JaVontez Spraggins says Hendon Hooker, Joe Milton share 'same mindset'

Tennessee put together one of its best seasons in recent memory in 2022, in part because of the elite quarterback play coach Josh Heupel helped coach out of his team. Now how well the Volunteers can sustain that success might boil down to how closely Joe Milton can mirror Hendon Hooker‘s fantastic 2022 campaign.

And, boy, was Hooker absolutely lethal.

The talented veteran gunslinger finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and guided the Volunteers to a near playoff berth in a campaign that ended with 11 wins.

But at least one teammate doesn’t see much difference in Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton when it comes to the intangibles.

“As far as what we see on the field, like the basics, grit, want-to and the mentality, I can see that from Hendon and Joe,” offensive lineman JaVontez Spraggins said. “Those guys were together last year, as you can see. Step by step, day by day it was those two, so they’ve got the same mindset.”

Here’s what Milton will be out to replace production-wise. It’s a lot.

During the 2022 season, Hooker went 229-of-329 passing for 3,135 yards and he did it while throwing 27 touchdown passes and just two interceptions. He also added 430 yards rushing and five scores on the ground.

Milton saw a little bit of time late in the season, but the Volunteers are mostly banking on him building on that.

The former Michigan quarterback attempted only 82 passes on the 2022 season, even with Tennessee blowing out many of its opponents. He finished 53-of-82 passing for 971 yards with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions.

And after Hooker went down with a season-ending injury in November, it was Milton that stepped in and helped steady the ship.

Tennessee finished the campaign with a 56-0 smearing on in-state foe Vanderbilt, then cruised with a 31-14 win over Clemson in the Orange Bowl.

Milton finished with 251 yards passing and three touchdowns without an interception in the Orange Bowl.

So, again, Spraggins doesn’t think there will be a whole lot of drop-off from Hendon Hooker to Joe Milton, even if the naysayers might.

“You think Hendon’s gone it won’t be the same?” Spraggins said. “Joe’s the guy. He’s got the same mindset, same want-to, same mentality.”

Milton is every bit the veteran experience-wise that Hooker was, having spent five years in college already. The only real question is how he’ll fare being in charge of a team again, three years removed from his last attempt at it at Michigan.

If Spraggins is right, Tennessee should be just fine.