Don't Sleep On Joe
Listening to Josh Uche's after practice interview from Tuesday, a couple comments he made about Joe Milton caught my ear (5:10ish mark of interview)
When asked about him, Uche called Milton a "gamer" and said "don't sleep on Joe". I couldn't help but feel like there was something more to that 2nd comment, like Uche was almost acknowledging that Milton has been overlooked, either by the media or maybe (*more importantly) by the coaches. I just found his phrasing interesting.
(Disclaimers)
***I personally am 100% on the McCaffrey train and I wish he was healthy for this week because it'd be a perfect opportunity for him to get his 1st start.
***I'm also 100% over Patterson at this point. Would love to see Milton get a shot at real game action, so... bias
Thoughts on Uche's comments and the QB situation?
https://wolverineswire.usatoday.com/2019/09/24/michigan-football-defense-basics-fundamentals-wisconsin-loss/
September 25th, 2019 at 7:28 AM ^
September 25th, 2019 at 7:35 AM ^
Noted lol. Thank you
September 25th, 2019 at 3:06 AM ^
S
T
F
U
Milton almost stopped that Wisky doods heart on Saturday after he hit him so hard in the chest.
September 25th, 2019 at 3:17 AM ^
Yea, Uche also mentioned his arm strength.
I'm not saying Milton is ready to be a full time starter but it'd be nice to see what he could do with a week's worth of 1st team reps in a start against a lesser B1G team.
He's only ever thrown the ball in blowouts, let's see him when it's 0-0 ?♂️
September 25th, 2019 at 3:20 AM ^
Good idea bro. We just had a fucked loss to Wisconsin and have everybody in the US shit talking us so lets start our 3rd stringer against Rutgers so then we can go down 14-0 and have to claw back to win. If you think its bad now just wait until Michigan football gets annihilated for struggling against Rutgers because we were fucking around using a 3rd string QB
September 25th, 2019 at 3:23 AM ^
I actually think the team would rally around Milton. The run game (including QB run game) would get going and there wouldn't be a ton of pressure on him to throw a ton.
Just my opinion but I believe the team would be energized and more inspired with a new starter.
September 25th, 2019 at 6:07 AM ^
Milton isn’t an apparent runner. He’s a pocket guy first.
September 25th, 2019 at 6:10 AM ^
Now he might be good at weathering the Normandy invasion the QBs endure on every drop-back (better than Shea) so there’s that.
September 25th, 2019 at 8:40 AM ^
I dunno. Ask Devin Gardner how that feels.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:02 AM ^
Ugh, still too soon. Gardner could've been one of the greats had that Hoke OL not broken him.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:49 AM ^
Maybe at WR, not at QB. a great QB especially a running one can overcome a bad OL
September 25th, 2019 at 10:07 AM ^
a great QB [...] can overcome a bad OL
Said no coach worth their salt ever.
September 25th, 2019 at 2:55 PM ^
I don’t know. I watched Gardner quite a bit when he was in high school and he never looked like a 5-star QB. He put up big numbers against garbage teams but always struggled against better competition. He had a weird throwing motion and was never very accurate. Cam Gordon bailed him out all the time.
September 25th, 2019 at 7:02 AM ^
"The run game (including QB run game) would get going and there wouldn't be a ton of pressure on him to throw a ton."
What the fuck? He's always been a pocket passer - a 50% career pocket passer. So you think he can run because he's black? I mean, there is no other reason to think this. WTF is wrong with people?
September 25th, 2019 at 7:07 AM ^
? comment. Look at the action he's seen so far when he's been in. Long, elusive run vs Wisconsin last year, late rush td against osu last year. 2 successful rushes on short action this year. Literally every game he's been in for M he's shown to be an effective/elusive rusher. He's been more effective rushing than passing so far in limited action.
But yea it's because he's black. Be smarter.
September 25th, 2019 at 11:38 AM ^
His run against Wisconsin was with a minute left against literally every backup they had; his run against OSU was, again, well into blowout time. His runs this year were him bugging out on 3rd-and-15 against MTSU and him scrambling against Wisconsin.
He's not a glacier back there, but at this point the fact he's "more effective" rushing than passing is an indictment of his overall play thus far, not something positive to rely on. And I think Milton could turn into a solid QB, but right now putting him in and running whatever weird offense they could squeeze out of him would feel like RR's offense with a less mobile, less accurate Steven Threet.
September 25th, 2019 at 8:09 AM ^
That's a pretty big leap, dude.
September 25th, 2019 at 8:25 AM ^
It’s probably accurate for at least some of these guys.
