Former Star Unveils Major Praise for Alabama Crimson Tide QB Jalen Milroe

A former college football star spoke out with high praise for Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe.

Jul 17, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe speaking at Omni Dallas Hotel. / Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports

Jalen Milroe and the Alabama Crimson Tide are looking to get back to being National Championship contenders during the upcoming 2024 college football season.

A new era of football has begun for Alabama. Nick Saban is gone and Kalen DeBoer has taken over. He has brought a new coaching style, but the same expectations for success.

With that in mind, Milroe will be leaned on heavily to lead the Crimson Tide and put up big numbers to help power the team towards the playoff.

Ahead of the 2024 season, former college superstar quarterback Matt Leinart dropped some huge praise about Milroe and ranked him as his Heisman favorite.

“I think with Kalen DeBoer, he’s going to improve so much with his passing. We saw what Coach did with Michael Penix Jr. last year. Don’t be surprised if another Bama, Crimson Tide wins the Heisman Trophy.”

During the 2023 season at Alabama, Milroe ended up completing 65.5 percent of his pass attempts for 2,834 yards, 23 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He also picked up 468 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground.

Obviously, he put up quality numbers on the field, but he also found a lot of success in the NIL marketplace.

On3 has listed Milroe with an NIL valuation of $1.7 million. That number has him ranked as the No. 5 overall player in the NIL market and he's ranked No. 4 overall when it comes to college football specifically.

All of the on and off-the-field success has led to very high expectations for the 2024 season.

Winning the Heisman Trophy is going to be no easy task. It never is, but there are some very good players around the nation competing for the prestigious award.

Quinn Ewers, Carson Beck, Dillon Gabriel, and more will be competing for the award. Milroe will have to put up a huge season if he wants to beat all of those guys out.

However, he has the talent around him to make that happen. His arm and running ability will give him a fighting chance.

It will be interesting to see what kind of season the Crimson Tide end up having in their first year under DeBoer. He's going to bring a much more dynamic offensive game plan, but they lost a lot of players who chose to transfer away from Alabama.

Expect to see Milroe step up and become the leader that the Crimson Tide need him to be. He's facing high expectations, but he's more than ready and is embracing the challenge ahead. It won't be surprising if he does end up being a Heisman Trophy finalist by the end of the year.