Negative buzz resurfacing for former Michigan football quarterback

Former Michigan football quarterback Joe Milton was the Wolverines’ starter in 2020 —  a year that Michigan saw a 2-4 finish, the worst of the Jim Harbaugh era. Following that season, Milton transferred to Tennessee football, where he has waited for a few years to earn the starting QB job, which he currently has. That said, just a few games into his tenure in SEC country, some negative buzz is starting to resurface due to the Volunteers’ struggling passing attack.

Former Michigan football quarterback still dealing with similar issues

All Michigan football fans would love to forget that the COVID-19 season ever happened; in fact, many have largely forgotten it due to the Wolverines’ back-to-back Big Ten titles and CFP appearances in the following years. Still, for just a moment, let’s reflect on what happened.

Despite a strong Week 1 win, Michigan football started dropping games left and right, beginning with a shocking upset loss against Michigan State in Ann Arbor. Joe Milton, the Wolverines’ QB1, completed 80 of his 141 passes (57% completion) for just over 1,000 yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions. While Milton was not the only thing wrong with Michigan’s offense that year, he was definitely a large part of the team’s overall struggles.

Milton’s talent was never in question; rather, the concern was his ability to dial in and make good decisions with the football. Everyone knew he could throw the ball 80-90 yards, but could he hit an open receiver 15 yards out? These were the types of issues that forced Milton into transferring to Tennessee football.

While off-season reports stated that the former Michigan football quarterback has been developing at an incredible rate since leaving Ann Arbor, that is yet to be seen this year. Just two games into the 2023 season, the same concerns are starting to come about for Tennessee — can Milton dial it in and maximize his potential?

Can Joe Milton and the Tennessee football passing offense figure things out?

Last weekend, against Austin Peay (FCS), Milton had a QBR of 36.3 during the Vols’ underwhelming 30-13 victory. Despite a 2-0 start, there are some reoccurring concerns about the Tennessee passing offense, similar to the early-season concerns that were seen during Milton’s days with Michigan football.

“Joe (Milton) would tell you he’s got to hit a couple of those,” Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel said of the passing attack. “We’ve got to make the play out on the perimeter. Some subtle things, fundamentally, that can help you be more accurate with the ball, but we’ve seen them operate in that; we just didn’t execute it very well early in the football game.”

So far this year, former Michigan football quarterback Joe Milton has completed over 66% of his passes (against Virginia and Austin Peay) for 429 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. This weekend, Tennessee gets its first real test of the year as it takes on the Florida Gators at ‘The Swamp’ for a road night game. While Milton is seemingly better than he was a few years ago with the Wolverines, it’s clear that some of the same concerns continue to linger for the 6th-year veteran.

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