Areas where we are upgrading at QB with Milton

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

Losing Hooker is a blow to the team, no matter which way you spin it. It would be a blow to any team, he was that good. And while Bazooka Joe has some big shoes to fill, it's worth noting the areas that I actually think he could be an upgrade.

Feel free to disagree obviously, but this is what I've observed:

1) Arm strength: I mean this one is kind of a gimme. No one in football at any level can air it out like Joe.

2) Pocket presence (presents ): Hooker wasn't bad in the pocket by any means, but when the pocket began to collapse he did start to shuffle and bit and try to create space. Usually this would end up in a sack. One thing I have to give Joe credit for, he stands in a collapsing pocket and trusts the line to protect him. Will this cause a few extra turnovers in the season? Probably, yeah. But it should result in far less sacks since Joe will give himself more opportunities to get rid of the ball if he stands strong in the pocket, which he typically does.

3) Straight line runner: Hooker's escapability was definitely an underrated aspect of how well he moved, and Joe isn't going to have that. But I do think Joe is actually a better straight line runner. I don't know the 40 times, but Joe is deceptively fast when he starts going downhill. It wouldn't surprise me if he is actually faster than Hooker in a foot race.

4) Sheer size: Granted we haven't seen Joe use this to his potential, but if he can develop an "If I can't go around you, I'm going through you" mentality, he's going to be really good at picking up some extra yards that wouldn't otherwise be there on QB carries/scrambles. Joe is an absolute tank.

It's hard to put a positive spin on losing a talent like Hooker, but I think if utilized correctly, we're actually going to be pleasantly surprised by some of the new advantages Joe brings to the offense.

 

[butchna]

Agreed with all points. I’d add that in a short sample size, he spreads the ball around more and is less likely to zero in on one target. Let’s see how that plays out over an entire season. What Hooker was peerless at was keeping everything in front of him and decision making during tight situations. That’s the burden for Joe.

 

[B81]

My only concern is third down efficiency. We seem to punt more with Joe in the game. Maybe that should have been expected because he wasn’t playing much last year, but this year he needs to get in a groove on 3rd and medium.

 

[cherokeeeVOL]

Some good points. I think part of what Hendon did that really made the offense go was he was a dynamic runner in addition to having a nice touch on the ball. In the games that Joe's been able to play, it just doesn't seem to be part of his game to take off or scramble much and while his touch on the ball has improved, I think Hendon was a little better in that department. Now maybe the OL will be strong enough that Joe won't have to take off.

 

[zooguy]

Hooker is/was a better scrambler and had really good pocket presence (better than Milton IMHO). He’s also a more accurate passer.

I think alot if the media get too caught up on arm strength when accuracy is more important.

Milton may be better on these this year - but the sample size doesn’t show us that yet. All we have from last year is one great game against Clemson and then a lot of mop-up duty.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

Hooker is/was a better scrambler and had really good pocket presence (better than Milton IMHO). He’s also a more accurate passer.

I think alot if the media get too caught up on arm strength when accuracy is more important.

Milton may be better on these this year - but the sample size doesn’t show us that yet. All we have from last year is one great game against Clemson and then a lot of mop-up duty.

Hooker 100% does not have a better pocket presence than Milton. Really not close.

 

[VolPack22]

Joe’s biggest issue in Year 1 was missing the deep ball. Hooker came in and hit on those and then the offense took off. This offense is built on spreading you out and making big plays in space downfield and if your QB cannot hit those deep balls routinely then they will not be successful in this offense. It seems that Joe has corrected this issue based on his action last season. We might actually see even more explosive plays than we were accustomed to seeing with Hooker. If we get “Clemson Joe” this season then we will be right back in the CFP picture.

 

[Pride85]

Hooker is/was a better scrambler and had really good pocket presence (better than Milton IMHO). He’s also a more accurate passer.

I think alot if the media get too caught up on arm strength when accuracy is more important.

Milton may be better on these this year - but the sample size doesn’t show us that yet. All we have from last year is one great game against Clemson and then a lot of mop-up duty.

I think the accuracy is closer than you realize. Granted there was a huge disparity in sample size, but it was 69.6% for Hooker vs 64.6% for Milton when it comes to completion percentage. Average yards per attempt was also 4 yards more for Milton.

 

[BACKDOC]

Losing Hooker is a blow to the team, no matter which way you spin it. It would be a blow to any team, he was that good. And while Bazooka Joe has some big shoes to fill, it's worth noting the areas that I actually think he could be an upgrade.

Feel free to disagree obviously, but this is what I've observed:

1) Arm strength: I mean this one is kind of a gimme. No one in football at any level can air it out like Joe.

2) Pocket presence (presents ): Hooker wasn't bad in the pocket by any means, but when the pocket began to collapse he did start to shuffle and bit and try to create space. Usually this would end up in a sack. One thing I have to give Joe credit for, he stands in a collapsing pocket and trusts the line to protect him. Will this cause a few extra turnovers in the season? Probably, yeah. But it should result in far less sacks since Joe will give himself more opportunities to get rid of the ball if he stands strong in the pocket, which he typically does.

3) Straight line runner: Hooker's escapability was definitely an underrated aspect of how well he moved, and Joe isn't going to have that. But I do think Joe is actually a better straight line runner. I don't know the 40 times, but Joe is deceptively fast when he starts going downhill. It wouldn't surprise me if he is actually faster than Hooker in a foot race.

4) Sheer size: Granted we haven't seen Joe use this to his potential, but if he can develop an "If I can't go around you, I'm going through you" mentality, he's going to be really good at picking up some extra yards that wouldn't otherwise be there on QB carries/scrambles. Joe is an absolute tank.

It's hard to put a positive spin on losing a talent like Hooker, but I think if utilized correctly, we're actually going to be pleasantly surprised by some of the new advantages Joe brings to the offense.

Do not agree with No. 2 or 3; Milton was sacked four times in the Orange Bowl, but for what ever reason Hooker seemed to fumble more than Milton. Hooker is faster than Milton; give me a break, but I liked the way Milton ran the ball in the Orange bowl on designed runs. Would love to see him run it some on 3rd and short.

 

[butchna]

Hooker is/was a better scrambler and had really good pocket presence (better than Milton IMHO). He’s also a more accurate passer.

I think alot if the media get too caught up on arm strength when accuracy is more important.

Milton may be better on these this year - but the sample size doesn’t show us that yet. All we have from last year is one great game against Clemson and then a lot of mop-up duty.

As an Aggie fan, how much of our games do you actually watch?

 

[sjt18]

Both have physical ability. Hooker had the right "head". I hope Milton has mastered that part. Hooker made good decisions consistently and never seemed rattled or like the situation was too big for him. If Milton plays with that kind of intelligence and composure then he could be as good as anyone... and the Vols will win a lot of games.

 

[TheVolsFrog]

Losing Hooker is a blow to the team, no matter which way you spin it. It would be a blow to any team, he was that good. And while Bazooka Joe has some big shoes to fill, it's worth noting the areas that I actually think he could be an upgrade.

Feel free to disagree obviously, but this is what I've observed:

1) Arm strength: I mean this one is kind of a gimme. No one in football at any level can air it out like Joe.

2) Pocket presence (presents ): Hooker wasn't bad in the pocket by any means, but when the pocket began to collapse he did start to shuffle and bit and try to create space. Usually this would end up in a sack. One thing I have to give Joe credit for, he stands in a collapsing pocket and trusts the line to protect him. Will this cause a few extra turnovers in the season? Probably, yeah. But it should result in far less sacks since Joe will give himself more opportunities to get rid of the ball if he stands strong in the pocket, which he typically does.

3) Straight line runner: Hooker's escapability was definitely an underrated aspect of how well he moved, and Joe isn't going to have that. But I do think Joe is actually a better straight line runner. I don't know the 40 times, but Joe is deceptively fast when he starts going downhill. It wouldn't surprise me if he is actually faster than Hooker in a foot race.

4) Sheer size: Granted we haven't seen Joe use this to his potential, but if he can develop an "If I can't go around you, I'm going through you" mentality, he's going to be really good at picking up some extra yards that wouldn't otherwise be there on QB carries/scrambles. Joe is an absolute tank.

It's hard to put a positive spin on losing a talent like Hooker, but I think if utilized correctly, we're actually going to be pleasantly surprised by some of the new advantages Joe brings to the offense.

If Joe runs like this we'll be good to go but I hope we don't see him running too much this season.

 

[TheVolsFrog]

Do not agree with No. 2 or 3; Milton was sacked four times in the Orange Bowl, but for what ever reason Hooker seemed to fumble more than Milton. Hooker is faster than Milton; give me a break, but I liked the way Milton ran the ball in the Orange bowl on designed runs. Would love to see him run it some on 3rd and short.

I wouldn't put much stock in the sacks in the Orange Bowl. We didn't really have any back up at QB and I'm sure staff told him just take the sack and go down and not try and do too much. Can't risk him getting injured like a ACL tear knowing he was going to be QB1 going into this season

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

Do not agree with No. 2 or 3; Milton was sacked four times in the Orange Bowl, but for what ever reason Hooker seemed to fumble more than Milton. Hooker is faster than Milton; give me a break, but I liked the way Milton ran the ball in the Orange bowl on designed runs. Would love to see him run it some on 3rd and short.

Hooker is shiftier, quicker first step. But I'm talking about straight like, downhill running. See the clip posted above where Joe broke off the big run against Pitt. He's faster than you think.

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

Hooker is shiftier, quicker first step. But I'm talking about straight like, downhill running. See the clip posted above where Joe broke off the big run against Pitt. He's faster than you think.

To me, Hooker’s running style is more reminiscent of Josh Dobbs, where Milton’s running style is more Tebow-esque.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Hooker is shiftier, quicker first step. But I'm talking about straight like, downhill running. See the clip posted above where Joe broke off the big run against Pitt. He's faster than you think.

Heupel's situation is different this year also. Last year, if/when something happened to Hooker, he had Milton, with several years of D1 experience, as a backup. This year, if Joe goes down, we have a true freshman. Heupel could send Hooker and worry a little less.

Sure, he's a great true freshman, a highly rated QB, but he's a freshman. I think Nico will be amazing but I don't want him in the fire too early and I doubt Heupel does either. I think we'll see a few designated QB runs to keep teams honest but I don't look for Heupel to tempt fate.

 

[vegasvolfan]

Hooker 100% does not have a better pocket presence than Milton. Really not close.

If it wasn’t for Hooker’s pocket presence, we would not have won the Florida game, the Bama game or the Pitt game. The last drive of the first half of the Florida game was a key drive in the game. I believe he had an incredible play to Warren that required outstanding pocket presence to keep that play alive before connecting with Keyton on a bomb. Then there is the play to McCoy on the last pass of the Bama game. Another example where he stepped up in the pocket to make a clutch and winning play. There was the winning TD pass to Tillman in OT against Pitt. The announcers even talk about his pocket presence after that play. There are so many more plays where Hooker stayed in the pocket to keep a drive alive and win games. Hooker was clutch, and that is the biggest reason for my concern. Milton looked good against Clemson, but Clemson was not Alabama, Georgia and perhaps a healthy Pitt in my opinion. Plus our line was much better by the end of the year than they were when we began the season. I just don’t see any evidence that Milton is better in the pocket. I do see evidence that he can be a lot better than he has been after watching the Clemson game closely.

 

[Shades]

Speed:
Google searches for 40 time list Hooker and Milton both in the 4.7-4.8 range. Call it even for both.

Shiftiness and rushing quality:
Hooker has some twitch in his runs. Kind of a cross between Dobbs and crazy-legs John Kelly.
It might just be me, but his twitches when running looked a bit awkward and not under control at times, and didn't fake out good defenders at times.
With his downfield spin-moves, I was always holding my breath that someone was going to clock him hard coming out of his spin.

Milton was an ineffective soft runner in his early years, but it looks like the soft running has been coached out of him.
In the past year he looked like an effective and good rusher. Plus the strength to run through people if needed and to administer a strong stiff arm.
Milton may not be as shifty, but has good enough moves to be effective downfield.

Rushing yards:
Hooker rushed for 616 yds and 430 yds his two years of starting for the Vols.
Wouldn't be surprised at all to see Milton rush for 400-600 yds this year.

Accuracy:
Hooker's accuracy was very good.
Milton's touch and accuracy stunk early on, but had 67.9% completion vs Clemson, and reports from the 2023 fall practice are that his accuracy and touch are extremely good (on air, albeit).

Mental:
Hooker was always calm, focused and seemed to have things in control.
Looks like Milton is hopefully improving in this area.

If Milton keeps the mental game in check and keeps the interception count low, I think he could have as big of a year or bigger than Hooker last year.

