Riding for my guy Joe Milton
Milton was not good last night. He did some particularly galling things (the missed wheel route TD to Corum hurt a lot) that made me sad as a fan. He was deservedly benched. If McCaffrey had decided to stay, maybe he would be the starter.
Still, I resent the talk of Milton being a definitively bad QB whose presence as the starter is evidence of Harbaugh's incompetence. He's a talented kid with real playmaking ability who needs more help, from his teammates and the playcallers. I remain optimistic about what he could do, given a fresh start with a competent coaching staff (if such a situation does actually come to pass next year).
We're lucky to have a kid with his athleticism and attitude leading our squad. Let's ease up on him.
The coaching staff however -- they totally suck right now, and they need to go, needless to say...
November 15th, 2020 at 3:54 PM ^
He plays hard and seems like a good kid. Not saying he would be better but hes caught in an offense that does him no favors. The scheme changes quarter to quarter.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:28 PM ^
It's hard to tell really because the play calling the last few weeks is so nonsensical.
That said, he definitely has accuracy issues, but he can be a huge asset in the running game if he's utilized right. If he can't push the ball down the field with accuracy however he becomes extremely limited in what he can do.
November 15th, 2020 at 5:38 PM ^
We’re not going to be able to run the ball well until we prove that we can throw it downfield. It doesn’t matter if it’s Milton or the backs. Right now we are extremely easy to defend.
November 15th, 2020 at 6:26 PM ^
Sorry colonel, Milton is not good. Being big and having a strong arm doesn’t necessarily mean talented. He is horribly inaccurate and can’t see coverage
November 16th, 2020 at 2:08 PM ^
Terrible take. He's only a sophomore and made some great tight-window passes against MSU and some great passes on the run against Indiana. He had a bad game. Relax and give the kid some time to get better.
November 15th, 2020 at 3:55 PM ^
He's not a big ten qb
November 15th, 2020 at 4:00 PM ^
at this point--he's just not ready--he has so little experience and reps
November 15th, 2020 at 4:04 PM ^
It's his 3rd year in the program. He plays too passive, lack game presence, and arm is too inaccurate to be able to move the ball against Big Ten defenses.
He may be ok in the Sun Belt, C USA, or MAC.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:54 PM ^
Has horrible field vision, can’t read defenses, and makes horrible decisions. And for god sakes learn to throw the ball away. He takes so many slow progressing sacks where he could easily throw the ball away.
November 15th, 2020 at 5:25 PM ^
There are freshman who start for power 5 teams!
November 15th, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^
I have felt from day 1 with Milton, if he ever was the starter it would not be a good thing for Michigan football.
He is a Junior with 3 years of preseason practice under his belt and multiple years to refine his craft. We weren’t playing OSU yesterday, we were playing Wiscy and clearly the moment was too big for him.
I’m sure he is a fine young man. I would love my daughter to being home a man with his character. He represents the school well and is a hard worker. He Just isn’t a good quarterback.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:54 PM ^
Some is these interceptions look similar to last year. Where you are either incredibly inaccurate or have moments where you completely lose vision and feel for where the defenders are sitting.
We have seen two weeks in a row missed TD passes that just about anyone on this board can make. These misses are as much mental (rushed, misjudged) as physical.
His good plays are wow Plays. Those lose value when you self destruct.
November 15th, 2020 at 5:03 PM ^
How was yesterday's first one his fault? He hit the guy (Eubanks?) square in the chest.
November 15th, 2020 at 5:10 PM ^
He threw that into coverage. The defender was draped all over Eubanks. A deflection there was not surprising at all.
November 15th, 2020 at 5:29 PM ^
Yes, Eubanks should have caught it rather than letting it bounce off his face, but it was a bullet from about 10 yds away. Milton has no touch.
November 15th, 2020 at 11:49 PM ^
It was a risky pass to Eubanks but it should have been caught.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:03 PM ^
He had accuracy issues in HS, and they do not appear to have improved. Accuracy may be the most difficult skill to improve and many QB’s never make that leap. This is what 247 said about him as a recruit. The biggest thing I thought Milton needed to work when he got to the next level was dialing in the accuracy and learning how to process defenses at a high level.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:03 PM ^
If only he had access to a QB Whisperer...
