Report: Joe Milton to the Portal
Well that was the worst spring position battle ever. Days before spring ball was set to begin, Joe Milton, Michigan’s starter last season until Cade McNamara’s virtuoso performance against Rutgers, will be putting his name in the portal soon, as first broken by Rivals’ Chris Balas($).
if it hasn't happened yet, it will soon — quarterback Joe Milton will be entering the transfer portal. The decision has been made, so barring a change of heart (which is not expected), it will be Cade McNamara and freshman JJ McCarthy battling for the starting job this spring.
…and echoed by numerous sources hence [UPDATE: Including the man himself].
I want to thank Coach Harbaugh for giving me that opportunity to come play for a program with lots of tradition. I have bonds with my brothers that will last forever, I have decided to enter the transfer portal As a Grad transfer with three years of eligibility. pic.twitter.com/PeANE2vWmD
— Joe milton #5 (@Qbjayy7) February 18, 2021
Milton, always a major X-factor, looked poised to finally deliver as a redshirt sophomore going into last year, and through the Minnesota game. But the rawness that made him a long-term project showed up as injuries to his offensive tackles, less explicable offensive breakdowns, and scoring holes put him in a lot of long positions. A lack of option reads in the offense also suggested Milton wasn’t making the right ones in practice. As mixed success turned into gigantic errors, backup McNamara got a few chances and capitalized, albeit mostly against Rutgers. Both were trying to play injured against Penn State, and neither was expected to be available if Michigan had been able to play a game after that.
Michigan will enter spring ball with two guys in contention, both with freshman eligibility, though McNamara has been on campus two years while 5-star challenger J.J. McCarthy was in high school last year. That high school was IMG Academy, so McCarthy should be ahead of most high schoolers, but no more familiar with the playbook or the speed and complexity of the college level. Since late 2020 pickup Dan Villari is the only other scholarship QB on the roster, Michigan will probably try to find some help in the transfer portal to bolster the depth chart.
There is no content after the jump.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:11 PM ^
Nope. There are very few recent examples of guys who transferred from Michigan and then went on to be big-time players elsewhere. Players who transfer away tend to be be players who couldn't cut it in Ann Arbor.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:11 PM ^
Nothing against him, but I'll bet he never makes an NFL roster if he transfers due to lack of playing time.
February 18th, 2021 at 1:20 PM ^
just like joe burrow.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:20 PM ^
I'm surprised McCaffrey left because he seemed like a decent fit for the offense and had shown some small flashes on the field as a runner (as a passer the jury was still out). But you saw a track record there both in HS and college that he could have been okay. Milton I'm less surprised by it not working because I'm generally pessimistic about a guy who struggled with accuracy in HS figuring it out at the college level, especially when he played at a decently-large HS in a talent-rich area. I know the refrain around here was that his HS lacked talent but 50% passing in HS isn't great regardless of context.
I think McNamara sticks around because he'll likely have a good shot at starting next year and maybe even holding onto the spot following that; if he does get passed then I can see him jumping his senior year but that may just mean JJ looks really good.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:23 PM ^
I would have. Another terrible roster mismanagement. Here's your list of previous year starting QBs that transfer the following year:
- Speight
- Peters
- Dmac
- and now, Milton.
Shea is the only starting QB that Harbaugh has had for more than one season, and we all saw how that turned out. (Well, I guess technically O'korn started in consecutive years too, but I think that proves my point still...)
When considering the expectations coming in versus the current reality, nothing is as indicative of Harbaugh's failures as the QB position. From talent evaluation to coaching to attrition - it's a been a total disaster.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:45 PM ^
I don't have a problem with QBs transferring out. There's good reason for all of them. McAffrey is the only one that disappoints me somewhat.
What is a greater concern for me is Harbaugh's QB recruiting. When he was hired I had expected a higher level of NFL-capable talent in the QB corps. I like the two guys he has now, but it took 6 years to get to this point.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:51 PM ^
I agree - healthy attrition is a good thing. None of these QBs who left, though, were replaced by a quality, multi-year elite player (plus or minus depending on how you define Shea). That’s not healthy attrition - and further indicates the issues this program has experienced.
February 18th, 2021 at 1:28 PM ^
i don't know that the wilton speight transfer should be considered as "unhealthy" attrition. he was coming off a major injury and looking at a qb room that included two more highly-regarded players (peters and mccaffrey), a raw-but-talented project (milton) and - possibly - a former 5-star transfer who'd started at ole miss. i remember thinking his transfer was probably in his best interest.
