Can Seahawks fans expect more of Jalen Milroe at quarterback in Year 2?

RENTON - The Seahawks are scheduled for three on-field workouts this week as they hold their annual mandatory spring minicamp.

The practices scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday conclude the team's offseason program, with players off until the Seahawks begin training camp in late July, when they will officially begin their quest to win a second straight Super Bowl under the hovering eyes of the TV show Hard Knocks."

Among the many interesting subplots of training camp once the Seahawks get there? How much progress will Jalen Milroe show in Year 2 and will it be enough to convince the team he can be a quarterback of the future?

This time a year ago, some wondered if Milroe might forge a regular on-field role in 2025, either in specialty packages or possibly even competing with Sam Darnold for the starting job.

That speculation arose after the Seahawks used a third-round pick in 2025 on Milroe after he started for two seasons at Alabama, where he had 7,593 career total yards, fifth-most in school history. Seattle hadn't drafted a QB above the seventh round since Russell Wilson in 2012 before taking Milroe.

To be clear, there was never a competition for the starting job in the eyes of the Seahawks - coach Mike Macdonald stated firmly every time asked that Darnold was the starter.

But foreshadowing what became a seasonlong narrative that morphed into a rallying cry for his teammates, many wondered if Darnold might slip up in his play just enough to allow an opening for Milroe to step in at some point.

Darnold lived up to every expectation the team had and then some in starting every game - playing all but 41 snaps - and leading the Seahawks to the second Super Bowl title in franchise history.

Milroe played three snaps - one in each of three games early in the season - but spent most of the year inactive on gameday, serving as the emergency third quarterback behind Darnold and Drew Lock.

Milroe's final snap of the season came in a Week 5 loss to Tampa Bay when his pitch to Kenneth Walker III on an option play resulted in a fumble recovered by the Bucs that proved pivotal in an eventual 38-35 loss. Milroe was inactive for every game the rest of the season.

His other two plays were each direct snaps that he kept for runs - he was officially credited with three carries for 4 yards on the season.

Milroe did play substantially in the preseason, including all of a 20-7 loss at Green Bay in the final game in which he showed some moments of promise (seven carries for 31 yards) but also lost three fumbles.

He finished the preseason completing 22 of 39 passes for 255 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions while taking six sacks, and also rushing 15 times for 87 yards with a long of 27.

While being interviewed during Super Bowl week Milroe said it was a good season "to be able to learn and grow as a player."

Even though he had just three snaps in regular-season games, he said those were valuable.

"To see the speed of the game, preseason and regular season are much different," he said. "And being able to get on the field and see the game speed and seeing how our game plan phase of it translates to the field was cool. It was cool to be able to get on the field early on in the season and get a taste of the NFL."

So what now?

Obviously, there is no question about Darnold's hold on the job and that he is likely, next offseason, to sign a new contract that will keep him as the team's QB likely into the next decade.

Lock also returns on the final season of a two-year deal due to pay him a non-guaranteed $2.25 million in 2026.

Lock is still only 29, so while he could serve as a backup for years to come, he likely hopes for another shot to play at some point.

That could put the onus on Milroe to prove to the team he can be the backup in the years ahead if Lock moves on a year from now.

OTAs (organized team activities) the last two weeks showed no change to the team's QB order with Darnold taking the reps with the ones, Lock with the twos and Milroe the threes.

Some continue to wonder if the Seahawks will find ways to get Milroe on the field in specialty roles this season.

ESPN in April stated that the Seahawks "also hope to utilize dual-threat QB Jalen Milroe" as part of their running game this season in the post-Walker era.

OTAs and this week's minicamp are the first chance for new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury to get extended in-person looks at Milroe and the rest of the offense and maybe devise ways to get the second-year QB involved in the running game.

During an appearance on Seattle Sports 710 last week, Macdonald said the most urgent ask for Milroe right now is to show progress in Year 2.

Asked if the Seahawks are searching for ways to utilize Milroe's athleticism, Macdonald said: "The short answer is yes, but our focus and his focus is on how good can we get? How much can you grow your game day-by-day? And he's doing that."

The most specific areas of improvement for Milroe would seem to be limiting turnovers - something that was at times an issue at Alabama - continuing to refine his throwing motion and accuracy (he mentioned last year working specifically on his lower-body mechanics) - and quickly acclimating to the tweaks in Fleury's system.

Milroe is sure to get the majority of the work at quarterback in the three preseason games, which could make him one of the main storylines of "Hard Knocks."

His years under the glare that is Alabama football should have him ready for that spotlight.

How he plays in those games figure to go a long way toward determining if he'll have even more of a starring role with the Seahawks in the future.

"Of course you are a competitor, you love to play," Milroe said at the Super Bowl of spending last season as the No. 3 quarterback. "I know there is a lot of football ahead of me. But everything happened for a reason. So I think whenever the opportunity comes, when it's time to play, I'll be ready to play and I know that these moments that happened this year will be the reason why I had success.

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