November 15th, 2020 at 4:19 PM ^
Right now this team is loaded with talented players who are being screwed over by coaching. I don't know exactly how good Milton can be but he's hardly alone in being a victim of the overall program situation. So I'll continue to give him the benefit of the doubt
November 15th, 2020 at 4:40 PM ^
With all due respect, in the last three weeks what have we seen to state this team is loaded with talent? DBs are an obvious problem. D line was overpowered by IU and UW, and could get no push against MSU. OL has been completely ineffective the last 3 weeks; rush game is nonexistent. Receivers struggle to get open, and when they do, QB struggles to hit them. TE can't catch. Michigan's guys are higher rated on paper, but in the IU and UW games, on the field the opponent had obvious physical advantages in almost every matchup. Yes, the coaching/game-planning/player development are sorely lacking but where are the horses making plays despite that? I do sincerely apologize for the negative tenor of these comments, but it's what I'm seeing.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:53 PM ^
Well for one thing this team currently has multiple likely high-round NFL draft picks out with injury, even if we don't count Covid departures. We know those guys (Paye, Hutchinson, Mayfield) are good. Then you have guys who we know can play but are playing worse than last year as the team cycles chaotically through systems and plays--McGrone is a good example of this. And finally you have guys are getting their first chance to prove themselves, like Corum and Johnson and Barrett, who are having to do so in a context where it's hard for anyone to look good. Maybe some of these guys are overrated, but I don't think they all are. The team as a whole simply isn't organized and prepared in a way that would give these guys a chance to be their best selves
November 15th, 2020 at 5:04 PM ^
Everything you say is true. However our interior starting DL and starting CBS would be on the bench for most Big Ten teams. Add in the injuries and coaching issues and this is a perfect storm.
November 15th, 2020 at 5:12 PM ^
I will concede Michigan is missing several of their top players out as you point out. But, Wisconsin was missing at least as many starters last night and still came into Michigan Stadium and physically dominated on both sides of the ball. I hope you're right and the talent is there and the problem fully lies with how it's being deployed by the coaches, as that would provide hope for future seasons, but the eye test from the last two games is not encouraging.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:03 PM ^
The difference is that even with a healthy team, Michigan was coming into the season with basically a whole new O-Line, Wisconsin was replacing only a few starters. Wisconsin didn't rest the offense on Mertz's shoulders. The Wisconsin O-Line was able to push the Michigan front 7 around enough that Mertz didn't need to be throwing for 300 yards.
On defense, Wisconsin loaded the box and took away the run. That forced Milton to try and pass his way back into the game. Unfortunately it appears that Milton doesn't read defense very well yet. Has touch and accuracy issues and when the pocket breaks down, holds the ball way to long.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:21 PM ^
Milton is not good at quarterback
This was evident to anyone with eyes.
That the coaches pushed him to be the starter this year is a serious problem
He must look stellar against that dan brown defense in practice
November 15th, 2020 at 4:24 PM ^
That he has the physical talent is indisputable. But, in consecutive weeks, has now both badly overthrown a gimme touchdown and thrown a terrible interception to a defender with no receiver nearby. I would love to see him put it all together, but he wouldn't be the first physical specimen to wash out as a QB. I haven't seen the guidance from the Harbaugh regime to harness those physical gifts and develop the more intangible aspects of the position. We all badly want to see him succeed, and granted it's only been 4 games, but a back-up plan must be on the table.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:28 PM ^
I'm with you OP. Get this Milton some modern playcalling and more talent around him and it's a different story. Unfortunately the talent gap for the offense as a whole is real and I don't see leaps being made in the next 1-2 years.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:49 PM ^
What? The offense has a ton of talent. Four stars everywhere.
November 15th, 2020 at 5:50 PM ^
Don't care how many "stars" they have. They aren't any good.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:28 PM ^
I'm thinking Dylan McCaffrey had to have been really, really bad.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:32 PM ^
we've come to learn losing the starting job is not why Dylan decided to sit out
November 15th, 2020 at 4:32 PM ^
I really don't understand how McCaffrey could have lost out. Regardless of Milton's talents he clearly isn't ready. When it was announced that he was the starter I became very uneasy.
I think I read on twitter a post from Mgoblog that Dylan is still at Michigan finishing his degree?
November 15th, 2020 at 5:11 PM ^
Yes, finishing his degree and will be a grad transfer with 2 years of eligibility remaining. If he had played this year he would still have been able to be a grad transfer with 2 years of eligibility remaining.
November 15th, 2020 at 5:59 PM ^
not that it matters, but could he be allowed to stay if he wanted to? If someone goes to him hat in hand? maybe some flowers? Carryout from Blimpy? A quad with a fried egg?
November 15th, 2020 at 7:04 PM ^
i don't know about mccaffrey, but a quad with a fried egg might entice me to come back for another degree.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:33 PM ^
I think Tom Brady would be struggling (well struggling for him) under this staff right now.
Rudock looked good by the end of the year, Speight maxed out in 2016. Since 2017, every QB at Michigan has looked worse as time has gone on. Milton looked fine week 1, too much on his plate in weeks 2&3 and the atrocious last night.
He has talent. I don’t think this staff would get the most out of him. I’d be curious to see him under a different staff next year.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:40 PM ^
He has no OL. Give him time and a running game and he's the top 3-4 QB in the conference. The drops aren't helping (looking at you Erick All).
