How Quarterback Prospect Joe Milton is Fooling NFL Teams Leading up to the NFL Draft

Joe Milton has a cannon for an arm; that goes without question. However, his accuracy was largely called into question going into the 2023 season, and still was coming out of it.

After an impressive 2022 campaign which saw the Vols go 11-2 under quarterback Hendon Hooker, the Vols regressed to 9-4 with Milton at the controls in 2023.

And yes, that falls squarely on Milton as the one calling the offense is head coach Josh Heupel, who was a former Heisman finalist as a quarterback at Oklahoma and a proven coach around quarterbacks specifically.

Despite what Milton put on film at Tennessee in 2023, he has proven to be inconsistent throughout the course of his college career both at Tennessee and Michigan. Yet somehow, NFL experts still have him projected to be drafted. Pro Football Focus has Milton projected to be a sixth-round pick.

Here are reasons why people are falsely drinking the Joe Milton Kool Aid.

Here are Reasons why you should Root for your NFL Team to Not Draft Joe Milton in the 2024 NFL Draft

Benched Twice in College

Read whatever lines you want, but there is a reason Joe Milton transferred to Tennessee. He was benched during his redshirt sophomore season by head coach Jim Harbaugh for Cade McNamara. And Harbaugh never looked back.

The reason came full circle once Milton got to Knoxville and was named the starter in 2022 before being benched again for Hendon Hooker due to his inconsistent play. In both cases, teams got much needed sparks from their backups and Milton stayed on the bench.

This should tell NFL scouts something, but somehow they still feel it is worth drafting him.

Fooled by his Strong Arm

Without a doubt Joe Milton has a rocket for an arm. In the off season in 2023, Milton came out and said that he could throw the ball 90 yards.

Well, we absolutely saw that on display during the NFL Combine where Milton threw a 75 yard rocket to a receiver while noticeably waiting on purpose so he could show off a throw even deeper.

While this is no knock on Milton and was an impressive throw, it is puzzling how NFL scouts and experts go off of film that is not from game play and negate the fact that Milton was benched twice.

If you watch Milton’s film from his time in Ann Arbor and Knoxville, it was apparent that he had no touch on his passes. And for me, that combined with being benched twice is all you need to see to not draft this quarterback.