There’s never been a doubt about the talent.
Joe Milton found a new home a couple of weeks ago in the 2024 NFL Draft, landing with the New England Patriots in the sixth round. The Patriots, who are moving into a totally new era with former Vol Jerod Mayo as head coach, also took North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye with the third overall selection.
Veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett is also on the roster.
For Milton, it’s a nice landing spot with a potential path forward as a backup over the next couple of seasons. You kind of got the feeling that a few teams would fall in love with Milton’s physical tools, which are undeniable.
That team turned out to be the Patriots, and it sounds like their acting decision-maker Eliot Wolf was sold after watching him live.
Patriots de facto GM Eliot Wolf said New England drafted former Tennessee QB Joe Milton because he was too talented to pass up.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 9, 2024
“I had the opportunity to watch Joe play live the last game of the year against Vanderbilt, and you know I got there really early and watched him warm up… Just watching him throw the football is unbelievable,” Wolf said on The Adam Schefter Podcast. “You know, 6-5, 245 pounds, he’s got a rocket for an arm, he’s athletic. He played in Heupel’s offense there, which is not an NFL offense. But we feel like there are some things there that we can work with and develop.
“It was one of those picks where, you know, there was too much talent in him to pass that up.”
Wolf pointed to offensive assistants Ben McAdoo and Alex Van Pelt as reasons for confidence when selecting a developmental guy like Milton — and Drake Maye also.
That game against Vanderbilt was Milton’s best of the year by far. Playing on senior day, Milton was lights out all night long. He ended up going 22/33 passing, throwing for 383 yards and four touchdowns. He added two rushing touchdowns as well, leading Tennessee to a 48-24 win over the Commodores.
It was a performance we had all kind of been waiting for, and a 2-9 Vanderbilt team was the perfect place to get it. Overall, Milton just never really put all the puzzle pieces together in 2023. He ended up throwing for 2,813 yards and 20 touchdowns, but the passing attack took a large step back from the 2022 season with Hendon Hooker.
The most disappointing aspect was the lack of a downfield passing game, despite Milton’s cannon arm. He averaged 7.9 yards per pass attempt (48th overall), down from the 9.5 yards per attempt from Hooker in 2022 (1st overall).
Milton now enters a true pro-style offense, which is a large departure from Heupel’s attack as Wolf pointed out. He’ll be one of the more fascinating prospects in all of the NFL to watch during the preseason, which is set to begin in August.
Let’s hope the Patriots give him the freedom to uncork a few — he should see plenty of work.