SIAP: Joe Milton was drafted by the Patriots
I didn’t see this on the board, but the Patriots took former Michigan QB Joe Milton III in the 6th round.
You have to imagine that Milton has an uphill battle to clinch 3rd on the depth chart. The Pats will undoubtedly start Drake Maye or Jacoby Brissett this season (or first one then the other), so 3rd place goes to one of Bailey Zappe, Nathan Rourke, or Joe Milton. Can’t imagine they roll with 4 QBs, so there’s 2 people who are losing their jobs before the season starts.
Joe made some progress in 2023, reducing his turnovers and adding a functional running threat to his toolbox. I’m rooting for Mr. Milton, if for no other reason than the world NEEDING a Rex Grossman “chicks dig the long ball” QB in the league.
/shrug
Waste of a draft pick.
agreed
Seems weird that any team would draft him rather than pick him up later if needed, but maybe NE had met all their needs and took a flier.
Ryan Mallett 2.0. Million dollar arm and a 10 cent brain.
Okay, 1. Ryan Mallett was an All SEC player his last year at Arkansas
2. I've never heard teammates say they couldnt stand Joe Milton
My brother-in-law’s brother plays at Tennessee, said they liked him but the locker room literally called him Overthrow Joe behind his back. So, half Mallet points?
April 29th, 2024 at 12:00 AM ^
"brother-in-law's brother"
Nice. That is some Schefter level source right there.
April 29th, 2024 at 11:37 AM ^
That sounds like a shitty locker room.
So what prevented you from becoming a starting college football quarterback and getting drafted into the NFL--your arm or your brain?
Didn't Ryan Mallett just die? I guess 10 months post-mortem is long enough to make fun of him.
That's what they said about Tom Brady
Milton the next Tom Brady, confirmed.
Not me. Did anyone else? I know the Pats had a decent QB room but I always thought TB was an NFL QB. TB's check downs were solid. He was getting a yard when Drew Henson was giving up 7 yard sacks.
He'd be a nice player to stash in the practice squad/scout team to practice playing certain QBs.
He’s a QB 3 you keep on roster as a luxury for gimmick plays - like end of half 70 yard Hail Mary plays.
I’d rather use final roster spots on special teams demons that can affect field position every game
“F*** it, I’m going deep.”
I was going to add the "he down there somewhere" joke but then I looked at the current WR room on the Pats roster. Literally only recognized a single guy (JuJu Smith-Schuster).
On the other hand there's a better than zero chance 2 to 3 kids with nose bleed seats are going home with game balls even if they have to wipe off a little bird sh*t.
I think this is smart. Maye could be like a relief pitcher in a starting pitchers role, since the ACC is college football lite. The Pats had some ok success with a late pick, previously, anyway.
Yeah, they did have great success with a late round QB. That QB was a late round draft pick because it was thought he wasn’t athletic enough nor had the arm strength to succeed in the NFL. It turned out he was one of the most accurate QBs ever and his arm strength was good enough. Milton is the exact opposite. Rocket arm who has always struggled with accuracy. It’ll be very hard to make it in the NFL if you can’t hit your guys in tight windows
Say what you will about Joe Milton, but in many ways, he was exactly what we thought he was coming out of high school: a sushi raw player with incredible athletic talent who was going to take a long time to develop.
And he did take a LONG time to develop. Nearing the end of a 6-year college career, he had finally developed into a pretty good college quarterback. Considering the physical talent and the fact that he is still, even now, a little raw, I do wonder whether he might have some further upside to explore. Maybe he's a good pro quarterback by the age of 30? I wouldn't rule it out.
He was in an offense that is literally designed to shown off QBs and he was still mediocre. Or, as a UT fan said to me halfway through last season "If we had a real QB, this team would be pretty good. No wonder he couldn't make it in the Big 10".
good post
Joe Milton is on record admitting he didn’t apply himself until he got to Tennessee and lost the QB battle to Hooker. He said that he felt like he was going to just be handed the QB position at Michigan, so he didn’t feel like he had to develop himself.
Thing is, he was RIGHT. I have no idea what Harbaugh was thinking between 2019 and 2020, but it was absolutely clear that Milton was going to be our starter no matter what. And when it became even more clear that he was in over his head, it took 4 more games before he was benched. He got more unearned chances than most.
Milton spent 6 years in college and only started TRYING to be a good QB after…4.5? Yeah, he’s got plenty of upside left. Only question is whether the Patriots’ QB coach can fix bad habits he’s had since high school. I hope so, but I have my doubts. Wishing him the best of luck.
He might have plenty of upside left, but at the rate of his currently trajectory, he probably won’t be on a NFL roster long enough to reach it.
