NFL Scouting Director weighs in on Tennessee QB Joe Milton

In 2023, Joe Milton will take over as the starting quarterback at Tennessee. With his cannon for an arm, there are a lot of people who are excited about his potential in Josh Heupel’s explosive offense. That includes NFL scouts.

One anonymous NFL scouting director even compared him to Anthony Richardson for his raw talent and ability.

“I would keep a close eye on Milton,” said the scouting director. “They think he’s the next AR [Anthony Richardson] from last year, just because he’s gigantic and has one of strongest arms you’ll ever see. Historically, his accuracy has been poor. But if he can put the ball in the right zip code on a consistent basis, now we’re talking about a guy that’s going to get people’s attention.”

In a lot of respects, the comparison makes some sense. Both Joe Milton and Anthony Richardson are strong, athletic quarterbacks who have historically struggled with their accuracy. However, there is a key difference in their ages. Richardson entered the NFL at just 21 years old, while Milton is already 23 ahead of the 2023 college season.

Despite this, the NFL scout remains confident that Milton is going to put up massive numbers.

“I think he will have tremendous numbers, he’s huge, and he throws it a mile.”

Joe Milton was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2018, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He originally went to Michigan before transferring to Tennessee. In 2021, Hendon Hooker won the starting job from him but Milton returned to play in 2022 once Hooker was injured.

In the past, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic argued that Hendon Hooker’s health and Anthony Richardson’s performance in the NFL could impact Joe Milton’s draft stock.

“People are going to go, ‘OK, this thing is like, it translates better than we thought it did,’” Feldman said.

Joe Milton on how Peyton Manning helps him at Tennessee

Legendary NFL quarterback Peyton Manning shares a connection with Joe Milton in that both of them went to Tennessee. Because of this, Manning likes to spend time in Knoxville and give advice to the quarterbacks on the team.

At the Manning Passing Academy, Milton explained how Manning helps him.

“You get a better connection, because you know he’s gonna be at the games and know that he’s gonna be in a facility,” Milton said. “We also get to pick his brain, you’re gonna get to understand what he was thinking, how he sees defenses, how he goes about a team, you know, and just pretty much just have fun.”