Milton will be HUGE for UT in 2023

[WoodsmanVol]

I agree this dishing on Milton is way off the charts. I think if every pass was caught and he ran for 200 yards some folks would still find something to nit pick over. The stats show he was 11/21, average 7 yrds, 147 total yards passing , 1 td and no int. Qbr rating of 72. He has spring training and almost a year to get better in the passing game. These folks hitting on Milton are the same folks who each week posted " Are we over looking" ( fill in the blank --Kentucky/Vandy/LSU/ etc ) We should be thankful we have him coming back.

It's pointless to be positive about Milton. See, we have a faction of Vols-player haters who, like the saw scale viper of Arabia, hides under a rock. Waiting, just waiting for the opportunity to strike. And they love doing that, so are incurable of their Vols-plaer hatreds.

 

[farmdogvol]

I was a little disappointed in his overall performance. Some of that was due to the weather and some was the play calling. I would have liked to see more play calls using the middle of the field, but with Bru and Tilllman out the other wr's are better outside the hashmarks. I will wait to see his performance in the bowl game, hopefully he will be better.

 

[Orangeblood75]

You "getting behind him" means the same thing

No it doesn’t, I’m getting behind the next man up and letting the coaches do their job. The kids read this site and deserve our respect.

 

[mtvols]

I don't have anything against Joe, great guy and teammate that he is, I do have a problem with you and others of your ilk. I think it is ok for UT fans to critique the coaching, play calling and players performance without always being branded a HATER. I am not sure what background you possess and what great knowledge you have that I do not, but Joe has weaknesses to his game currently. When we play teams that don't start with the letter V we will not be able to run for long touchdown after long touchdown. He is given the overthrow Joe label because he overthrew 7 or 8 receivers yesterday. He threw 3 or 4 beautiful balls but clearly missed on 3 or 4 that would have been touchdowns. He literally missed a wide open tight end in the middle of the field that didn't have a defender within 20 yards of him. The announcers were discussing it all night, I believe Coach JH appeared frustrated with it and so I am going to have to disagree with your whole premise. We did have to run it more often because our passing attack was grounded and largely ineffective after the first completion to Hyatt.

You do realize it was raining steadily and we were without 2 starting WRs. The game plan became run the ball in the second half.

 

[VolFanNC09]

So glad the Vols have Milton. For all the people bitching about Milton, he does so much more for the offense. The opens up the running game, because of his ability to throw the ball so deep (yes he'll have overthrows, so did Hooker). He also has the ability to absolutely truck folks if he runs just a bit.

The overthrow Joe comments and all the negative comments about how he can't play are just really coming from people that don't truly understand the sport. He will connect on a lot of the deep balls. He didn't have anymore overthrows last night (in a cool driving rain) than Hooker would typically have in a game.

I hope the coaches don't screw with his arm and throwing motion during camp next year. If anything he needs to hold the ball a half second longer and/or put a little more air under the ball.

I am really looking forward to Milton leading the Vols next season, no matter how the bowl game goes. The extra practices and game, gives next year's offense a big advantage.

He was pretty efficient last night. NO TURNOVERS was the best thing about his performance last night and the threat alone of the deep ball really had the defense on their heels, which opened up the run game like the Red Sea.

People can obviously have their opinions and say what they want, but if you're gonna spend the next several months hating on Joe Milton, go pick up a hobby....

I am interested in seeing Milton in the bowl game in decent weather. Also, I think we kept Milton from running on purpose as we had walk-ons as backups to him. I do want to see him with a few weeks of prep and in decent weather for the bowl where they will allow him to use his legs if needed.

 

[DrTNT]

No Milton = gaurantano, won’t get any better

Glad coaches get to decide and not anyone on this message board… I will say, Hendon Hooker & Josh Heupel both disagree with you based on what they’ve said…

here’s the thing… as a fan, I’m gonna pull for whomever Coach Heupel says is the starter, If It’s Milton, great! If it’s Jackson, great! If it’s Iamaleava, great! If it’s Moore, great! If it’s Shuler, great! I’ll be pulling for them to do well and lead the team to wins, no matter who it is!

 

[vol4220]

Besides the overthrow tenancies my biggest concern is he does not like to run much. There were a couple of times he had what looked to be a sure first down and he tried to squeeze a bullet of a pass in.

 

[volanatic]

I absolutely love the young man. His energy and the way he carries himself. He has the respect of his team and he has fun out there. It spreads to the other guys. I don’t think he is solid enough to win the SEC unfortunately, but I am behind him as next years starter unless Jackson can develop after he recovers because he should be good enough to bridge the gap until Nico is ready take us to a Natty!

