If throwing the ball a country mile was the only criterion for ranking the incoming QB prospects, then Tennessee’s Joe Milton III would be the undisputed QB1 overall in this draft class.
Yet, his entire body of work at the collegiate level brings more questions than answers entering the NFL.
Here is everything you need to know about Milton and his evaluation as a prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft.
How Tall Is Joe Milton III?
If you were in search of the prototypical build for a quarterback prospect, then Milton checks almost every box you want entering the professional ranks.
He is a 6’5” quarterback, which puts him in the 87th percentile at the position. Combine his height with his impressive 10 1/4” hand size (80th percentile) and 33 3/8” arm length (82nd percentile), and you quite possibly have the best physical profile of any prospect at the position in this class.
How Much Does Milton Weigh?
Milton’s size once again works in his favor when it comes to his weight, as he checks in at 235 pounds. His weight puts him in the 88th percentile at the position and speaks to his modest contributions as a runner during his collegiate career.
How Old Is Milton?
After spending six seasons playing college football, Milton enters the 2024 NFL Draft at the age of 24. He is a little older than Michael Penix Jr., Jordan Travis, and Spencer Rattler, but slightly younger than Bo Nix as far as his age relative to some of the other noteworthy quarterback prospects in this class.
What School Did Milton Go To?
Milton’s six-year career saw him spend three years apiece at two of the biggest football programs in the nation.
He spent three seasons with the Michigan Wolverines, but he failed to beat out Shea Patterson during his first two seasons before seeing the majority of work under center for Jim Harbaugh’s team in 2020.
He transferred to Tennessee ahead of the 2021 season, where he mostly sat behind Hendon Hooker for his first two years as a member of the Volunteers.
Revisiting Milton’s College Career
Despite spending six years at the collegiate level, we didn’t really get a great sample size of Milton’s game during his time with Michigan or Tennessee.
His first two years as a member of the Wolverines were mostly forgettable, throwing just 11 passes for 117 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. His most productive season with Michigan came in the shortened 2020 season, where he threw for 1,077 yards to go with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
He then transferred to Tennessee and carried the clipboard for another two years while Hooker took the overwhelming majority of meaningful snaps.
His 2021 and 2022 seasons saw him produce just 1,346 yards through the air, but he did manage to have a perfect TD-INT ratio with 12 touchdown passes and zero interceptions over that span. He saved his most productive season for last, throwing for 2,813 yards and 20 TDs as the Volunteers’ starter in 2023.
Milton’s Potential in the NFL
Potential can be a tricky thing to determine with a prospect like Milton. He has an immense amount of natural ability, boasting the elite arm talent that allows him to make the type of awe-inspiring throws that even the majority of strong-armed NFL quarterbacks simply can’t.
Yet, he lacks a significant amount of polish for a quarterback prospect who has been in the college game for six years.
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His footwork is inconsistent. His lack of consistent post-snap processing can get him into big trouble when trying to work past his primary reads, and his lack of touch on shorter or layered throws nullifies the effectiveness of his exceptional arm talent.
Ultimately, Milton is a certified project who has all of the physical tools — height, weight, and arm talent — that NFL scouts love at the quarterback position. However, his disappointing production and absence of significant development over his lengthy college career make it difficult to project that he’ll ever reach the desired consistency to become an NFL starter.
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