February 18th, 2021 at 2:31 PM ^
Fair enough - but none of those really worked out, so I think the point still stands. If Tate Martell leaves because you have Justin Fields - that makes total sense. It's when Tate Martell transfers for an equally mediocre version of Tate Martell - year in and year out - that's an issue...and it's what we have now.
People who left may not have been really all that good - but they haven't been exactly replaced with talent either. And after 7 years, you're left with no consistency or depth in our most crucial position.
February 18th, 2021 at 1:40 PM ^
It's not just recruiting, it's also development. Other than Rudock, have we seen any QB Harbaugh brought significantly develop? That's the real head-scratcher to me. It's like his whole reputation as the "QB whisperer" has been the cruelest hoax perpetrated on the Michigan fanbase.
February 18th, 2021 at 8:26 PM ^
Why did he get nominated the “QB Whisperer” anyhow? Did he take any QB’s that were less than good and make them into something crazy good? I don’t remember them all, but:
Luck @ Stanford was good anyhow...
Alex Smith was highly thought of coming out of Utah...
Kapernick was uber athletic and a pretty good QB at Nevada...
if you’re nicknamed a Whisperer of something, to me that means you took hot garbage and elevated them to something no one expected...I don’t see that in his resume, but could be completely wrong?
February 18th, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
Not unexpected, but still unfortunate. I was hoping he'd at least give it a go this year. Best of luck to him.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:48 AM ^
Unfortunate, but McNamara was SO much better in his limited time that I suspect he was going to win the job over Milton anyway. Yeah he did a lot of stuff against Rutgers, but Milton was playing the same defense and looked completely lost.
February 18th, 2021 at 7:12 PM ^
I'd tap those brakes on the "SO much better". Milton looked awesome against MN, fair against MSU and IN, awful against WI, and fair again against Rutgers until a receiver fumbled a great pass from him and he got pulled. McNamara indeed was awesome against Rutgers, but only fair against PSU and WI (he had one great drive in that game). Young players are inconsistent.
That said, Milton's departure now (before spring practice) certainly sounds like he had a conversation with the coaches about his prospects going forward.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:54 AM ^
- Amazing that he is a grad transfer with 3 years of eligibility left. Will have a PhD by the time he leaves his next school. Even with McNamara as 1 on depth chart, Milton would have seen the field - hard to keep a QB clean for the entire schedule on any team. Both McNamara and McCarthy will be playing meaningful minutes next year.
- While his accuracy is a huge issue, that hopefully will improve for him, I am most interested to see how he performs in the QB read game at his next stop giving us answer whether it was a Harbaugh/Gattis issue in playcalling or whether it was a Milton issue with post snap reads in executing ZR (and also RPOs). Gattis' offense simply does not succeed without a credible QB run game threat. Makes all the more curious on how McCafferty was apparently beaten out for No. 1 last season.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:05 PM ^
Insiders have maintained for some time now, that McCaffery was not beaten out. He was in the QB1 drivers seat heading into fall camp. There was a situation related to his health where he had asked the coaches for some time away, and got less than a favorable response from the staff and subsequently decided to sit the season out, complete his degree and then transfer.
The Milton is ascending messaging coming from the coaches was because they knew McCaffery was out and Joe was their best option at the time (I think that proved to be incorrect as well).
So anyway, I don't think the coaches thought Milton was the better player, it was moreso they knew MCCaffery was out.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:34 PM ^
If he was really in line to start at Michigan I can't believe he couldn't have found something better than to transfer to Northern Colorado and play for his brother.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:44 PM ^
Yeah, you would certainly think so. Although I do think the two decisions to some degree are separate from each other (decision 1: he wanted to transfer, decision 2: he settled on N. Colorado where his dad coaches and brother plays), and I haven't heard what other - if any - P5 offers were available to him.
I think the response he got from the coaches related to his request for time off lead him to the decision to transfer. Once he decided he was going to transfer, he decided or was persuaded by his family to head to N. Colorado. To me, he looked like he belonged on a P5 field based on the limited time he got. I think the decision to transfer down a level was not indicative of his talent level or lack thereof.
February 18th, 2021 at 1:08 PM ^
Thanks for the explanation about what may have happened that led to his transfer. It's easy, and a little cynical, to just assume that a kid doesn't want to compete for PT.
February 18th, 2021 at 2:09 PM ^
Yeah, him going to N. Colorado is a bit of a head scratcher. Shit, he could go to any PAC 12 school and be a really good player.
