The New England Patriots bought into former Tennessee Vols quarterback Joe Milton III's upside, drafting the physically gifted signal caller in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft .
The knocks on Milton coming out of college have been his decision making, his indecisiveness, and the significant number of errant throws.
However, so far, Milton has managed to look like a largely different quarterback through two preseason games than many had predicted. Milton had a first-down scramble and delivered a dart of a touchdown in New England's first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers.
He added something for the Patriots' coaches and front office to think about on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles, albeit on a play that many might not think twice about.
Milton appeared to go the wrong way on play action, but he rolled back to his left and looked downfield, where he saw WR David Wallis running down the sideline. He then flicked a ball effortlessly that hit Wallis 40 yards down the field in the hands before an Eagles defender laid a big hit and broke the pass up.
Simply put, that's a throw that very few quarterbacks can make. Incomplete pass or not, that's an ability that not many players have that coaches can work with.
Milton also saw his running back and tight end drop passes that hit them squarely in the hands (and weren't fired in there like a laser either). Add in the Wallis incompletion that could have been caught, and Milton's day would have been much better than the stats (2/7, 20 yards) showed.
Quarterbacks with Milton's abilities don't grow on trees. Milton's physical tools are on par with those of Josh Allen and Cam Newton. With his arm strength, his size, his speed , and how he's handled contact and even run over defenders , that's hard to deny. It's always been about the decision making and accuracy with Milton.
New England has a quandary with four potentially rosterable quarterbacks - except they really don't. If they release Milton on cut down day later this month, he will surely get claimed on waivers. Bailey Zappe doesn't have the upside of Milton, and he doesn't offer the Patriots something they don't already have in their QB room. Milton assuredly does.
As such, if Jerod Mayo doesn't end up keeping the fellow former Vol on his final 53-man roster as QB3, it would be a big surprise, at least at this point. Because some other team with bad QB options - which there are many of right now - would surely love to continue to see if they can turn Milton into something special.
Related: Tennessee Vols' James Pearce, Jr. receives another strong vote of confidence as college football's best player
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