An Alabama quarterback in the Reese’s Senior Bowl is almost by default the most-talked-about player during the week, given both the game’s location and the Crimson Tide’s prominence in the college football world.

But Jalen Milroe has been not only the most-discussed player in Mobile this week, but the most-polarizing. After some first-round NFL draft buzz during the early stages of the 2024 regular season, Milroe’s uneven performance late in the year and a by-all-accounts poor showing during Tuesday’s Senior Bowl practice and part of Wednesday’s appeared to cause his stock to drop.

Longtime NFL draft analyst Todd McShay, formerly of ESPN and now of The Ringer, said on his podcast Wednesday that while Milroe’s athleticism and arm strength are unquestionable, the lack of accuracy he showed on short to intermediate passes was “concerning.”

The good news — aside that the draft is still nearly three months away and that the Senior Bowl is only a part of the process — is that Milroe appeared to bounce back during Thursday’s final Senior Bowl practice. During 11-on-11 drills, he showed better command of the huddle, was quicker getting the play called and snapped and was more accurate on shorter throws.

AL.com spoke to a number of NFL draft analysts who watched Milroe in-person all week, and came away with the following impressions.

“I think the light bulb kind of went off for him halfway through the second practice,” said Kyron Samuels, who works for the Sports Illustrated network. “And then today, he came out there, and it was start-to-finish the best day by far. Probably, in my opinion, it was the best quarterback effort from start-to-finish all week.

“So, you got the full Milroe experience. You saw him at his worst, where he was short on the ball. … And then you saw him get better every day. And by the end of the day on the third day, he looked like every bit of the prospect and the player that you would have hoped to see initially.”

Brian Bosarge, a Mobile-based draft analyst who has worked for Deep Fried Draft and Draft Countdown, agreed that Milroe’s practice effort on Thursday might have helped turn the momentum a bit regarding his draft prospects.

“He needed this because if he had come out and laid an egg against today, like he did Tuesday and Wednesday, then every article, everything written about the Senior Bowl would have led with him being as one of the ‘stock down’ guys from the game,” Bosarge said. “Now he’s got a chance to come into the game on Saturday and have a good showing there and kind of reset the narrative a little bit between now and the Combine. … Today he showed better poise in the pocket, showed better accuracy on the intermediate throws, and threw some great deep balls down the field. So today was his best day of practice, easily, this week.”

Still, those first two days of practice counted all the same. Samuels said he’s not sure Milroe did much to change the NFL community’s opinion on him.

Still looming is how much Milroe actually plays on Saturday. In years past, we’ve seen some high-profile quarterbacks take only a handful of snaps on game day (Baker Mayfield and Bo Nix are two prominent examples).

“If you came into the week ‘out’ on Milroe, I think that you could take some positives away, but you probably wouldn’t change your overall status,” said Samuels, a former Jacksonville State offensive lineman. “And if you came into the week big on Milroe with his upside, his potential, then you’re going to leave the week probably a little bit more excited after he appeared to figure it out (Thursday).

“It got better as the week went on. So, I’m very interested to see if he’s going to play in the game, one; and two, what his performance looks like in the actual game. Because I think he has as much to gain or lose as any player right now.”

So in what round might Milroe end up being drafted? Louis Riddick, a former NFL defensive back who is now a draft analyst for ESPN, said on Wednesday’s Paul Finebaum Show on the SEC Network that Milroe could go as “high as the second round” or “drop to the fourth round.”

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Bosarge noted that it’s not considered a great quarterback class for the 2025 draft, so Milroe remains in contention with several other candidates to be the third quarterback off the board after Shedeur Sanders of Colorado and Cam Ward of Miami. Sanders and Ward are both likely to be taken within the first five picks in the draft, and there could be a big drop-off after that, he said.

“Based off of what we’ve seen this week and what we’ve seen on tape and what we’ve seen from the other quarterbacks that were here and at other all-star games, I don’t know that he’s still not ‘quarterback 3′ in his draft class,” Bosarge said. “This is not a year to need a quarterback.

“And I’m not sold on the ones that are going to go in the 1-2 spot either. Quinn Ewers (of Texas) may have made the best decision by (opting out of the Senior Bowl due to injury). And just by default, he may end up as ‘Quarterback 3′ because he hasn’t shown how bad he is.”

As with any quarterback who is great runner but less-polished as a passer, there has been some discussion that Milroe could wind up at another position or in a hybrid role similar to that of the New Orleans Saints’ Taysom Hill. A former star quarterback at BYU, Hill often takes snaps at quarterback, running back, wide receiver or tight end in a given game.

Milroe’s running ability is arguably as good as any quarterback currently in the NFL outside of Baltimore Ravens superstar Lamar Jackson, and his arm strength is certainly unquestioned. Nevertheless, “Pigskin” Paul Guillemette, who has covered the Senior Bowl and the NFL draft for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and is now with Draft Countdown, wondered if Milroe might ultimately wind up as a developmental quarterback or in a role similar to Hill, rather than as a team’s “franchise” quarterback.

“I’d expect him to go in the fourth round of the draft, maybe the third to a team like Cleveland that’s got like 15 picks in the draft,” said Guillemette, who said he had Milroe as a first-round pick early in the evaluation process. “Then you have to be patient and then you have to realize that chances are he’s going to be (similar to) Taysom Hill. You’ll play him on special teams. You’ll play him at tight end, you’ll put in a quarterback package for him.

“And then if you’ve got a good quarterback coach who can work with him, maybe the day comes where your starter gets hurt and Jalen Milroe may see the field at quarterback. Beyond that, I just don’t see it.”

Said Bosarge, “It has been a conversation that I’ve had with several other in the draft media this week about, are we looking at a situation similar to when Lamar Jackson came into the league where certain people were kind of pigeonholing him into the wide receiver position? Obviously, Lamar Jackson’s become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and I’m not saying that’s what could happen with Jalen Milroe, but it certainly seems like that’s going to be a topic.”

Milroe checked in at 6-foot-1 ½, 220 pounds at Monday’s Senior Bowl weigh-in, with 9-1/8-inch hands. That’s on the small side for an NFL quarterback, though not a dealbreaker, as Cal’s Jared Goff went No. 1 overall in the 2016 draft — and has made the Pro Bowl four times in nine seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions — despite hands that measured an even nine inches from thumb across to pinky.

Milroe has by many accounts come across well in interviews with NFL scouts and front office personnel this week, with Samuels noting that the general consensus is that Milroe checks all the boxes from a character standpoint. Milroe said after Thursday’s practice he believes he has taken advantage of all that Senior Bowl week has to offer.

“It was about opportunity — opportunity to grow as a player, opportunity to be around the best of the best around the whole country,” Milroe said. “Also, the knowledge base that’s been presented this whole year, that’s what helped me elevate. All I want to do is be the best version of myself, each and every day I get to play football. And I was able to do that with coming here.”

Kickoff for the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl is set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium, with television coverage by NFL Network. A limited number of tickets remain available for the game, and may be purchased at seniorbowl.com/tickets.