Joe Milton III turned heads this week at the NFL Scouting Combine. With a 35-inch vertical and 62-mile-per-hour pass, Milton’s draft stock skyrocketed. On Monday, FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt raved about Milton’s NFL Combine performance.
“Joe Milton did your kind of the classic like, ‘Look at him throw!'” Klatt said. “I’ve been going on and on and on about these metrics where you can break ties. And you know what? That certainly is going to be the case for Joe Milton.
“I’ve been waiting for Joe Milton to get to this point since I first saw him when he was a freshman at Michigan. I remember seeing him as a freshman at Michigan and he comes out for warmups and I was like, ‘Wow, like this dude can throw the ball.'”
In the 2023 campaign, Milton finished with 2,813 yards, 20 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 64.7% completion percentage. In three years at Tennessee, Milton had 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 63.1% completion percentage.
Milton started his career at Michigan before transferring. He played for the Wolverines from 2018-20 as a backup and eventual starter during the COVID-19 season. This past season was Milton’s first as Tennessee’s full-time starter, previously sitting behind standout Hendon Hooker.
Joel Klatt still has hesitation on Joe Milton III
While Milton was dynamic at the combine, Klatt believes teams shouldn’t solely focus on the Tennessee star’s physical attributes.
“Now, can he play the position? You have to go to the tape,” Klatt said. “I don’t care what his miles per hour were on the football. I just really don’t. When you actually break it down, the way quarterbacks work, you don’t throw the football. You pass the football. You pass with touch and leverage in every single throw that you make as a quarterback.
“I hope Joe Milton gets evaluated based on the way that he played at Tennessee… He was so much better this last year at Tennessee than even when he had played spot duty the year prior. I hope he’s evaluated on that and he doesn’t just become the circus of throwing the ball far down the field.”
Despite his standout performance at the NFL Scouting Combine, Milton still is not projected to be selected in the first round in most NFL mock drafts. Nonetheless, adversity is nothing new to the Florida native. With any luck, Milton will overcome his latest obstacle like all the ones in his past.
More must-reads: