Jalen Milroe ranked 13th on Mel Kiper Jr.'s first 2025 NFL Draft big board

Alabama QB Jalen Milroe has seen his NFL Draft stock rise considerably this season after a torrid start to his redshirt junior campaign. Long seen as an interesting prospect in NFL circles due to his athleticism and arm strength, Milroe has risen thanks to his improvement as an intermediate and short passer, which shined in Alabama's 41-34 win over Georgia last week.

ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. has been extremely complimentary of Milroe recently, saying after the Georgia game that the Tide QB is now in contention not just for the first round of the 2025 draft, but for the No. 1 overall pick.

On Thursday, Kiper released his first big board of the 2024 college football season ranking his Top-25 prospects for next spring's draft.

Milroe checks in at No. 13 and as the No. 2 QB behind only Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, who is No. 12 on Kiper's board. Kiper had this to say about the talented Tide signal caller:

"Milroe has been an extremely accurate deep-ball thrower since he arrived at Alabama, but his accuracy to the short and intermediate areas of the field has now taken a step forward this season. That's key for his NFL projection, and it's a big part of why he is rising in the QB class. His huge performance against Georgia in Week 5 -- two TD passes and two rushing scores in a win -- also helps.

Despite his fantastic rushing ability, Milroe isn't always looking to run when the pocket gets messy; he slides around with ease, looking for a play. But when the 21-year-old does take off, look out. He's fast and powerful, and he knows when to get out of bounds to avoid unnecessary hits."

There's a lot of football left to be played this season and draft rankings are very fluid this early in the season, but Milroe has positioned himself somewhere a lot of naysayers assumed wasn't possible.

Milroe is the lone Alabama player in Kiper's Top 25, but he also released his Top-10 for every position grouping, and there's several Tide players listed.

Other Alabama players on Kiper's board

Alabama has no running backs, receivers, or tight ends ranked in the Top 10 of their respective positions, per Kiper. Former Alabama WR turned Texas Longhorn Isaiah Bond is ranked as the No. 4 WR.

Alabama has three players ranked in the Top 10 of Kiper's interior offensive linemen list, and two of the top three. Tyler Booker is ranked No. 1, Jaedan Roberts No. 3, and Washington transfer Parker Brailsford is ranked No. 10.

Alabama also has two off-ball linebackers ranked, with Jihaad Campbell No. 2 behind Georgia's Jalon Walker, and Deontae Lawson ranked No. 4.

Michigan transfer Keon Sabb is ranked as the No. 6 safety, with Malachi Moore closely behind at No. 8.

Both Alabama's kicker and punter made the list for specialists, with punter James Burnip ranking No. 3 as the top ranked punter, and kicker Graham Nicholson coming in at No. 9 as the sixth ranked place kicker.