Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III. Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Tennessee QB Joe Milton III announces NFL Draft decision

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated 12/27/23

Joe Milton III is focusing on his future, which means he's going to skip the Tennessee Volunteers' bowl game this Monday against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Tennessee, ranked No. 21 at 8-4, is scheduled to take on the No. 17 Hawkeyes (10-3) in the Citrus Bowl. Milton, who just played his super senior season, announced on social media that he will be skipping the contest and will instead enter the 2024 NFL Draft.

Joe Milton says goodbye to Tennessee fans. He’s still with team in Orlando.

It’s officially Nico time pic.twitter.com/HAigwNydsI
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) December 27, 2023

This season, Milton threw for 2,813 yards and 20 touchdowns with five interceptions. He also rushed for 299 yards and seven touchdowns.

This announcement marks the end of a college career that saw him put up some impressive numbers.

Ranked as a four-star quarterback coming out of high school (Orlando, Florida), Milton signed with the Michigan Wolverines and spent three seasons in Ann Arbor, largely playing a backup role.

He transferred to Tennessee in 2021 with the hopes of being the starter for head coach Josh Heupel, but he held the QB1 spot for just two games before a leg injury opened the door for Hendon Hooker to take over in Tennessee. Milton was Hooker's backup in 2022 and finally got his shot as a starter this past season.

He's now one of the more intriguing quarterback prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft, but he's most certainly behind the likes of Jayden Daniels (LSU), Bo Nix (Oregon), J.J. McCarthy (Michigan), Michael Penix Jr. (Washington), Caleb Williams (USC) and Drake Maye (North Carolina) in the pecking order.

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