We are in pretty good QB hands this year.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

If it wasn’t for his pocket presence, we would not have won the Florida game, the Bama game or the Pitt game. The announcers even talk about his pocket presence during the Pitt game. There are so many more plays where Hooker stayed in the pocket to keep a drive alive and win games. Hooker was clutch, and that is the biggest reason for my concern. Milton looked good against Clemson, but Clemson was not Alabama, Georgia and perhaps a healthy Pitt in my opinion. Plus our line was much better by the end of they year than they were when we began the season. I just don’t see any evidence that Milton is better in the pocket. I do see evidence that he can be a lot better than he has been after watching the Clemson game closely.

Yeah I think their picket presence is about the same, but Milton hasn't proven to have the same kind of poise. Hookers poise is in the all time elite category.

 

[Vol423]

Losing Hooker is a blow to the team, no matter which way you spin it. It would be a blow to any team, he was that good. And while Bazooka Joe has some big shoes to fill, it's worth noting the areas that I actually think he could be an upgrade.

Feel free to disagree obviously, but this is what I've observed:

1) Arm strength: I mean this one is kind of a gimme. No one in football at any level can air it out like Joe.

2) Pocket presence (presents ): Hooker wasn't bad in the pocket by any means, but when the pocket began to collapse he did start to shuffle and bit and try to create space. Usually this would end up in a sack. One thing I have to give Joe credit for, he stands in a collapsing pocket and trusts the line to protect him. Will this cause a few extra turnovers in the season? Probably, yeah. But it should result in far less sacks since Joe will give himself more opportunities to get rid of the ball if he stands strong in the pocket, which he typically does.

3) Straight line runner: Hooker's escapability was definitely an underrated aspect of how well he moved, and Joe isn't going to have that. But I do think Joe is actually a better straight line runner. I don't know the 40 times, but Joe is deceptively fast when he starts going downhill. It wouldn't surprise me if he is actually faster than Hooker in a foot race.

4) Sheer size: Granted we haven't seen Joe use this to his potential, but if he can develop an "If I can't go around you, I'm going through you" mentality, he's going to be really good at picking up some extra yards that wouldn't otherwise be there on QB carries/scrambles. Joe is an absolute tank.

It's hard to put a positive spin on losing a talent like Hooker, but I think if utilized correctly, we're actually going to be pleasantly surprised by some of the new advantages Joe brings to the offense.

I disagree strongly with #2. Hooker did a good job of either exiting the pocket when it collapsed or getting rid of the ball without throwing interceptions. Joe does really well at throwing the ball quickly on wide receiver screens and quick hitting patterns. However, I think he is considerably slower than Hooker at throwing the ball on intermediate and deep routes. He just doesn't process things as quickly as Hooker did. That is one of my biggest concerns with Milton.

 

[aRmo]

When hooker escaped the pocket he was dead set on running the football. When Joe escapes he keeps his eyes down field. But i agree with most points. I think Joe is as fast as hooker, idk about faster. But where he lacks in elusiveness he makes up for in lowing his shoulder. The dude is an absolute load to bring down. Gonna be a fun season guys.

 

[VolKnight9]

Do not agree with No. 2 or 3; Milton was sacked four times in the Orange Bowl, but for what ever reason Hooker seemed to fumble more than Milton. Hooker is faster than Milton; give me a break, but I liked the way Milton ran the ball in the Orange bowl on designed runs. Would love to see him run it some on 3rd and short.

40 yard dashes are nearly identical. Joe with a 4.8 and Hooker with a 4.77

 

[csheaton]

I’m going have to agree and say you’re wrong on #2 and #3. Milton is high 4.7’s if not a 4.8 40. Hooker is more like a 4.6. NFLdraftscout.com is the standard when it comes to 40 times. The best info hands down.

The pocket presence is where I disagree the most. Milton holds the ball a lot longer than Hooker because he doesn’t make his reads as quickly as Hendon did. Hooker did have a tendency to take off a tad early at times, but I feel like he avoided a few sacks in doing so. I would bet the house that Joe takes more sacks and throws more interceptions this year than Hooker did. And I don’t think Joe will be bad at all, Hendon was just that good.

 

[Volador]

 

[zooguy]

As an Aggie fan, how much of our games do you actually watch?

most of them. My in-laws are Vol fans.

Hooker had a really good feel for when the pocket was breaking down and when to run and when to throw on the run. He’s also a much more elusive runner.

Milton could work into all these things - he just doesn’t have the sample size. You basically have 2 full games from Milton last year when he wasn’t in mop-up duty.