Alabama’s Booker – Jalen Milro could go to ‘new level’ under DeBoer

DALLAS — Alabama quarterback Jalen Milro finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting a year ago and was one of the most popular players in college football, but there could be more to come under new coach Calen DeBoer.

Teammate and veteran offensive lineman Tyler Booker said at SEC Media Days on Tuesday that Milro would “go to a whole new level” in DeBoer’s system.

“I think it’s going to allow Jalen to be himself, especially the way I’ve seen coach DeBoer and Jalen communicate,” Booker said. “What Jalen can do well, that’s what he wants to do, and the other playmakers depend on the offense. The best thing we can do is let Jalen play his game. Later in the year when Jalen started his game. And was more comfortable running, That’s when he was at his best.”

Milro has accounted for 26 touchdowns and turned the ball over just five times in his last 10 regular-season games after being benched in Week 3 against South Florida. His transformation was the driving force behind Alabama winning the SEC Championship and making the College Football Playoff.

Milro said the biggest difference for him was the confidence DeBoer showed in him from the moment he walked into the football complex.

“It’s a confidence level,” Milrow said. “Coach DeBoer has a lot of confidence in me and says I see him every day. You like to hear it, a player has to be coached. And when it comes to the X’s and O’s, he’s helped narrow down the things I’m great at. Can be and things I can improve.

“But what I want to do is master the game of football. That’s when you can branch out and make plays in every part of the game.”

Milrow was not among the five quarterbacks projected to go in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft in a mock draft from ESPN’s Matt Miller. Of course, a year ago there were real doubts inside the Alabama football complex that he would even be a starter. And even though it’s DeBoer’s system, DeBoer said offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan will be the primary playcaller.

“It’s been great to have coach DeBoer and coach Sheridan and learn from them, and their knowledge has made me a better quarterback,” Milrow said. “My biggest goal was to have a better Game 1 this year than Game 1 last year. Coach DeBoer instilled in his players.”

Miller’s ability to throw the ball down the field will help him thrive in DeBoer’s system.

“He did it at a high level, so we have to make sure we continue to tap into that energy,” DeBoer said. “But I think he’s going to continue to develop everything he can do, and he’s done a great job of improving his footwork and understanding pocket presence, learning from the past and taking what we’ve emphasized here in the top six. .”

And what sets Milro apart, according to DeBoer, is Milro’s ability to run the ball.

“It can come in many different ways,” DeBoer said. “It can come when you’re pushing the ball down the field and everybody’s going down that route, and now he has more room to run. Or it can just be a run or read design that puts the defense on their heels and gives the defense. Coordinators are a nightmare.”

Milro was sacked 44 times last season (Alabama gave up a program-most 49), and he said many of those sacks were his fault. He knows better that DeBoer’s last quarterback, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., had the second-lowest sack rate in college football a year ago.

“This system gives our whole offense a chance to be explosive, and a lot of it depends on me knowing when to hold onto the ball a little bit more and when to take off,” Milrow said. “It’s been an emphasis without Coach DeBoer taking away my freedom to play the game.”