Greg McElroy needs to see Joe Milton play consistently before buying stock

Joe Milton needs to play consistently before Greg McElroy buys stock in the Tennessee quarterback in 2023.

Everyone cites the Orange Bowl as Milton’s peak performance and as to why he’ll be great this fall. It was a great game, but McElroy wants that on a weekly basis, not just a one-off game.

Milton certainly has potential to be like Hendon Hooker was last season. But not every game has to be the Orange Bowl.

“A lot of people are very bullish on Joe Milton,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “Understandably so. I called the game in the Orange Bowl against Clemson, he looked insanely comfortable. And we know his physical arm talent is unlike that of pretty much anybody in college football. The guy’s got the biggest arm in the country. There’s no doubt about that. But as a result of that big arm, there are a lot of long foul balls.

“Now he hasn’t completely separated, I’m not 100% certain that he’s going to be the starter, but let’s call it what it is. He’s going to be the starter and he looks really, really good now.” 

However, McElroy pointed out where Milton could improve before he crowns him as the next big thing in college football.

“Can he eliminate some of those overthrows? Can he be more consistent when pushing the ball down the field,” McElroy said. “Look, he could throw 80 yards in the air, but not every deep ball needs to travel 80 yards because he just gotta throw it 60 to allow his receiver to run underneath it. That’s the big adjustment for him. 

“He’s shown improvement. He’s shown growth from where he was two years ago in 2021 when he started the season as the starting quarterback. Remember he was the starter ahead of Hendon Hooker. And Hendon Hooker got into the game against Pitt, because Joe Milton rolled his ankle and was unable to return that day.” 

In his limited action last year, Milton finished with 971 yards, 10 touchdowns, zero interceptions, a 64.6% completion percentage and 77 rushing yards.

However, there’s always the potential of Milton. As everyone points at last year’s Orange Bowl, there could be some of that magic all season long.

“But this is a guy that has great potential,” McElroy said. “He just has to learn how to harness that potential and be mindful by not throwing 100 mile an hour fastball on every single throw.”