four coordinators in college and several different position coaches. So, again, getting him in a system where he can be comfortable. And the staff’s going to try to do some unique things with him, the offensive staff.
“So, it’s exciting. When you’re watching him, there’s a lot of — look, I was blessed to be around Brett Favre at a very young age, and there was a lot of ‘wow’ and there was a lot of ‘whoa’ with the throws.
“And so, he’s got some of those wows and some of those whoas, but then also when he takes off, he’s going for 50, 60. 70 yards and running 22 miles per hour with the ball in his hands, too. So, he’s a special young man. He’s been great so far.”
Schneider also touched on the possibility of using Milroe in unique packages to take advantage of his atleticism.
“I think it’s going to be fun to watch and see how it plays out,” Schneider said. “One of the really attractive things — Mike obviously felt this way, too, Mike Macdonald — was the way these guys utilized the talent they had there, there was a variety of talent they had in New Orleans last year. And they really got decimated on their offensive line with injuries. But they did a really nice job of complementing, still being able to run the ball and move the ball.
“The first several games I think they were scoring 40-plus points, maybe the first two or three. So it’s going to be fun to see how this fits in. Challenging? Sure. But I think it’s going to be fun to see.”