Dylan is a better passer and faster, but he’s a skinny white kid. Milton is slower and generally worse in every way BUT he’s buff and black - therefore he’s a great and mobile running QB despite all evidence suggesting not.
September 25th, 2019 at 8:25 AM ^
A very ignorant response, period. Look it up. Joe Milton is no worse than what we’ve seen from Shea this year. He doesn’t have happy feet and he can easily see over the defensive front.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:58 AM ^
The fact you seem to think Joe Milton is considered a runner is pretty telling about your general knowledge of this team's players.
Also, while movies may lead you to believe that a new starter "energizes" his fellow players, it's far more likely it just disorients everyone and makes everyone else wonder when he too will be replaced because of a bad game by someone he's likely outplayed by all relevant metrics.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:31 AM ^
This is, I think, an interesting proposition for a team struggling for an identity.
I am always disappointed when quarterbacks are not captains. They should be in charge, be the leaders of the offense, know what everyone should be doing. The offense adopts their persona, sort of.
I heard an interesting conversation around all of the backup quarterbacks starting this past weekend in the NFL (or something... I don't follow the sport, but the TV was on). Some of the things said made a lot of sense to me. When you change your starter and plan around that...
1. It gives the guy an opportunity to get first team reps all week, practice++
2. It lets the coaches simplify the gameplan (in our case, further), which for our offense might help them focus on the basics.
3. It lets the offense raise their game to protect the newb. This is a very important psychological point, I think. They don't have the same expectations of their QBs ability, so they adapt, don't feel frustrated by the mistakes. And this is different than a backup coming in, especially when you're down and there is desperation.
This is a very feelingsball take, I know, but I think that is where the offense is right now. They need something, anything, to reignite a fire in their belly, and I just don't think Shea brings that right now, be it from his injury or performance or whatever.
September 25th, 2019 at 2:24 PM ^
Just that easy to fix our problems, huh?
September 25th, 2019 at 3:22 AM ^
Uche?
Bwwaattttt?
September 25th, 2019 at 8:17 AM ^
Mods; can we please, please raise the point threshold? Seriously WTF
This place is 100x worse than MLive at this point, and getting worse. Do something.
September 25th, 2019 at 9:41 AM ^
Barring Patterson and McCaffrey not being able to throw a football, Milton will never start a game at Michigan based on being a superior QB to his competition.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:27 AM ^
if milton starts against a team like iowa, i picture a gardner at msu type of game.
September 25th, 2019 at 3:16 AM ^
Maybe he'll be good someday. But right now, he's Shane Morris 2013. A howitzer with no aim.
September 25th, 2019 at 3:18 AM ^
+1 good comparison but I'd say Milton's ceiling is higher and he's also a better runner already than Morris ever was.
September 25th, 2019 at 1:17 PM ^
His ceiling might be higher, but I'd also argue that, for as bad as Morris was while here, Milton's floor is even lower, and he's by far the worst passer in the current QB room. Remember that his completion percentage was sub-50% in high school, and he's already off to a terrible 3/7, 0 TD, 2 INT start to his career here. Morris was 47/92, 0 TD, 5 INT in his time here.
As for being a better runner, you might be right, but Milton is not a good runner by any stretch. Morris had an 18-87-0 line at Michigan (4.8 YPC), while Milton has 10-46-1 (4.6 YPC). Milton is clearly behind McCaffrey as a runner, and probably even at best with Patterson (who's probably a more skilled runner, but makes terrible decisions and has some serious fumble issues).
September 25th, 2019 at 3:17 AM ^
LOL just no. Milton is not ready at all.
Calling Milton a Gamer and saying Don't Sleep on him is extremely generic shit a guy would say about a teammate
September 25th, 2019 at 3:21 AM ^
Definitely possible that I read too much into what Uche said, just thought I'd put it up for discussion.
Like I said though, I wanna see McCaffrey start when he's healthy.
September 25th, 2019 at 5:11 AM ^
Uche and Milton are both from South Florida, so they may have known each other pre-Michigan.
One the one hand, Milton has mostly been in garbage time situations where he felt pressure to make something happen. His interceptions were against UW and OSU were both on 4th down, so what we’ve seen isn’t likely representative of his play. He clearly has a rifle of an arm, and has shown some mobility. On the other hand, what we have seen so far hasn’t hinted at translating to good QB play: no demonstrated touch, ability to go through reads/checkdowns or ability to lead the receiver. I hope to see him for a quarter on Saturday, but not the first quarter.
September 25th, 2019 at 7:09 AM ^
Good point on the Florida connection
September 25th, 2019 at 7:23 AM ^
Milton is from Orlando area (Central FL), Uche is from Miami (South FL).