November 15th, 2020 at 4:44 PM ^
I would bet that Joe Milton can throw a football farther than a lot of NFL quarterbacks.I would bet that Joe Milton could outrun a lot of NFL quarterbacks. I would bet that Joe Milton is a lot bigger and stronger than a lot of NFL quarterbacks. Unfortunately, it's the intangibles that make NFL or upper tier college quarterbacks. The ability to fit passes into tight windows, the ability to put touch on passes and drop then in when necessary, the ability to walk to a line of scrimmage and diagnose what the defense is giving you and where your opportunities will lie. Unfortunately Milton hasn't shown proficiency in any of these areas. I have to believe that the coaches are working with him on these things and there was a lot mentioned about Devin Gardner working with him on a lot of these attributes, but you can lead a horse to water but you cant always make him drink. If after being in the program for three years you still struggle with the same things at what point do you just face it that you have what you have and he's probably not going to be the guy you wished he would be. Hopefully someday it will click for him but right now he does not appear to be a great option to lead this team out of this funk.
November 15th, 2020 at 5:00 PM ^
I recently read an article about a new cognitive test, the S2, that football and baseball teams are using to evaluate those intangibles. It claims to do a better job than the Wonderlic test of identifying certain cognitive processes like decision-making and response time, the things that make an athlete able to succeed in certain situations. There was an article in The Athletic about it. Here's the website. I think it's interesting to look at sports performance through this lens, rather than just speed or strength or other physical metrics.
https://www.s2cognition.com/
November 15th, 2020 at 4:44 PM ^
I would bet that Joe Milton can throw a football farther than a lot of NFL quarterbacks.I would bet that Joe Milton could outrun a lot of NFL quarterbacks. I would bet that Joe Milton is a lot bigger and stronger than a lot of NFL quarterbacks. Unfortunately, it's the intangibles that make NFL or upper tier college quarterbacks. The ability to fit passes into tight windows, the ability to put touch on passes and drop then in when necessary, the ability to walk to a line of scrimmage and diagnose what the defense is giving you and where your opportunities will lie. Unfortunately Milton hasn't shown proficiency in any of these areas. I have to believe that the coaches are working with him on these things and there was a lot mentioned about Devin Gardner working with him on a lot of these attributes, but you can lead a horse to water but you cant always make him drink. If after being in the program for three years you still struggle with the same things at what point do you just face it that you have what you have and he's probably not going to be the guy you wished he would be. Hopefully someday it will click for him but right now he does not appear to be a great option to lead this team out of this funk.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:46 PM ^
I'd like to see McNamara get more snaps, and not when the game has already been decided. I would still start Milton against the Rutger but tell both QB's McNamara will lead a few drives early on, not in the 2nd half.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:48 PM ^
He really isn’t that athletic.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:51 PM ^
He’s lucky he doesn’t have 8-10 INTs this season instead of just 4. MSU dropped a couple, IU dropped 1, Minny dropped a couple, and Wisky dropped a really easy one last night.
is he bad? He’s got talent, but he’s been here 3 years. Give McNamara the start next week.
November 15th, 2020 at 4:52 PM ^
I think Joe was pretty good in the first 3 games... outside of that one pick versus Indiana... Joe wasn't the biggest reason why they lost those games.
Yesterday, he didn't look very good though; that second int was similar to the Indiana one - he locked on to his receiver and the defense made him pay...
I am a little disappointed in his running to be honest; this offense needs some QB runs and he hasn't shown that ability to date consistently
Touch is also something he seems to struggle with...
November 15th, 2020 at 4:54 PM ^
Agreed re: Milton. He was among the last of Michigan's problems in the MSU and IU games. He's obviously still learning, but he seems like a very hardworking young man. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater here or be harsh toward our players.
November 15th, 2020 at 10:48 PM ^
Yeah, agreed. Frankly, I thought he was really solid against Indiana considering how much the pathetic running game constantly stuck him in bad situations.
November 15th, 2020 at 5:03 PM ^
I’d like to see Cade start at Rutgers. Milton is what I feared prior to the season.
November 15th, 2020 at 5:05 PM ^
I was hoping the offensive game plane would have been similar to lloyds last game in the outback. Air it out, open up the playback, have multiple counters.
3 and 18 reflects more the playing call than execution. No urgency to win on first down.
i recall Dabo saying he tracks touches/plays for impact players. Charbonet is one of him, and needs to touch the ball 15 plus times a game.
November 15th, 2020 at 5:20 PM ^
He definitely not faster than mcCaffrey! Sometimes he looks plain slow and scared to run! Which is a shame at 6"5 and 240
November 15th, 2020 at 5:20 PM ^
I still hope McCarthy still wants to play here. He will win out the starting job a freshman. Joe may be just an average B1G QB