Honestly, and Ill get negged for this, with all the info around him and where he landed....seems like a soft player.
February 18th, 2021 at 5:49 PM ^
If you have no idea what health issue he was dealing with then how can you negatively judge him? Maybe it was the health issue that limited his other options or made him feel the need to be closer to family. Who knows...but don't assume the worse for these young men based on little or no facts.
February 19th, 2021 at 3:11 PM ^
exactly...who knows?
February 18th, 2021 at 7:01 PM ^
I agree the two decisions (opt out/transfer and enroll at N. Co.) should not be presumed as one in the same. But my recollection is that the Milton hype considerably preceded the timing of the alleged incident in which he felt he was getting disrespected/disregarded by the coaches (which was during fall workouts).
The narrative that the coaching staff was either too stupid to recognize McCaffery's abilities and/or too inept to convince him not to leave when he would've been the #1 QB just doesn't add up. If the coaches were doubting his commitment, I suspect (though I certainly don't know) that it would not have rested on a single instance of him being refused time off for not feeling well.
My own supposition is that he wasn't really all that happy being at UM (because of the coaches, his teammates, the campus, or altogether) and that his perception that his chance for the starting position was in doubt basically pushed him over the edge in terms of not wanting to stick around.
Understandable. Unfortunate.
Which is the same way I feel about Joe Milton -- whom I would have loved to see succeed. In his case, considering how raw he was coming in, I wonder if the coaches didn't just take him out of the oven a bit too soon.
Oh well. Maybe the next guy will be better.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:01 PM ^
What a disaster.
/Basketball school
February 18th, 2021 at 12:04 PM ^
So 7 years in the top of the QB room is 2 QBs who we think might be good, both with freshman eligibility and one is a true frosh. And no backup plan if both get KO’d.
After waiting thru 3 years of O’Korn, Sp8, etc for Dcaff and maybe Milton to be ready. At the position that was supposedly Harbaugh’s strong point.
I’m starting to think Bo made a deal with the devil to beat OSU in 1969 and the last 20 years plus however many more are the price of that bargain.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:22 PM ^
I do think the QB spot looked better/more coherent before McDaniels became QB coach; he was there Patterson's last year and last season, and both times the QB spot looked poorly-coached. I wouldn't be shocked if we saw a bit more coherence and consistency this year with Harbaugh at the helm. I'm not trying to absolve Harbaugh of the issues but I'm starting to think that a lot of UM's struggles the past couple of years were due to some bad hires at the coaching level that, one hopes, they've rectified.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:08 PM ^
Said it in the other thread but wish him luck. I do think he'll wind up catching on at a decent G5 program. It's also commendable he got his degree in 3 years.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:08 PM ^
A massive failure by Harbaugh. He straight up sucks at recruiting and developing college quarterbacks. Now we are back to nearly zero experience at a position where experience is crucial. I guess we put Milton's big arm next to Norfleet's dancing in the pantheon of ultimately useless skills gushed over by the denizens of Mgoblog.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:56 PM ^
Makes you wonder how things would've turned out if Harbaugh hadn't 'lucked' into Luck.
Luck and the 49'ers stacked roster at the time seem to loom large in Harbaugh's apparent success. He did have fire and drive going for him, but now that seems to be gone so I don't know.
February 18th, 2021 at 1:33 PM ^
Harbaugh's entire head coaching career is thanks to Andrew Luck.
February 18th, 2021 at 1:23 PM ^
I hate rubbing salt in the wound but not even returning experience has been anything to write home about. Speight in 2017 (before he was knocked out for the season) looked nothing like he did in 2016.
And while it wasn't a huge drop-off, 2018 Patterson looked better than 2019 Patterson.
I still remember a few years ago when OKorn couldn't get anything going against a horrible Rutgers team so Brandon Peters came in. The crowd at the big house erupted with cheers when Peters completed a 14 yard pass...just because that was the most exciting thing we had seen from a QB in weeks.
Whatever horrible deal Harbaugh has going with the QB Gods has been pretty severe.
February 18th, 2021 at 1:45 PM ^
The "big arm" infatuation with QB's is the one that's totally illogical to me. I'll take someone who can get the ball on target every time over a big-armed guy who throws it into the seats on most passes.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:16 PM ^
Hello: Tathan Martell!
February 18th, 2021 at 12:28 PM ^
would take Tyler Shough however
February 18th, 2021 at 12:18 PM ^
Sad.
After last year - I was hoping he would stay and make a contribution in any way possible.
Such a talent.
It is amazing how many players have/are leaving the program - which to me (a DIE HARD fan) is just not sitting right. I get it is somewhat "the modern game" - but, seems like UM is having more than average.
This said, good luck to the young man and to our TEAM.
Go Blue.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:18 PM ^
I wish him the best. The fever dreams about Milton last fall were something to behold. Mainly from redacted, who I assumed would be a bit more reasonable. I was a skeptic because we had no data. I’m fine with the transfer. It’s how things go these days, and he didn’t develop enough during his time at Michigan. Good luck to him!
February 18th, 2021 at 12:33 PM ^
More spinning wheels. I'm still mystified that McCaffrey left. It would be nice to know what really happened there.
That said, good luck Joe and kudos to you on graduating. Michigan man.
That said, being an imposing statue and having a cannon for an arm does not a quarterback make if he cannot hit an open receiver.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:19 PM ^
well maybe he'll get his chance to hang 50 on harbaugh, or whatever it was that he allegedly said.
February 18th, 2021 at 1:02 PM ^
Kinda hard to do when playing for Podunk Community College.
To be fair, I'm intensely curious to see who picks him up. Sometimes I think it's better for some of these guys to stay and see if they can get through. There are advantages to being at a school with massive resources.
I guess it's easier to blame it on the coaching staff than your own limitations.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:29 PM ^
If a guy is not willing to compete, then its best that he transfers. We just saw Tom Brady win his 7th Super Bowl and the guy had to compete for playing time every single day here even as a frickin fifth year senior and two time captain, but he credits that for part of the reason he is the player that he is today. How is that not an example for every player out there? Especially QBs at Michigan of all places? If Milton isn't willing to test himself after being handed the job last year and failing, it's best that he goes.
February 19th, 2021 at 12:47 PM ^
There's two responses to this:
1. Tom Brady was continually proven to be good. When you're the guy bailing the other guy out of a mess he's created, it's easier to have confidence in yourself. When you're the guy creating the mess against Rutgers and needing to be bailed out, easy to see why you wouldn't expect too many more chances. Milton has not proven himself to be good. Yet.
2. THAT much pressure may have helped Tom Brady succeed, but that doesn't mean it's a recipe for success for everyone. Some people work better under tight deadlines, others work better when they have time to spread the work out. It's more about coaching each player the way he needs to be coached. Maybe Harbaugh doesn't coach the way Milton thinks will help him succeed.
Bonus 3. Harbaugh, as we've gotten to know him, has continually proven that he will stick with a struggling QB to the point of losing games. Lloyd Carr, for all the rightful criticism he earned, was willing to experiment with a 2-QB system, so Brady knew he was going to get opportunities. Can you imagine what Cade felt like on the sidelines last year as we bumblefucked our way through 3 games of utter ineptitude? Milton was staring down the barrell of never having a meaningful opportunity again.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:38 PM ^
Not that it will ever happen even after untold Shane Morrises and Joe Miltons, but I wish we'd stop falling in love with cannon arms and fall more in love with accuracy, catchability, and decision-making from the get-go.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
Id really like to see more mobile QB's. The QB run game opens up so much and really is invaluable. But even looking at yesterday's recruiting update all of our targets are pro style.
Just feel like youre leaving a lot of production off the table with QBs who cant run.
February 18th, 2021 at 2:15 PM ^
Not to mention, it would help to have a decent dual-threat on the roster so that the D can prepare for the running QBs we will face.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:42 PM ^
"Well that was the worst spring position battle ever."
IT CAME OUT MY NOSE!
February 18th, 2021 at 12:44 PM ^
Wrt grad transfer QB, what’s the point? If we get to the third string QB, we are toast anyway. I say roll with Vilari and groom him to be a game managing backup in case of emergency. Next recruiting cycle bring in two qbs and hope one stays long enough to take over for JJ
February 18th, 2021 at 7:19 PM ^
There's a difference between Russ Wilson, grad transfer, and a guy to hold the clipboard. That being said, you are correct. Joe Milton probably isn't adding any more wins to the team next season that Dan Villari couldn't give you as well--be a game manager, run for 250+, play good defense. His departure is a net positive for next year's team.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:50 PM ^
What a bust.
February 18th, 2021 at 1:30 PM ^
I agree. Harbaugh has been an epic bust
February 18th, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
Do we see a repeat of 2004 where we have true Freshman RB and QB come in and own positions for the next 4 years? That would be really nice.
Comments