The Tennessee Volunteers saw their second player drafted on Saturday during the final day of the 2024 NFL Draft, and it was one who’s been perhaps the most polarizing draft pick in quite a while in Joe Milton. The New England Patriots took Milton in the sixth round with the 193rd overall pick.
Undoubtedly the Patriots were among those who Milton wowed when watching him throw the football. Or an orange. Or pretty much whatever he puts in his hands. It’s hard to watch him drop back on a football field,
That is, until you watch him play.
Milton never was able to put his supreme physical skills together with the finer aspects of the position. Namely, touch, anticipation, and knowing where to go with the football and when. Tennessee fans saw flashes of that at times, like when the Vols defeated Kentucky last year. Or against Vanderbilt both times (which isn’t saying much). Or in parts of the Orange Bowl wins over Clemson. Or perhaps the first half last year against Bama.
Problem is the use of the word parts. The consistency was never there, and I don’t see how it’s going to get there on the next level when defenses are even smarter, faster, and tougher. Plenty of quarterbacks have college figured out and then fall apart in the pros. Not many struggle to figure out college defenses and then step it up in the pros.
Look, I hope Milton does. I’ll have an eye on him like I do all VFLs. I just think that the book’s written on Milton. Perhaps he shifts over to tight end. At 6’3”, 250 pounds with a 4.55 40-yard dash, he absolutely has the physical tools for it.
We’ll find out this fall.