Wasn't Milton at Tennessee for 3 seasons?
He can fill.the new Hail Mary specialist role.
He has come a long ways to get to this point. It is a credit to him and the hard work he has put in.
The accuracy and insanely rapid processing needed to be a good NFL QB just seem like a mountain too big for him to climb. Wish him the best of luck though.
Good luck to Joe but I see him more of a CFL or UFL player at best
Do those leagues not require accurate throws?
April 28th, 2024 at 11:05 PM ^
I hear the UFL is considering giving receivers nets and safeties will get swim noodles to defend against the nets.
Best of luck to Joe Milton III.
But I have a plea to all youngsters. If no one has ever heard of your daddy or your daddys daddy. Please stop with the III thing. It made sense for Thurston Howell III because his family were some kind of oil tycoons or railroads or something but it doesn't make sense for you.
I IIIrd this comment
That knock on your door is George Foreman. Be careful opening it.
I'm thinking of changing my name to MMBbones I. That would be okay, right?
That sort of wankery has been slowly going out of style. But, it's in living memory for many people. Look at NYT wedding announcements in the '60s and before. You'll see things like "is descended from Dutch settlers of NYC" or "his/her family has been in Connecticut since 1600-something."
So, if your father’s name is Brian, and he and your mother chose to name you Brian, people aren’t allowed to call you Junior? You just have to have both of them respond to all “Brians” for all eternity because they’re not famous enough to use a suffix?
Strange hill to die on.
Feels like Milton will probably bounce around for 5+ seasons just because someone will keep carrying him as QB3 hoping he'll turn into an NFL starter with all the physical tools he has
Third on the depth chart is a practice-squad spot for half of NFL teams the last few years.
The NFL implemented the Purdy Rule last year, allowing a 47th active player if it's a third quarterback, but teams rarely used it. Idea being that the odds of two quarterbacks getting injured in the same game are so low that it's not worth keeping the third guy active.
Your third quarterback is either A) a prospect you've just drafted and are easing along and needs to be protected on the 53-man roster or B) someone stashed on your practice squad who anyone can sign, but teams tend not to raid practice squads unless they really need someone.
So, if Milton is worth drafting, then he has potential, which means he can't be stashed on a practice squad. He's raw, so there's not much use making him the 47th guy. Once in a great while, a team has four quarterbacks on the 53, but that fourth quarterback has to do something else - IIRC only New Orleans occasionally does that, and Taysom Hill has an interesting package that they pay him $10 million a year to run.
Nathan Rourke is a camp arm. At best, he's a practice squad guy somewhere. Zappe hasn't panned out - they will stash him on the practice squad. So, there's room to take a look at a prospect in camp and see if they've hit the lottery and he's worth developing. If he isn't, no harm done - teams often overdraft positions in rounds 6-7 because everyone left at that point is either end-of-roster and you bring him along because you always need special teams bodies or someone who flashes something, but is a long shot to become useful at the next level. Milton falls into that second category - that arm is something else if you can build a quarterback around it.
I was watching it live. The first highlight they showed was him playing for Michigan, throwing a TD against Indiana.
I always liked the kid. I'll be cheering for him. I was bummed that he couldn't make it work at Michigan, but that turned out to be for the best.
April 28th, 2024 at 11:35 PM ^
Even while at Tennessee he spoke well about Michigan and said he always rooted for them. Don't think there is any reason for all the animosity toward him.
If we claim Milton and Erick All, that gets us to 15!
/s
Can't claim them because then Ohio would get to claim Joe Burrow and there are some Bengals fans on the board who want to pretend that Burrow has never seen Third Base let alone was on his roster.
Rooting for him. Unlike some others, he did nothing to slam us when he moved on.
I know absolutely nothing about quarterback mechanics, but it always bothered me the way he stood upright when he was waiting for the ball to be snapped to him. Seems like most quarterbacks are bent over a little bit.
Pretty sure he chirped on Twitter on his way out but I could be wrong
I would like to add that Tennessee fans literally thought he wasn’t coached at Michigan and their coaches would do better. Guess what they didn’t. That guy has gotten where he is based on potential only. It hasn’t worked out at all but go ahead Pats
I hope he finds a home in the NFL. He still has a cannon of an arm and that's something, but I remember this year thinking they really didn't trust him throwing beyond a couple yards downfield or just launching 9 routes, so he'll need a lot of development in the NFL to get on the field.
Milton has been around a long time. I doubt there is any more talent to uncover.
Worst game of the Harbaugh era was Milton throwing the ball into the chest of a Wisconsin defender twice for a pick 6. This was on Saturday night CFP and was super embarrassing. Anytime they bring his name up I think of that dreadful game