Joe Milton Transfers
February 18th, 2021 at 1:06 PM ^
After Milton got benched (and rightfully so), I'm not sure he was ever going to recover from some pretty bad performances where mistakes and lack of abilities we're dropping his stock. This is of course everyone hyping him as the starting QB for UM all last year once DMac left. With 3! years eligibility left, he can safely land somewhere where he can learn the system that is hopefully geared towards him and become a multi-year starter.
February 18th, 2021 at 2:15 PM ^
According to Joe Simon on Sam Webb's show he thought that Milton's accuracy problems were because of a tendon injury to his throwing hand. It appeared he had surgery to correct it. I don't know exactly when his injury occurred during the season. I do recall he all of a sudden had major accuracy problems.
Very disappointed that he bailed, especially after this slant and his local tutelage from Devin Gardner.
Just think if Brian Griese was a whimp, we never would have won the NC in '97. He was a walk-on and was behind Dreisbach (the starter). He got his chance when Dreisbach got hurt in '95. Dreisbach reclaimed the starting position in '96 but he was replaced by Griese when Dreisbach floundered in the '96 season. The rest is history.
FYI, Tom Brady was 4th on the depth chart!
February 18th, 2021 at 3:52 PM ^
Is this fair?
“Those who stay will be champions” was true under Bo & Carr
Harbaugh came in & gave a lot of “firm handshakes” his 1st year at least in part to even out of the # of kids he could recruit each year
5 years into his tenure you have players leaving at a faster pace than Alabama, Ohio State, etc. see the analysis on the 2017 class in particular.
February 19th, 2021 at 12:50 AM ^
Did a grown man, cloaked with the anonymity of a message board in pjs drinking a latte, just call a kid who played qb at UM with a busted thumb that required surgery and graduated in 3 years.... a "wimp"??? Yeah ok
February 18th, 2021 at 7:21 PM ^
I know there was some sort of incident after a game last season where he seemed to indicate displeasure and desire to move on from M--can anyone remember this and verify if it actually happened?
February 18th, 2021 at 11:08 AM ^
Welp, Harbaugh bet wrong on that one. Imagine if McCaffery was here last season. We probably would have at least been a 500 team.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:09 AM ^
*yay*
February 18th, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
Well QB depth just took a hit. Best of luck to Joe. That JJ/Cade battle is going to be interesting.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:20 AM ^
Maybe Michigan beats MSU with a better QB but the defense was still terrible/injured.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
Yeah, Milton's stats from the MSU game were actually ok overall (32/51, 300 yds, 0 INT). It was really the defense that was terrible.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:59 AM ^
6 YPA on 50 throws is not good... a season avg of 6 YPA would've put a QB at 94th in FBS last season
February 18th, 2021 at 1:14 PM ^
Agreed, not good but should have been enough to beat a really bad MSU team IMO.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:22 AM ^
McAffrey was leaving regardless, has nothing to do with Michigan or Harbaugh... He and his brother want to play for their father
February 18th, 2021 at 11:09 AM ^
The worst thing about this, and NO ONE will convince me the other way, is we lost D-Mac because the staff put in a practice warrior with a cannon ahead of the next great Michigan quarterback, who then transferred.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:15 AM ^
Nothing convinced me from D-Mac that he would be the "next great Michigan QB" but he definitely showed way more than Milton ever did. D-Mac's issue was durability and he didn't have that strong of an arm. He atleast showed promise as a passer in the intermediate and short passing game and a good runner.
Milton's accuracy was never going to improve to a point where it wouldn't be an issue.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:18 AM ^
I am a pretty big D-Mac slappy, and would have preferred him to Milton 100%, but I think the fact that Dylan is Transferring to a tiny school where his dad coaches is a pretty big sign he isnt going to be the next great QB anywhere.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:36 AM ^
Yeah, I know the story is he just wants to play for his dad and all, but the fact both McCaffrey kids in college left their P5 programs and seemingly didn't have a ton of high-level takers makes me think there's more to his decision.
Again, wish them luck but even as a pretty optimistic McCaffrey guy coming into the year, I wasn't sold he was some future superstar.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:47 AM ^
Which McCaffrey wins the QB job for their dad next yeat?
February 18th, 2021 at 11:41 AM ^
The one possibility of this is to get an extra season of play. Northern Colorado delayed the 2020 season until spring 2021; so, that season is considered the 2020 season. He could potentially play the entire spring season with Northern Colorado and then transfer to a P5 school and play again in the fall.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:35 PM ^
It's also a possibility I turned down a date with the hot cheerleader in High School to go out with Betsy who worked at the library with me. I mean, it totally made sense to go with the sure thing over the long shot.
To make sure there wasn't going to be any conflicts, I preemptively didn't ask out the cheerleader.
Completely my choice of course.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:19 AM ^
The fact that McCaffrey transferred to a FCS school (I know Dad is there) versus any other FBS school - let alone P5 - doesn’t at least dim your confidence of him as “the next great M QB”??
Tom Brady considered transferring but then “sacked up” and decided to fight for his spot The doesn’t appear to be in the McCaffrey playbook for either of the younger brothers...
