When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from 1-10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
FACT OR FICTION: Jalen Milroe will be next Jalen Hurts at Alabama
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CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
COVERAGE: Rivals Transfer Tracker | Rivals Camp Series
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THE SITUATION
Jalen Milroe is a Rivals100 quarterback. He’s one of the top handful of dual-threat quarterbacks in the class, ranked fourth at the position.
Milroe is also an in-state prospect, and so when he backed off his pledge to Texas and flipped to Alabama, it definitely was a major loss in this recruiting class.
But Texas fans are still sweeping up the confetti and throwing away the champagne bottles from arguably some of the best recruiting news to come out of Austin in Rivals history dating back to 2002 when 2022 five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers committed to the Longhorns a few days ago.
From Katy (Texas) Tompkins, Milroe is an immensely talented player who showed in his junior season the ability to make all the throws and to pick up chunk yardage at will. As a sophomore, Milroe showed his running ability, another aspect of his game that made him special.
But he also saw the writing on the wall maybe, that Ewers could be the future of the Texas offense and so for that reason and possibly others, Milroe flipped to the Crimson Tide.
Without the Ewers news, Milroe’s decision would have been much worse. But just how bad is it that the four-star decided to head elsewhere and where does Texas go from here for a quarterback in this 2021 class?
LOCAL REACTION
“If you would have asked me a week ago, I would have said the impact of losing a commitment from Milroe would have been catastrophic for Texas. But with him flipping to Alabama happening just three days after Texas picked up a commitment from the nation's top quarterback in the 2022 class, this one is much more manageable for Texas.
“Milroe is a fantastic talent and he had helped UT recruit other players, so there will be some impact felt. But with Texas having signed two quarterbacks last year in Hudson Card and Ja'Quinden Jackson, the Longhorns can somewhat absorb the loss, even from a player as talented as Milroe. It does look like the UT staff wants to bring in a quarterback in the class, so the loss could put Texas in a bit of a pinch as the coaches try to identify other quarterbacks in the class who could be potential targets.
"A couple feelers have already been put out, and while Texas will find someone to fill the spot, that person likely won't be as highly-regarded as Milroe.” - Jason Suchomel, OrangeBloods.com
Sting factor: 6
NATIONAL REACTION
“If it weren’t for Ewers in the 2022 class, this would be a bigger deal, but we are a long way from 2022 signing day and Milroe is a very talented kid the staff loved. The Longhorns took two last year and would like to replace Milroe this year, but the quarterback crop is mostly committed. It’s never good to lose a talent at quarterback, especially one that schools like Alabama covet, so this stings more than you’d think.” -- Mike Farrell, Rivals.com
Sting factor: 8
