THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: What the Seahawks should do ... Milroe could be answer to those Super questions in Seattle

The NFL draft begins tonight.

You probably knew that.

What you don’t know, on the other hand, is how the Seahawks can haul themselves out of pro football’s most frustrating pool of quicksand.

No worries, though.

I’m going to solve that problem, boys and girls.

Meantime, can we all agree that in the NFL, “average” is a disease?

It’s the worst, being stuck in that spot where you can’t win anything (or come close enough to spark excitement) while at same time, you’re mediocre to the point that you never see a high draft choice.

In other words, you can’t land a Super Bowl quarterback.

Oh, sure, you might get lucky and fall over Tom Brady in the sixth round.

Go ahead and wait for the NEXT generational quarterback to show up when it’s your turn for the 199th pick.

The next Brady is right there, waiting in the sixth round.

Sure, good luck with that.

The irony here is that Seahawks GM John Schneider knows how to make magic happen.

He and Pete Carroll did it with under-the-radar Russell Wilson, cutting ties with a QB they’d hustled to acquire in the process.

Matt Flynn became the answer to a trivia question, and Wilson led the Hawks to a pair of Super Bowls.

SCHNEIDER pulled it off because he ignored a lot of scouting reports that wrote off Wilson as being too short for a long and successful NFL career.

I think John needs to tear up all the printouts again this year.

He’s already made a move that might improve the quarterback situation, exchanging the solid-but-unspectacular Geno Smith for a younger and cheaper Sam Darnold.

My take on that?

I doubt that Schneider thinks Darnold can whisk Seattle into a Super Bowl — unless Mike Macdonald’s defense turns into the Legion of Boom, Part II.

Oh, and the not so awesome NFC is even weaker than it appears.

Nah.

Even if Macdonald develops the scariest defense since the 1985 Bears, the Seahawks need a quarterback who can light up the place.

Forget Sam, just as they forgot Geno.

Take a big, big gamble on a quarterback who brings athleticism and excitement to Seattle, even if it takes a year on training wheels — the way Kansas City eased the wild but gifted Patrick Mahomes into the league.

The league is changing.

Defenses are so big and so fast that the day you can stand fearlessly in the pocket is disappearing.

Look at the QBs who are getting deep in the playoffs these days.

Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert and, of course, Mahomes.

They’re strong, they can run, they produce miraculous throws from all angles, they shrug off blitzers.

They’re athletes who learned how to become great quarterbacks.

Russell Wilson was like that, too.    

WHY NOT gamble again?

You’re never going to celebrate with confetti floating down on Sam Darnold.

But there’s a QB in this draft who fits just what the Hawks need, if they’re willing to wait a year and do some serious teaching.

And.

Unless some other team is going to take the risk, the quarterback who can change the whole picture in Seattle should be available whenever Schneider wants to pull the trigger.

If he goes for it, we actually might use the words “Super Bowl” sometime before too long.

So, meet the quarterback who can bring back thrills:

Jalen Milroe.

Here’s a quote from an NFL scout, who believes Milroe’s untutored lack of smoothness as a passer might push him all the way to the third round of this draft.

“Raised in a military family. Tremendously grounded. Graduated cum laude from Alabama. Great, great attitude.”

What about on the field?

What about the tools to make this worthwhile?

Here’s a summary from Dane Brugler of The Athletic, considered one of the best all-around draft experts:

“A dangerous weapon on zone reads, options and powers, Milroe is an explosive athlete with the speed to rip off big gains at any moment (20 percent of his 2024 carries resulted in gains of 10 yards or more). 

“As a passer, the ball shoots out of his hand to drive the ball to every level, but he throws with too much heat and needs to develop his changeup. 

“His disjointed mechanics disrupt the rhythm in his drops, which leads to inconsistent accuracy, anticipation and processing. 

“Overall, Milroe is unpolished as a passer, both physically and mentally, but he is such a dynamic athlete (6-2 and 217 pounds) with a unique blend of speed, arm strength and intelligence, making him an intriguing developmental option for a patient coaching staff.”

Intriguing, indeed.

Go ahead, John.

I know you want him.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”