(PS - Please don’t use logic on that last stament to note that it was a lot harder to transfer back then...)
February 18th, 2021 at 2:16 PM ^
We have no idea what happened behind the scenes with Mccaffrey. Rumors about Harbaugh saying he's not tough because he got sick or something to that effect....No idea if it's true or not. I don't believe Milton beat Mccaffrey out, especially when he was announced the starter before they even practiced in pads. Something just didn't seem right, but I have no proof to back it up. I was a little puzzled with Dylan's decision to play in the FCS, even with his dad....But he could still ultimately play as a professional. The truth is, nobody really knows how good or how average Dylan is. We've never seen him play a full game. As for Milton, either he thinks he's alot better than he actually is, or he didn't want to have to prove himself this offseason. Either way, he's not the guy. Mcnamara outplayed him by a mile, it wasn't even close. I still think Michigan is just fine at QB, if Mccarthy wins the job then that means his accuracy downfield was even better than Mcnamara. Either way, Michigan's passing game would've been subpar with Milton. I dont care if he can throw it 100 yards on his knees....He's inaccurate, struggles reading defenses, and when he runs it looks like he's jogging.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:19 AM ^
"The next great Michigan quarterback" -- LOL wut??
He has shown nothing in his time at UM to suggest that and while I wish him every success with his opportunity to prove the naysayers wrong (including me) -- you need to pump the brakes
February 18th, 2021 at 12:02 PM ^
You say "pump the breaks" on a QB that actually has looked pretty good when brought into games against Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and OSU, but the program will either hype up to not end a QB that only played half a game against Rutgers and half a game against a bad PSU team or a true freshman with no college football experience.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:43 PM ^
What? Do you hear me (or even most of the chatter from the program) saying Cade McNamara is the "next great Michigan QB"? And for anybody that is saying that, they definitely need to make a stop at Autozone or NAPA and get some new pedals, drums, pads and fluids because they need to PUMP THE SHIT out of those brakes
February 18th, 2021 at 11:20 AM ^
How in God's name can you claim DMac is a future great Michigan QB when he did absolutely nothing for Michigan? At least wait and see if he tears up FCS before making any kind of proclamation like that.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:21 AM ^
That is honestly pure speculation, we have absolutely no idea how DCaf would have turned out. Just wild to me people are 100% convinced a guy would have turned out great for sure without any real sample size of him actually being the starter. Also on the mental side I am going to question a guy who transfers instead of battling to get the spot they think they deserve back. He may in fact turn into a really good QB, but saying he would have been the next great UM QB is a guess.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:28 AM ^
DMAC supposedly was looking at third string as Milton and McNamara were reportedly passing him up. Maybe the evaluation was incorrect but at least it shows Harbaugh is sticking to a meritocracy. McNamara has seemingly passed both McCaffrey and Milton in the span of one season. Hopefully the evaluation is right this time around.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:32 AM ^
I won't waste time trying to convince you that a guy who completed 51% of his passes over 2 seasons was, in fact, unlikely to be the next great Michigan QB, but having seen all three QBs on the roster last year play I actually think Harbaugh may have simply misread the room by not giving McNamara a chance earlier on. I'm not saying he's demonstrably better than Milton or McCaffrey, but Dylan struggled to stay healthy and wasn't particularly accurate throwing the ball, and Milton similarly struggled with touch and consistency. McNamara isn't the same level of athlete as those guys but the offense looked light-years more coherent with him when he played, even when it struggled. I very much assume UM will take a transfer QB this year and I hope they find a good one.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:12 PM ^
This right here. Cade has an air of leadership about him that seemed to make his teammates play with a different focus than when Milton was in.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:35 AM ^
So you just want to be wrong? Cool.
The story seems to be, but take with grain of salt:
Dylan was ahead, I assume getting the most reps with the No1's; but he came to the coaches feeling sick (at this point I can only assume it was fear of covid) and Harbaugh responded badly, which pissed his family off (and being millionaires they probably didn't care so much during this particular year). Leaving the job to Joe, who did admirably.
Or at least that's what I gather.
Something that probably wouldn't happen any other year.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:06 PM ^
That's just board chatter.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:08 PM ^
Not sure this is exactly how it went. There were whispers of Milton being ahead for some time before this, and speculation about DCaf as well.
Now, it's possible this was all just smoke because the staff thought DCaff was leaving, and he was really the better option. But:
DCaff also spent a lot of time away from Ann Arbor. People will recall that he went home to Colorado when he was concussed against Wisconsin. Nobody talks about this, and I guess one can understand it, but... he left the premises midseason. And he was on the cusp of starting and never really came close again. He was home for a significant portion of 2020. Milton, meanwhile, was getting all those reps, in all the meetings. Now, maybe there is some selfish coaching bias there, going with the guy who is "committed" instead of the guy who is actually a bit more talented, but some of that is natural.
