Throughout the season, Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe has emerged as perhaps the most prolific dual-threat quarterback in the country. And ahead of their SEC Championship matchup this weekend, Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart has taken notice.
During his press conference on Monday, Kirby Smart had some high praise for Jalen Milroe as he took not of the Alabama quarterback’s ability to create play with both his legs and his arm.
“He has the ability to do both. He is a tremendous, tremendous football player. I didn’t really know, until I got further into the games and watching them last night, how good he really is at what he does,” Smart according to On3. “Anytime you can scramble and extend plays? It makes it harder to defend. When you have the component of designed runs mixed in with that? It complicates it even more because he becomes an extra player, an extra guy to tackle.
“A physical guy to tackle – a big, physical guy that has running back characteristics but has the ability to throw the ball. He throws the ball well, especially off their play-action game. Does a really good job of taking shots and throwing the ball downfield. He sees it well and they have got a massive offensive line to protect him with.”
Later in the press conference, Smart was asked another question about Milroe, comparing the Alabama quarterbacks’ dual-threat ability to former Florida Gators Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. But that’s not the way Smart sees Milroe’s game.
“No offense to Tim Tebow but this guy is different,” Smart said. “Tim? It was just a different running style, a very different running style in terms of what they did and how they did things.”
Instead, Smart had a different and bold assessment of Milroe’s running ability, comparing him to a “bigger, more physical” version of Lamar Jackson in the ‘Madden’ video game franchise.
“This guy? I mean it’s like when I used to my sons who they were playing with on Madden. They’d say, ‘I’m playing with the Ravens’. I’d say, ‘Why are you playing with the Ravens?’. And they would say, ‘They’ve got Lamar Jackson and nobody can tackle him’. Well, this guy is a bigger, physical version of that,” Smart said. “He’s playing at a different speed than everybody else when you watch it. That’s the way the Madden game was for them – and the guy throws the ball really well,” Smart said.
It sounds like Saban and his Georgia defense will have their hands full on Saturday.
[On3]
