'An absolute cannon': What opposing coaches told ESPN about Tennessee's Joe Milton III
Two things stand out about Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III according to opposing coaches — the size of his arm and his size in general. That’s where the focus was when ESPN granted anonymity to coaches to breakdown quarterbacks across college football.
With Milton, it was all about his arm — Milton has hinted before that he has thrown a football over 90 yards — and his 6-foot-5, 235-pound frame.
“An absolute cannon for an arm,” one SEC coach told ESPN. “There’s no vertical shot he can’t hit. He’s a little more of a pocket passer and seems to be comfortable standing back there and making throws. He’s got all the right tools you need. He can reach the far numbers; he can spray it all over the field.”
‘He’s kind of like what Anthony Richardson was’
“He’s the most dangerous guy,” an SEC defensive coordinator told ESPN. “He’s kind of like what Anthony Richardson was (in 2022]=), he’s humongous. I’ve watched him in warmups in pads and I’m like, ‘I hope he does not get in.’ But now he’s up.”
Milton is up because Hendon Hooker is off to the NFL, starting his professional career with the Detroit Lions after being picked in the third round of the NFL Draft.
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Last season Milton passed for 971 yards and 10 touchdowns, completing 65 percent of his passes over nine games while playing behind Hooker. He started in Tennessee’s 56-0 win in the regular-season finale at Vanderbilt a week after Hooker’s season-ending ACL tear, throwing for 147 yards and a touchdown while the Vols rushed for 362 yards and six touchdowns as a team.
Milton was named the Orange Bowl MVP after throwing for 251 yards and three touchdowns to lead Tennessee to the win over Clemson, connecting with Ramel Keyton, Squirrel White and Bru McCoy while the Vols were playing without Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman.
ESPN: Joe Milton is most important player in 2023 College Football Playoff Race
ESPN’s Bill Connelly earlier this week named Milton the No. 1 most important player in the 2023 College Football Playoff race:
“Milton gets a third chance to become a star after misfiring at Michigan in 2020 and Tennessee in 2021 and whether he succeeds or fails — whether Tennessee becomes a potential Georgia or Alabama spoiler or an outright SEC favorite — we’ll know why.”
“If he still takes too many sacks and toes the wrong side of the line between patience and slow decision-making, he’ll probably end the year on the bench behind five-star freshman Nico Iamaleava.
“But if he’s firing quickly to Ramel Keyton, Bru McCoy and Squirrel White and fully harnessing the explosiveness of both Josh Heupel’s offense and his own right arm — he’s almost certainly got the strongest arm in college football — then the sky’s the limit for Tennessee. Forget spoiler talk and put them in the national title conversation.
“No pressure, Joe.”
