Joe Milton enrolling early.

Submitted by JHumich on

Joe Milton enrolling early. One wonders if this is related to Speight's announcement, opening up room already by January?

Peters, McCaffrey, and Milton have something in common that their predecessors did not: fully recruited QB's by Jim Harbaugh. 

I got the feeling this year that they did not want to play Peters at all, and felt their hand was forced--like, they wanted him not just to be ready, but to play at All-American level right out of the gate.

I think we'll be taking a huge step up at QB in 2018, and that it will probably be McCaffrey. I also think that we will see both of those things to be true already at the spring game.

Bigly yuge

November 27th, 2017 at 12:06 PM ^

Nice. Milton has an extremely high ceiling, but needs a lot of work. Enrolling early allows him to get acclimated to the game ahead of schedule. Fixing Milton’s throwing motion and working on his accuracy could end up seeing him develop into a monster!

Lakeyale13

November 27th, 2017 at 1:15 PM ^

Milton has all the intangibles, now Jimmy needs to teach him the position. His senior highlight tape scared me a bit. While he does have a cannon, many of his highlights are throws into coverage that #12 on his team just elevates and gets. Whoever #12 is on his team should get an offer. Kid is a frisbee catching dog.

Squash34

November 27th, 2017 at 2:52 PM ^

Several teams this year have thrown into pretty tight coverage against Michigan this year and made completions because the QB put it in the only spot that gets a catch and the wr made great plays on the ball.
So, throwing into coverage is not bad in and of itself. He has the arm strength to thread the needle, it will depend on if he can obtain the accuracy to be able to consistently hit tight windows.

Kevin13

November 27th, 2017 at 1:21 PM ^

Milton has a ton of raw talent and getting an early jump on molding that will be huge. I expect him to redshirt, but by 2019 if they can harnass that talent he could be huge by then.

Have to be excited about the QB position finally. Peters looked very good and if he continues to improve could develop into one of the best in the conference and possibly even the nation. I also think the ceiling is very high for McCaffery, so high it wouldn't shock me to see him start next year, then we have Milton and Doyle in the pipeline..... Good stuff......

JHumich

November 27th, 2017 at 12:10 PM ^

I think either one of them would be the top QB in the conference next year. But, every once in a while this fall, there would be rumblings out of practice--and especially when he was running the scout team--that McCaffrey was already the most consistent and skilled QB on the roster.

If Peters beats him out, all the better.

It is most exciting to think of Milton's raw ability, after two years of Harbaugh honing, throwing to now-juniors DPJ and TB and Nico and Martin in 2019.

DrMantisToboggan

November 27th, 2017 at 12:20 PM ^

I don't think the reports that McCaffrey passed Peters were ever well-founded or based on more than 1 practice or 2. Peters is older and as-talented as McCaffrey, if not more so. Also, don't fall into the trap of "scout team extraordinare!" so easily. Same was said about JOK. McCaffrey will have his day but Peters is a 1st Round NFL draft pick talent. Remember that both of them are not even 20 yet. It's hard to even comprehend Peters' ceiling yet.

CaliUMfan

November 27th, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^

It's true that McCaffrey has carried on the long great tradition of rumors that the redshirt running the scout team is the best player at the position.  I think because they were so consistent, there is a chance he wins the job. Peters is still the most likely bet though. 

ijohnb

November 27th, 2017 at 12:11 PM ^

do have to agree with the OP that it did appear that Harbaugh did not want to play Peters this year.  No insight at to why that would be, but I seriously have to believe that Peters off the bye week would have been far better than O'Korn.  It did not look like Harbaugh wanted to play Peters until it became crystal clear that we were in danger if losing to Rutgers with JOK and then he had no choice.  It could have been because of the o-line, but there can't be any question that there was some hesitancy to play him at all.