 

[FLVOL_79]

No Milton = gaurantano, won’t get any better

Terrible, terrible take.

 

[Namorto1]

Milton has the opportunity to improve with a ton of first team reps. The bowl game will be more instructive than one week to prepare with it constantly raining. Will see….reserving judgment on Milton a bit longer despite some concerns. I’m convinced that Heupel will build around our rushing game next year. And expect our play calling will adjust. Key may very well be our offensive line.

Our young OL guys need to develop as we are replacing 2 starters. Could really use a starting left tackle in the portal. Crawford and Mincey are okay but not to the level we need and either can flex to other starting positions on the line.

Hard to judge the SEC next year until players decide to go pro and what transfer portal creates. Possibly more parity in the league than in recent memory. I do like our schedule however. That 3rd game we have against Florida is huge again. Florida is a bit dysfunctional at the moment (and they open at Utah next year). Beat them in Gainesville than 3 home games including back to back home games against South Carolina and A&M. Could walk into Alabama game undefeated just like this year. And we catch them on the tail end of 8 straight games without a bye week.

 

[Fatdad32]

0-7 on 3rd down-I was at the game. Yes the conditions were tough however against a bad Vandy D he needs to do better than 0-7 that’s a QB issue. He handed it off well and I hope he progresses.

 

[OrangeTsar]

He HAS to learn how to run and when to run. That was always the unspoken sauce that made HH extra dangerous and kept the LBs honest

 

[JPL]

I don't have anything against Joe, great guy and teammate that he is, I do have a problem with you and others of your ilk. I think it is ok for UT fans to critique the coaching, play calling and players performance without always being branded a HATER. I am not sure what background you possess and what great knowledge you have that I do not, but Joe has weaknesses to his game currently. When we play teams that don't start with the letter V we will not be able to run for long touchdown after long touchdown. He is given the overthrow Joe label because he overthrew 7 or 8 receivers yesterday. He threw 3 or 4 beautiful balls but clearly missed on 3 or 4 that would have been touchdowns. He literally missed a wide open tight end in the middle of the field that didn't have a defender within 20 yards of him. The announcers were discussing it all night, I believe Coach JH appeared frustrated with it and so I am going to have to disagree with your whole premise. We did have to run it more often because our passing attack was grounded and largely ineffective after the first completion to Hyatt.

Good, accurate reply.

@madbamahater Joe will have to improve his completion percentage by a lot to remain QB1 for the VOLS next year. He has to be more accurate. His biggest body of work was 2019 or 2020 at Michigan iirc and his completion percentage was mid 50s, similar to last night‘s 11/21 showing. If he doesn’t under throw Hyatt on the first series it’s a TD, if he hits a wide open Fant it’s a TD. He had several over throws. His TD throw to Walker M. was pretty and he had some other good throws. Better defenses in the sec will simply force Joe to throw (take away the run) and he won’t be able to consistently. I like Joe a lot and would love to be wrong if Joe is QB1 buI don’t think he’s huge for TN next year.

P.S. I hate bama also

 

[Fullfillmer]

You do realize it was raining steadily and we were without 2 starting WRs. The game plan became run the ball in the second half.

I did hear Coach H indicating that we would have to simplify the offense - make it more basic when interviewed at halftime.

Note: If Joe hits the wide open tight end in the middle of the field and any one of the misfires in the endzone to a wide-open Squirrel - we are not having this discussion.

I wasn't on the field huddled up with Joe and Hendon but I can imagine the discussion went a little bit like this "Dude, put a little air under it."
Joe's passing and touch needs some work - I am hoping he would say the same thing. Let's see what he accomplishes between now and the bowl game. I wouldn't have even commented were it not for the OP's efforts to brag on all of his misfires opening up the running game.

I do see where some people were buying what he was selling though. ;-)

 

[Jeff Clark]

I agree 100% Madbamahater

 

[arkyvol]

Milton is like a baseball pitcher who can throw at 100 per, but can't get it in the zone to save his life.

 

[VolByBirth]

Joe is one of those guys where everyone wants him to be good because of his size and strength. Can you imagine this guy with solid accuracy and exceptional decision making? Generational QB with ease. But….