And now, with DCaff transferring to his dad's lower-division school... that starts to look like a pattern. Like, a DCaff pattern more than a Harbaugh pattern. As critical as I've been of Harbaugh's QB coaching in particular*, DCaff transferring divisions after being a clearly promising prospect to be a power-5 starting QB is highly unusual. In a way that can't as easily be attributed to a program or coaching problem as many, including me, thought in the fall.
*Harbaugh's philosophy is to bring in a QB every year, so he expects guys to transfer out. TBH I've never had a huge problem with this. The problem isn't that Milton or Speight transfer; the problem is that the guys that do stay aren't good. When you get two years of Shea and he never turns the corner, it's fair to ask why they couldn't develop Peters or McCaffrey or Milton, all Harbaugh recruits, into excellent starters. If Milton had been elite all year, nobody minds DCaff leaving. And if either JJ or Cade play at an elite level in 2021, everyone will understand that Milton had to go to have a chance.
February 18th, 2021 at 2:10 PM ^
I took it as Milton being "ahead" because he was in AA working with the receivers when Cade was at home working out privately.
The "board chatter" I heard was from UMBig11, so I tend to think it could be true plus makes sense in combination with Harbaugh's mindset.
In the end I agree with you that for whatever reason DCaff didn't seem too interested in actually being the starting QB here.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:04 PM ^
1) No evidence DM was going to be "great."
2) The next "great" QB transferred to N. Colorado. I know his dad is the coach. But still. I don't think Bama and OU were after him.
February 18th, 2021 at 2:17 PM ^
I don’t think McCaffrey was going to start here no matter what. He’s not a B10 caliber QB.
February 18th, 2021 at 3:59 PM ^
Is that a joke? Brandon Peters starts in the Big10 and he never looked any better than Dmac. The Big10 has had some pretty bad starting QBs. Dylan could've played/started for any Big10 school last year except for Indiana, OSU and Wisconsin.
February 18th, 2021 at 4:53 PM ^
I don’t see any evidence he was better than Peters - Peters looked much better in his time here, and the stats state he was better - or better than any other B10 QB. What current B10 QB would he beat out? D-Mac was an overrated recruit if there ever was one, hence Northern Colorado, Ed or no Ed. If not for his name he would have been a middling or low 3 star, especially coming out of CO HS athletics, which are not strong.
February 19th, 2021 at 12:06 PM ^
Do you actually believe Mccaffrey would goto Northern Colorado if his dad wasn't the coach? And to top it off you insinuate that his last name is what got him a 4th star? He was rated by all publications as a 4 star guy and top5/top10 in the country. His last name had nothing to do with it. Brandon Peters was at best extremely average at Michigan, and he's continued to play average. I'd like to know what Peters can do that Dmac can't? His arm strength isn't any better, he's a complete statue in the pocket, whereas Dmac could run circles around him. It's not Dylan's fault that Harbaugh promised Shea the starting job, even if he went and played golf all offseason. The only game really that wasn't garbage time was the ND game when he came in for Patterson, and I thought for a Freshman at the time he showed alot of poise. The stats say Peters was better? Another silly comment as Peters got to start an entire season, so I would hope he'd put up more numbers lol.....Peters transferred because he knew Patterson would be the guy. It amazes me how fans can call a kid overrated or that he was a bust, based on handfuls of plays in garbage time. I never said Dmac is a can't miss stud or anything, I simply said he had the talent to start for alot of Big10 schools and other Power 5 schools. You cannot critique Dmac's passing skills based on like 20 career throws. There was 2 things that were known about him in his 2 years at Michigan....He needed to bulk up if he wasn't going to slide when running, and the 2nd thing was he had very good speed for a QB. All the rest are complete unknowns.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
It seems a little odd to do this before Spring practice or maybe it is clear he is odd man out. Now we just have Cade and our 5 star recruit who has never played a down as realistic QBs for next season. I wish him the best but it would be nice to hit on one of our QB recruits at some point.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
Maybe Harbaugh will finally get one of his recruited QBs to be decent in year 7.
February 18th, 2021 at 12:21 PM ^
Nah, he needs at least six more years because of COVID or something.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:12 AM ^
Eastern Michigan is going to get an average one
February 18th, 2021 at 11:12 AM ^
great
February 18th, 2021 at 11:15 AM ^
So can Dylan transfer back or something?
February 18th, 2021 at 11:15 AM ^
If Cade gets hurt, we are done. I know people are high on JJ but most true Freshmen QB struggle and while he is a great player, he does not have elite physical traits.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:22 AM ^
This is increasingly becoming not true.
Now, I don't have a lot of confidence in the ability of the Michigan staff to coach QBs, but elite true freshman QBs now frequently start and contribute, even on great teams.
I don't know how good JJ actually is, but I would expect the staff to give him a full shot to compete, and if he's good enough, to start.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:24 AM ^
I'm betting if JJ has a good spring, he will be the starter against WMU.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:55 AM ^
The problem I see with JJ getting the nod right away is that even if he is ready, Cade getting passed up will only encourage him to transfer. Then we have two QB's on roster...
February 18th, 2021 at 11:29 AM ^
There's no "if" it's "when", as in when was the last time a Michigan QB has played the entire season without an injury?