August 30th, 2021 at 12:50 PM ^
In before delete.
August 30th, 2021 at 12:51 PM ^
Or, hear me out, maybe we should wait until Milton actually you know, plays some games?
He won the starting job here too and had all kinds of people raving about him. Then the games started and he couldn't complete a pass. So....I hope the best for him but I'll reserve judgement. He was given the opportunity here and didn't do anything with it. Hope Tennessee works out better for him.
August 30th, 2021 at 1:07 PM ^
He tore ligaments in his thumb on his throwing hand in the MSU game (The 2nd game) - wore a brace for the rest of the season and had surgery immediately after the season which is now healed. There was only one game that he had a healthy hand least season - Minnesota. He then came in to a crowded QB room at Tennessee without the advantage of spring practice and won the job.
I just don't understand why people bring up the performance and not the injury - they will with Cade but not Milton. Either people here don't want to acknowledge the injury, are unaware of the injury or for some reason think that having torn ligaments in your thumb shouldn't affect your performance.
August 30th, 2021 at 1:24 PM ^
Count me among those who didn't even know about the injury. Mostly due to the fact that I checked out of the 2020 season immediately when then clock hit zero on the MSU game (after very reluctantly checking IN to the season when it actually started)
August 30th, 2021 at 1:34 PM ^
I just don't understand why people bring up the performance and not the injury - they will with Cade but not Milton.
Probably because JH doesn't talk about injuries so it didn't get well publicized. If the problem was his health and had nothing to do with his performance I'd think he'd still be at UM, no? I'd guess we don't know all the information needed to make a judgement on what happened. People are simple and want a simple answer. He didn't perform so he got benched and he transferred because he didn't like that. That's the simple answer that probably leaves out a lot of context that isn't totally fair.
August 30th, 2021 at 1:35 PM ^
Fair enough (sort of), but a bad thumb doesn't make you throw into double coverage. It doesn't make you ignore open receivers. It doesn't make you throw the ball directly into a Wisconsin linebacker's chest.
A bad thumb makes you more inaccurate or might make you fumble the ball, but it doesn't make you incapable of reading a defense. After the Minnesota game, Milton couldn't functionally get through his reads.
August 30th, 2021 at 2:01 PM ^
Funny how Harbaugh gets a mile-long list of excuses
But no one else does
August 30th, 2021 at 2:08 PM ^
Maybe Milton has improved as a passer at UT and will take to Heupel's offense better than at UM. But people made a litany of excuses for Milton playing poorly and kept trotting out "it's only Rutgers" whenever someone points out that McNamara led the team in passing TDs on the year despite playing approximately 4 quarters of football. But I swear Milton is your classic case of someone getting hyped to the moon because of his potential and when (as most guys do) he fails to live up to that hype everyone tries to deal with their disappointment by blaming everyone else.
August 30th, 2021 at 2:28 PM ^
You’re gripping it too tight.
August 30th, 2021 at 2:43 PM ^
Who doesn’t allow you to criticize Harbaugh? You can do that all you want—but it doesn’t mean people all have to agree with you and stay silent..
Same with Milton apologists. Make all the excuses about it being the thumb, the line, the coaching, his not getting to be himself. Go ahead, do it.
Disagreement is not censorship. More people disagreeing with your views isn’t taking away your ability to still blame Harbaugh.
One of the most petulant acts by grown ass men is the flaccid self-victimizing of the Trump era. Have your thought, man. It’s a public forum—what do you expect: everyone just fawn over your brilliance and not have their own thoughts?
Oh, whoa is me, look at those people disagreeing with me.
August 30th, 2021 at 3:27 PM ^
Logged in to upvote. I'll try to avoid the political connotations of your post (although I will concede with you, the overlap is pretty tight), but this new trend of whiny, self-victimization at the first sign of resistance or challenge to an idea or belief is pathetic and embarrassing for the adults that participate in it.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, others are entitled to disagree with your opinion and tell you so. We're not all special little snow flakes that reserve the right to bend the rest of society into the little space where we feel most comfortable. To those people I say, get over yourself.
August 30th, 2021 at 5:00 PM ^
... this new trend of whiny, self-victimization at the first sign of resistance or challenge to an idea or belief is pathetic and embarrassing ...
It's the sign of insecure little children trying to show how big and tough they are by beating their chests and yelling louder than everyone else.
Hmm - there's that overlap again.
August 30th, 2021 at 7:42 PM ^
If the injury was debilitating, why would the coaches watch him practice all week and then send him out there against Indiana, when they had a perfectly healthy Cade?
August 30th, 2021 at 1:47 PM ^
My question is why did the staff play him knowing his had was jacked up, why did he also think he was ready to play injured when he clearly wasn't if that was indeed the problem.