Wanting him to be amazing doesn’t make it so. He’s had two years under CJH and has only improved slightly in decision making and accuracy. Based on that, I think we’ll have a noticeable drop in QB play next year and will realize just how good we had it with Hooker. A lot of games are decided by a play or two, and we lose those games next year where we won them this year. Nico will hopefully live up to the hype and bring us back to 10+ wins in 2 years. Just my two cents.

 

[jaguinn5]

So glad the Vols have Milton. For all the people bitching about Milton, he does so much more for the offense. The opens up the running game, because of his ability to throw the ball so deep (yes he'll have overthrows, so did Hooker). He also has the ability to absolutely truck folks if he runs just a bit.

The overthrow Joe comments and all the negative comments about how he can't play are just really coming from people that don't truly understand the sport. He will connect on a lot of the deep balls. He didn't have anymore overthrows last night (in a cool driving rain) than Hooker would typically have in a game.

I hope the coaches don't screw with his arm and throwing motion during camp next year. If anything he needs to hold the ball a half second longer and/or put a little more air under the ball.

I am really looking forward to Milton leading the Vols next season, no matter how the bowl game goes. The extra practices and game, gives next year's offense a big advantage.

He was pretty efficient last night. NO TURNOVERS was the best thing about his performance last night and the threat alone of the deep ball really had the defense on their heels, which opened up the run game like the Red Sea.

People can obviously have their opinions and say what they want, but if you're gonna spend the next several months hating on Joe Milton, go pick up a hobby....

Did you even watch the game last night? Thank God our running game played lights out because Milton looked pretty bad. Every QB will have overthrown balls here and there on the deep ball, but if you take out the ONLY deep ball he hit he was 10/20 for 86 yards. What makes it worse is that on most of those deep balls, our WRs were open. Joe Milton has some kind of mental block he needs to get fixed.

 

[JoeMiltonsAgent]

I like Milton but it doesn't take a nuanced NFL level mind to see that missing receivers by 5 yards or more can be problematic. Complete lack of accuracy on at least 5 to 6 passes last night.

The passes to Fant and the one to White on the scramble showed a lack of touch.

11/21 for 147 yards and several of those completions were quick swing type passes.

Throw in the elements with the rain and game situation that somewhat limited his opportunities but that was about as easy a situation as he will encounter against an opponent.

Not sure what anyone saw last night that convinced them that Milton can get the Vols to the next level.

If he is the starter next year then so be it. Personally hoping Heupel and company are pounding the portal hard for a bridge QB until Iamaleava is ready though.

 

[SpookyAction]

We were 0-7 on 3rd down.

Scoring on 1st down and effective 4th down play will skew that.
It is a warning sign, but something to work on in December.

 

[Voltopia]

I just cannot fathom folks who say stuff like "more time with the offense" as if it's some magic fairy powder that will get sprinkled on the situation to change it. Nothing is going to change at this point. He is who he is out there.

 

[m1al]

People can obviously have their opinions and say what they want, but if you're gonna spend the next several months hating on Joe Milton, go pick up a hobby....

Please remember your words here and also realize that just because you disagree with others opinions on Joe's play DOES NOT mean they are "hating" on Joe and/or that they are necessarily wrong.

 

[B81]

We nothing. They scored 56 points

If you miss on a deep ball, you need to be able to convert, so you get another shot at the deep ball.

 

[Fightmaker]

I may not understand the sport as well as OP, but I do know that you are supposed to hit open receivers.

 

[BJSforVols]

So glad the Vols have Milton. For all the people bitching about Milton, he does so much more for the offense. The opens up the running game, because of his ability to throw the ball so deep (yes he'll have overthrows, so did Hooker). He also has the ability to absolutely truck folks if he runs just a bit.

The overthrow Joe comments and all the negative comments about how he can't play are just really coming from people that don't truly understand the sport. He will connect on a lot of the deep balls. He didn't have anymore overthrows last night (in a cool driving rain) than Hooker would typically have in a game.

I hope the coaches don't screw with his arm and throwing motion during camp next year. If anything he needs to hold the ball a half second longer and/or put a little more air under the ball.

I am really looking forward to Milton leading the Vols next season, no matter how the bowl game goes. The extra practices and game, gives next year's offense a big advantage.

He was pretty efficient last night. NO TURNOVERS was the best thing about his performance last night and the threat alone of the deep ball really had the defense on their heels, which opened up the run game like the Red Sea.

People can obviously have their opinions and say what they want, but if you're gonna spend the next several months hating on Joe Milton, go pick up a hobby....

Milton is a huge step backwards for the offense without improvement. Hopeful he improves over the offseason or hopefully we have a different QB1 when the season begins.