Why Joe Milton will be a top five quarterback during 2023 regular season

College football is stacked with talented quarterbacks. On3’s own JD Pickell believes Tennessee‘s Joe Milton III sits toward the top of that stack.

“Joe Milton, for me, will be a top 5 quarterback when it’s all said and done in the regular season,” PicKell said. “Dude has Uncle Rico arm strength, has enormous size, throws down backflips like Anthony Richardson. Plus, the weapons they have at Tennessee – Squirrel White, Dont’e Thornton, who is 6-5 by the way, Bru McCoy, who is a bully on the outside. Plus Josh Heupel’s offensive system – that equals boom for me.”

Although Milton only started in Tennessee’s final two games last season after Hendon Hooker went down with an injury, he showed promise. In his limited time, Milton completed 53-of-82 (.650) passes for 971 yards and 10 touchdowns with no interceptions.

Between spring training and Manning Passing Academy, there’s been nothing but exciting rumors about Milton.

“The buzz out of Knoxville so far is that he is dialed in,” PicKell said. “All the reports that we’ve heard from people that are close to that operation are that he is looking good, which at this point in the year, you would hope that everybody looks good. But he’s looking like he is comfortable in the system.

“[Milton] sitting behind Hendon Hooker may have been the best thing for his career that’s ever happened. Got a chance to sit back, see somebody else do it at a really, really high level. And now, he is getting the keys to the offense. And I think he’s going to do phenomenal things. Unreal ceiling, virtually has no ceiling,” PicKell added.

Milton knows his way around the bench. The 6-foot-5 quarterback was the backup QB at Michigan during his first two seasons. In 2021, Milton started his first two games with the Volunteers before being moved to the reserves. Last season, Milton was forced to watch Hooker dominate the college football scene.

Now, it’s Milton’s turn, and PicKell doesn’t expect him to undershoot expectations.

“Joe Milton’s been through some stuff, now. He’s lost the starting quarterback job not once, but twice. He’s had to sit behind and watch Hendon Hooker. And I think for him, that will do a lot for the way that he is wired now competitively. I think it has hardened him. And I think it’s going to lead to tremendous results from him from a leadership standpoint and on the field,” PicKell said.

Fans will see a Milton-led offense on Sept. 2, when the Vols take on Virginia in their season-opener.