August 30th, 2021 at 1:47 PM ^
He had an injury but was not a big deal. You can see from the Rutgers game, where he is not wearing anything on his throwing hand.
https://youtu.be/dl4lF9zF1O4?t=147
If his poor performance was due to the injury, then I question his decision to leave. As far as I know, Jim wanted him to stay and play a full season with a healthy hand. Clearly, Jim liked him coming into the season. May be Milton felt that he could not develop here.
Regardless, he appeared to be a good kid and I hope nothing but success for him.
August 30th, 2021 at 2:31 PM ^
Milton has alluded to this in interviews - 1) He says he paid too much attention to what people were writing about him and 2) He did what Harbaugh wanted and played through the injury and when it did affect his performance Harbaugh never gave him cover and by the end of the year he was pretty negative about the whole situation - which he says he now has grown from it.
This is the thing that people here need to realize when being negative towards players - they read comments and blogs. This situation also directly affected another player to transfer and a certain recruit not to sign.
He was wearing a brace it was black you can see it in this image:
August 30th, 2021 at 3:03 PM ^
Thanks, Now i'm kinda pissed at JH and feel bad for milton.
August 30th, 2021 at 3:14 PM ^
Thanks for the photo. Regarding being upset by comments on social media I feel terrible for him and other kids, but that says more about fans than Jim. If injury affected his play, but still played because Jim asked him, then Jim should have strongly supported him in front of the team. I am not sure if public support is the right approach as almost every player has to deal with injuries throughout the season and it will soon become a list of excuses as to why the team is not playing well.
August 30th, 2021 at 4:03 PM ^
So basically the whole Milton thing was a clusterfuck, from the Cam Newton off season hype to the "He wasnt on my radar" answer about Antjuan Simmons after the MSU game to being benched.
August 30th, 2021 at 1:48 PM ^
People talk about the injury with Cade because it was very obvious on TV against PSU when it happened. He could barely pick up his arm after taking that shot in the first quarter and could barely get the ball in the vicinity of a WR.
Milton got hurt against MSU but played that entire game, played the next two and most of a 3rd before being pulled for his performance. If his thumb was causing the actual issues he would have been pulled sooner.
August 30th, 2021 at 2:01 PM ^
The UT QB room had one returning player and two transfers; credit to Milton for beating out a sophomore but considering they were all new to the system because of the coaching change its not like he was that much behind the eight ball.
People keep talking about that thumb injury as if QBs haven't had injured thumbs throughout history and still performed better than Milton did. He repeatedly stared down receivers and threw balls directly into LB chests, and those issues had nothing to do with his thumb. I think we all overrated Minnesota immensely last year (they finished the year 64th per SP+ defense, and it was even lower before they held Nebraska and Minnesota to around 320 yards per game to end the year), and so his struggles (which began before him getting hurt against MSU) always get seen in this light of reproducibility that have no bearing on reality. I mean, Minnesota gave up 7 ypp last year; Rutgers, warts and all, gave up 6 ypp.
I'm sure he'll do fine against BGSU; BGSU had the 116th-best defense per SP+ last year. But people absolutely have glossed over the numerous issues he had last year that went beyond his thumb.
August 30th, 2021 at 2:59 PM ^
Because he left! What more, as fans, would people like us to say/think? I wish him all the best in his new home. But, when it mattered, he couldn't get it done on the field, injury or not. Then, he decided to quit on his teammates. So yes, these two things can both be true. I can wish him well, but have no opinion because I didn't care about who was the UT QB before today, and still won't tomorrow. Had he never quit on his team, he'd still be here. He chose his new path, best of luck. But that's where it stops for me and probably most fans of UM football.
August 30th, 2021 at 3:21 PM ^
Why performance and no injury? B/c he couldn't even find the wide open receivers who were practically beside him either before or after he got hurt.
August 30th, 2021 at 10:15 PM ^
Comment deleted
August 31st, 2021 at 10:07 AM ^
Minnesota turned out to be really bad.
But nobody forced him out, he chose to leave, all the power to him and we all wish him the best.
August 30th, 2021 at 1:54 PM ^
It wasn't until Rutgers when you could say he couldn't complete a pass. They rotated in the PSU game, thus the coaches still wanted him to start. He just wasn't going to be better than Cade at his best, and JJ was enrolling early.
August 30th, 2021 at 2:34 PM ^
Uh… he was pretty awful at completing passes in the games prior to the Rutgers game as well. 9/19 with 2 picks against Wisconsin for example. Completing 53% with 2 picks (and 3 TDs though) against Indiana. Hell, even his MSU game was very unimpressive with multiple bad throws.
And they didn’t “rotate” in the PSU game. Cade was hurt so they didn’t have a choice except to give Milton some time.
August 30th, 2021 at 11:15 PM ^
He’s a 6’4” 250 lb athlete that would turn his shoulder sideways and get stoned by 180lb db just short of the 1st down mark. He never really looked comfortable after his 1st read.
August 30th, 2021 at 2:37 PM ^
His completion percentage went down every game he played last year; from 68.2% against Minnesota to 41.7% against Rutgers before being pulled. This wasn't a one-game degradation.