September 25th, 2019 at 11:24 AM ^
Milton is from Pahokee. He went to school in Orlando.
September 25th, 2019 at 8:33 AM ^
I agree with this sentiment. But at this point this post and every other post is just full of BS. Black, white, slow, scared non of this is being discussed it the offensive line was protecting someone this year. However even the most novice football analyst can tell that Shea’s ball security isn’t because of the pressure alone. He has to get better with it. We can probably win more with Shea by at this point WE NEED A LEADER. Whomever that may be! I like all three but that means zero if non of the team can rally behind them. GO BLUE!
September 25th, 2019 at 9:12 AM ^
On the other hand, Milton threw an interception in the spring game this year. He seems to have trouble reading defenses, and having someone like that as the starter would be a huge risk. The QB position seemed like a strength before the season; now--due to injuries--our quality there is questionable.
September 25th, 2019 at 1:34 PM ^
Guys like Milton which much less experience in college have performed quite well. Why can’t a backup at Michigan ever come in and play well? I say go for it. Fuck it.
September 25th, 2019 at 3:25 AM ^
Josh should focus more on waking up the sleeping defense, Seth's recent post notwithstanding.
September 25th, 2019 at 3:27 AM ^
I rewatched the Wisconsin film again. And I came away with some additional observations that I didn't see the last time.
1) I lost track of how many times we left Nico Collins wide open in favor or Ronnie Bell/or some TE. Ronnie Bell and our TE's, IMHO, are like fools gold: they'll get you a nice catch or two, but they miss far more than they catch. Free Nico. Free Tarik. Free DPJ!
2) I watched Dylan Mcaffery's passes...and he reminds me of John OKorn. He can run and is athletic but there were at least 3-4 passes that should have been intercepted. I'm not sold on him and he has to show more for me to think he is ready for the bright lights.
3) Joe? He is big and has a strong arm...but he throws too many interceptions. He has potential for sure, but he reminds me of a Senior Year Devin Gardner who threw too many INT's.
September 25th, 2019 at 3:57 AM ^
It's especially discouraging, because although i really like McCaffrey, Peters accuracy was easily the best I've seen Michigan since as far back as I can remember--been watching since 1992.
With him against Wisconsin, before he got driven into the turf, we actually stood a chance.
And now he's gone, and we have freaking incredible receivers who run routes against air who and QBs who either can't throw or toss into double-coverage...that worries me more than the play at OL, DT, LBs, or RB.
September 25th, 2019 at 10:09 AM ^
What's the infatuation with Peters? He isn't exactly doing well at Illinois. I don't get it. The dude was 9/22 for 78 yards against Nebraska. Nebraska! Not exactly some world-beater on defense. Shea's stat line against Wisconsin was still better than that despite the abysmal game result (14/32 for 219 yards) . I mean...come on people.
September 25th, 2019 at 11:00 AM ^
Your eyes are that of a Dairy Queen menu far sighted and outdated. Peters couldn’t lead a bunch of second graders into McDonald’s. He was let go because,”he wouldn’t lead and it’s not I his personality. Rewatch any Illinois game and then eat anything on your menu for free. Just no! Your opinion on anything football is defunct from now on!
September 25th, 2019 at 2:18 PM ^
Lol, yeah, I'm definitely still in an emotional place right now!
It just seems like Shea (new-ish), McCaffrey (the least of the three), and Milton (the most of the three) are having really bad accuracy issues.
McCaffrey seems to consistently spin the ball the best, when Shea is throwing well, he's just as good as McCaffrey plus makes more difficult throws, but he has become way more inconsistent of late. Milton has a canon, weighs like 250lbs (no joy to tackle), but seems to have either accuracy or decision issues.
I'm just really sad that we have 3 NFL-potential Wide-Receivers, who could easily be game-breakers, and can't hit them with any consistency.
:(
September 25th, 2019 at 6:57 AM ^
We are going to see a few starters sit or have reduced playing time this week due to poor attitude and a lack of effort.
September 25th, 2019 at 7:10 AM ^
Nice. Not nice that they're showing poor effort, but nice that it's being "rewarded" with bench time. I'd like to see some younger guys get more action.
September 25th, 2019 at 8:16 AM ^
What if they are Nico Collins because he liked a tweet and is possibly mad he isn't getting more targets?
September 25th, 2019 at 9:01 AM ^
Bad attitude, sorry Nico
September 25th, 2019 at 9:09 AM ^
I think too many people are reading way too much into his like of a tweet. He just knew his man fell down and he should have gotten the ball. The tweet was liked because it was noticed. Nico isn't sitting.