Joe Milton's On3 NIL Valuation jumps following Tennessee spring ball

Joe Milton proved last fall he could handle the Tennessee starting job.

The quarterback resurfaced this past season when Hendon Hooker tore his ACL against South Carolina. After handing the role to Hooker a week into the 2021 season, he had the opportunity to show his potential.

Milton went undefeated in two starts. He was named the Orange Bowl MVP, too, after throwing three touchdowns to three different receivers. The former Michigan quarterback appeared to have his confidence back, reminding fans why he was a four-star recruit coming out of high school.

Entering this spring, he was going to be the only reason why could lose out on the job. Obviously Nico Iamaleava, the most highly-touted quarterback recruit since Peyton Manning, enrolled early. But despite the talent, Iamaleava needs time to learn the Vols’ system and settle into college life. Not rush into a starting competition.

Coming out of this spring, it’s clear Milton will be starting for Tennessee when it opens the season on Sept. 2 against Virginia. In the Orange-and-White game, he looked calm throwing for 79 yards and a touchdown. He has the trust of the Tennessee locker room and coaching staff entering Year 3 in Knoxville.

It’s why he now has a $549,000 On3 NIL Valuation. The quarterback’s valuation has increased by $99,000 since the start of spring ball. He now ranks No. 52 in the college football NIL rankings. His valuation is No. 85 in the On3 NIL 100, which is the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.

Joe Milton now has 87,000 social media followers between Instagram and Twitter, too. His following has slightly jumped this spring, now in the spotlight as Tennessee’s quarterback.

Joe Milton’s NIL brand

Milton re-signed his NIL deal with The Volunteer Club back in January, basically announcing he would be back in Knoxville for his final year of college eligibility.

Run by Spyre Sports Group, the NIL collective supports Tennessee student-athletes through a monthly membership program. To date, it’s distributed more than $4.5 million to athletes. As part of Milton’s deal with the Vol Club, he has made appearances at a number of events.

“That was announcing we had re-signed Joe,” Spyre’s Hunter Baddour previously told On3. “He’ll make a number of appearances and social media posts for us. It’s a little symbolic. We’re taking care of Joe.”

He’s also participated in an event back in March at Dick’s House of Sport in Knoxville with Shedeur Sanders hosted by the Brady brand. The two quarterbacks hosted a youth camp at the facility after speaking on a panel.

As the starting quarterback at Tennessee entering the fall, more brands will want to align with him. If he can piece together a strong start, too, national brands entering the space will seriously consider working with Milton.

About On3 NIL Valuation

The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s NIL value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories: performance, influence and exposure.

About On3 NIL Valuation, Brand Value, Roster Value

While the algorithm includes deal data, it does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals athletes have completed to date, nor does it set an athlete’s NIL valuation for their entire career. The On3 NIL Valuation calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects out to as long as 12 months into the future.

The On3 NIL Valuation is publicly available. Performance, Influence, and Exposure ratings along with the athlete’s personal Brand Value Index and Roster Value Index are available only to the athlete in the “Athlete Verified” private dashboard on the On3 Athlete Network.