August 30th, 2021 at 12:52 PM ^
I mean I don't think Harbaugh is going to come out either great or bad in this. In general, when does a transfer QB who had the starting job after a couple years of grooming lose the job and then all of sudden turn into someone different?
August 30th, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
He only comes out as bad in this iMo….the narrative will be:
- Milton looks bad: Harbaugh can’t identify or develop QB talent
- Milton looks good: Harbaugh can’t keep talent or let it translate to on-field success.
August 30th, 2021 at 1:09 PM ^
lmao this is so stupid.
- Milton looks bad: Tennessee grabbed a QB, made him starter when it was already clear that said QB can't overcome long-known about accuracy issues (but hey, gotta try sometimes I guess)
- Milton looks good: nobody gives a shit, good for Tennessee but Milton was NOT good here and fled when outperformed by our current QB
All other takes are dumb and bad
August 30th, 2021 at 1:09 PM ^
Well I mean, Harbaugh is polarizing and no matter what happens, many will take any opportunity to crap on Harbaugh. But I somehow Milton will look middle of the road; all those physical tools, makes some really great plays, overall not super effective, wished just took the next step.
August 30th, 2021 at 1:13 PM ^
Eh, Milton was always considered a project. Huge upside if he hits, but a project, perhaps even a longshot (he completed less than 50% of his passes in high school...), nonetheless. So I don't know how Harbaugh could look bad if Milton doesn't work out.
Honestly, out of all of Harbaugh's QBs here, Milton might be the least surprising that he didn't pan out. If you want to use other QBs as examples that Harbaugh can't develop talent (Shea, Mccaffrey, O'Korn, Peters, Malzone, etc.) then by all means, but Milton would probably be about the last person on that list.
August 30th, 2021 at 1:39 PM ^
I work with someone that is an "All Time Great" at TN. I told him exactly what was going to happen. The buzz will be how big and athletic he is. How He is a great leader. That he has a cannon of an arm. Which of course is all true and that is the current buzz in the TN locker room.
It will be game performance that will expose his lack of decisiveness. Poor accuracy. Unable to run for even 3 yards when you need him. But then again, our QB development hasn't been that great. Perhaps they got a great QB. Either way, I wish him the best.
August 30th, 2021 at 7:34 PM ^
You're a really disingenuous person, regularly. Out of one side of your mouth you both allude to, and say the things you dislike, implying he's doomed to fail, then drop the "I wish him the best". Bullshit. No you don't. You do this stuff all the time, you seem like one of the least decent people here to me.
August 30th, 2021 at 9:01 PM ^
“Hey man, I don’t like your thoughts on Michigan football. I bet you are a horrible person!!!” LOL
Well, if you really want to know, I spent last Saturday taking care of a widows house that has been run down since her husband died two years ago. Also, last week, coordinated the purchase of a plane ticket for a family friend to go to Arkansas to see their niece before she died Because she didn’t have the money for a plane ticket.
So yeah man. If I were you I would keep judging people Based on whether you agree with their thoughts on a random Michigan football player.
August 30th, 2021 at 10:56 PM ^
It's cool that you helped those people.
August 31st, 2021 at 8:08 AM ^
My Father cares about orphans and widows. I know you know him too.
August 30th, 2021 at 1:23 PM ^
If Milton looks bad at TN how would that confirm that Harbaugh can't develop talent? If anything I think it'd confirm that Milton just isn't that good.
August 30th, 2021 at 1:33 PM ^
He was a long shot to be great or even very good as he came in as a project. Had good upside but sometimes those don't pan out.
August 30th, 2021 at 2:43 PM ^
But he recruited him, so that still means he did a poor job of evaluating his talent.
August 30th, 2021 at 2:52 PM ^
You cant tell me UM is the only program to miss on a recruit that is labeled a project going in.
August 30th, 2021 at 7:49 PM ^
No not saying that at all but a miss is a miss. Whether it be Bama, OSU or Michigan incorrectly evaluating a prospect.
August 30th, 2021 at 5:48 PM ^
Harbaugh didn’t do a poor job evaluating Milton’s talent by recruiting him. Harbaugh did a poor job evaluating Milton’s talent by naming him the starter last year.
August 30th, 2021 at 6:20 PM ^
This is such a stupid comment. What evidence do you have that Milton did not appear to be the best option based on practice? There is none and therefore it is just speculation.
August 30th, 2021 at 6:27 PM ^
So you believe one of two scenarios is more likely!? One, that Milton was a completely different QB during practice and somehow became unplayable in an actual game. Two, that McNamara was clearly a worse QB in practice and somehow became a capable functioning QB in an actual game.
If someone has a "stupid" line of thinking, I believe it is definitely you.
August 30th, 2021 at 8:20 PM ^
So you believe the scenario was McNamara (and you probably think the same for McCaffrey) was clearly better than Milton and our coaches just put him in anyway? Delusional.