Insider explains why Jalen Milroe may have been invited to NFL Draft

Some understandably assumed when it was learned that Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe had accepted an invitation to attend the 2025 NFL Draft that it must be a certainty he will become a first-round pick on April 24. 

However, it now seems that a handful of other signal-callers could go off the board before Milroe hears his name called during the player-selection process. 

On Wednesday, NFL insider Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk touched upon how a change of approach from the league may explain why Milroe is expected to be in the draft's green room even though it's unlikely he'll be selected in the first round. 

"Per a source with knowledge of the situation," Florio revealed, "there’s a current appetite to expand the pool of invitations to players who aren’t expected to be picked until the third day, when rounds four through seven play out. ...There’s always a chance that (like Will Levis two years ago) the league will invite a player whose wait will extend to the second day. That’s one of the risks the league took when making Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe one of the 17 players who’ll be at Lambeau Field. There’s a chance Milroe will be back on Friday."

Per numerous mock drafts and stories, some teams and analysts have Miami's Cam Ward, Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart and Louisville's Tyler Shough ranked ahead of Milroe. Back on April 9, ESPN's Ben Solak predicted that Milroe would fall to the draft's third round. More recently, Dane Brugler of The Athletic forecasted for a mock draft published on Wednesday that Milroe will go to the New York Giants via the second pick of the second round (No. 34 overall). 

Also on Wednesday, ESPN's Jordan Reid listed Milroe as a second-round prospect and as the draft's QB4 behind Dart, Sanders and Ward. 

Interestingly, former NFL quarterback and current NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms suggested during Tuesday's edition of the "Pro Football Talk Live" program that players without first-round grades such as Milroe "may think that being invited (to the draft) will give them the kind of boost that could lead to the kind of buzz that will prompt an owner to override the scouting department’s obsession with measurables and 'value.'" 

In the end, how far Milroe slides down the draft order likely will be determined by when at least Sanders and Dart are selected after the Tennessee Titans make Ward the first overall pick.