Joe Milton prioritized improving speed in offseason

Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton has been a starting quarterback at the Power Five level before. But the veteran signal-caller is getting his chance to run an offense one final time this fall with the Volunteers.

He, obviously, wants to make the most of it. One thing he did in the offseason to help with that was work on his speed.

“Last year, I was weighing like 245, 250,” Milton said during a press conference this week. “My 10-yard splits, I wanted to be faster. I knew that if I did that I had to go back to towards my high school size and my freshman year of college size so I decided to do that.”

For his career, Milton has 96 carries for 362 yards. Those carries and yardage includes his sacks, which obviously brings the total down.

However, it is not Milton’s speed that will draw the most attention from fans and scouts but his rocket arm. The 6-foot-5 Milton is most known for his cannon of an arm and it is considered to be one of his best traits — if not the best.

As a backup to Hendon Hooker last year and then starter at the end of the year after Hooker was hurt in late November, Milton was 53 of 82 for 971 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Head coach Josh Heupel said Milton has looked great in fall camp as he has continued to improve as the season has gotten closer.

“You put quarterbacks in tough situations and in some situations during practice you put them in the harder spots that they could be in,” Heupel said. “He’s continued to grow in his understanding of Football 101. Understanding when can I hang in the pocket? When’s it time to get rid of the football and make sure that in a certain situation, whether we’re backed up or in field goal range where you’ve got three, you’re trying to get seven. Understanding the timing and how to play smart football in those situations.”

Milton had some competition in the room pushing him with players like former five-star prospect and true freshman Nico Iamaleava but this was Milton’s team from the jump. He hasn’t let that stop him from working hard.

“He’s continued to grow. Love what he’s done. You know, the other quarterbacks in the room have continued to grow as we’ve put them in a lot of situations,” Heupel said.