5 Alabama football players who will be rewarded for staying with Kalen DeBoer

Without a doubt, the biggest beneficiary of Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb coming to town will be Jalen Milroe. Tommy Rees figured out the formula with Milroe was deep passes and quarterback runs, but the new regime will take it to the next level. 

Last season, Milroe averaged 18.9 yards per attempt on throws over 20 yards downfield, which was fifth in the country, but he only attempted 67 such passes, which was 20th. He’s not as precise a downfield thrower as Penix was, but Washington trusted him to attempt 117 such passes. Milroe’s attempts will likely climb around 80-90 deep balls and that will make Alabama’s offense even more terrifying because he’s wildly efficient on those attempts.

What else will change on those attempts is the time to throw. Last year, Milroe took 3.20 seconds on deep shots, but Penix only needed 3.00 seconds, which may not seem significant but will greatly decrease Milroe’s negative plays. 

Milroe’s 45 sacks taken which were third most in the country represented -27.1 expected points added while Penix was only at -6.9. They’re both very different quarterback, Milroe is far more athletic and produced an EPA of 29.5 from on runs, but if DeBoer and Grubb can cut down on the negatives by 10-20% he’ll become a Heisman Trophy favorite and first-round draft pick because of the physical upside.