In reply to by ijohnb

DrMantisToboggan

November 27th, 2017 at 12:25 PM ^

Yeah I think there's something to the idea that Jim didn't want to "break" Peters. There's a mental aspect to the QB position that can be irreparably broken by playing behind a horrible OL. We saw Wilton's mental regress this year. We saw Devin Gardner basically live through QB Hell. I agree that playing Peters (as THE QB, I know he got a few snaps) before the Rutgers game was probably not even something that Jim considered, and that his hand was forced by JOK's constant errors and a need to change the confidence of a struggling offense after a blowout loss.

mzdmv

November 27th, 2017 at 12:08 PM ^

McCaffrey is a rail-skinny redshirt freshman. Why do people assume he's going to swoop in and take the starting job next year? Peters was as good as he could possibly have been this year and there's no reason to assume he won't have the first shot in 2018.



McCaffrey will most likely be the backup but as his size he's asking to just get broken like this year's QBs, for different reasons obviously.

DrMantisToboggan

November 27th, 2017 at 12:37 PM ^

They list him at 199 and I would be surprised if that was accurate. That's the same height and 20 listed pounds lighter than Brandon, who I think could use another 5-10 pounds of core and leg muscle. 6'5 and 199lbs is definitely too scrawny to feel comfortable about a kid taking hits from Power 5 DL, especially if you are still concerned with the integrity of our pass protection.

michgoblue

November 27th, 2017 at 1:40 PM ^

So Brady is an inch shorter and 12 pounds heavier.  If the extra inch is worth 3-5 poinds of weight, then McCaff needs to gain appriximately 15-20 points to be in the same range.  Which is exactly what most posters in this thread have said.  

McCaff may have huge upside, but if he doesn't put on another 15-18 pounds of muscle, he is going to get broken when he takes hits from some of the larger, angrier DL that we face.  

But, from someone very experienced in S&C and weight lifting generally, asking a kid who is 6'5" and only 18 years old to put on 15 pounds in a year is not asking all that much.  A fairly untrained lifter (and while he may have lifted in high school, make no mistake that as a skinny kid entering a D1 S&C program for the first time, he would be considered "untrained"), with a solid lifting program, a solid diet and solid sleep habits can EASILY put on a pound a month.  If he puts in the work, there is no reason that he couldn't be 210 (or a few pounds heavier) at the start of next season.  

lhglrkwg

November 27th, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^

I think people are thinking McCaffrey could steal the job because for a while rumors were circulating during the time where JOK was starting and Peters was on the bench that McCaffrey was the 3rd best QB on the team and Peters was 4th. Whether that's true or not we'll never know, but it would explain why many think McCaffrey has a shot to take the job

Kevin13

November 27th, 2017 at 1:26 PM ^

to start with McCaffery didn't get on campus until June so he's only been here 5 months. He was highly rated out of HS because he is very talented and comes from great stock. By next fall he will have been in the S&C program for over a year and the rail-skinny Freshman will have developed into a college ready QB.

Word has been McCaffery is the real deal and could easily push for the starting job next year. It should be great competition between him and Peters and the winner will have earned it and our team will be much better due to improved QB play next year.

funkywolve

November 27th, 2017 at 5:01 PM ^

If no one has seen a player play in a real game, the odds are the player is going to be a sure fire all-american.  It doesn't matter whether the player is still in high school or at UM, you can be sure they are probably better than whoever is listed in front of them on the depth chart.  Don't you remember September when everyone was clamoring for JOK to replace Speight?

 

bronxblue

November 27th, 2017 at 12:10 PM ^

Milton is as rough as sandpaper, but he's got immense potential.  Getting on campus for spring ball and getting those reps will do wonders for him.  At no point do I want to see him taking a meaningful snap in 2018, but he's a big lottery ticket that would be nice to see pay out.

MileHighWolverine

November 27th, 2017 at 12:12 PM ^

I have a good feeling about this kid...no idea why, but feel he's a big time gamer. I hope they don't mess with his mechanics too much. If he's comfortable and can be accurate throwing the way he does now, then I'm fine with a wonky delivery.