Steelers NEED volunteers, NOT hostages!

As my co-worker, Tyler Ziolkowski, astutely pointed out in his story a little less than two weeks ago; the Steelers are in an interesting spot with the quarterback position. There are a number of directions they could go this off-season to bolster the QB room, which currently is only home to Kenny Pickett. This blog isn’t going to delve into all the intricate possibilities the Steelers could move forward with, but rather narrow the focus in on one guy who would be an exciting addition to the roster. That man is the 6-year college quarterback out of the University of Tennessee, Joe Milton III.

Milton began his college career in Ann Arbor playing for the University of Michigan under Jim Harbaugh. He has always been billed as a fantastic athlete with a huge arm that can make just about any throw on the football field. However, through three seasons, five starts, and losing his starting job during the shortened Covid season in 2020 to Cade McNamara, Milton wasn’t the player that many had hoped or projected he would be. Through those three years, he accumulated 1077 passing yards, 5 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions with a completion percentage of 57%. He also rushed for 3 TDs and 156 yards on 50 attempts with an average rush of 3.1 yards per attempt. Milton decided to transfer with three years of eligibility remaining, he landed in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee.

Milton’s first two years as a Volunteer included limited action with only four total starts, but in those starts Milton began to show his growth as a player. In the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he accumulated 1346 yards passing, 4 TDs, and no interceptions with 2 rushing touchdowns. In the 2022 season, in which he appeared in relief duty for Hendon Hooker after he endured a season-ending knee injury, Milton had a completion percentage of 65% and an average yards per completion of 18.3. Then in the 2023 season, Milton started all twelve regular season games for the Vols throwing for 2813 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions with a completion percentage of 65% and an average yards per completion of 12.3. He added 299 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns on 78 rushes for a total of 3.8 yards per ground attempt. 

Milton is a 6’5” 235-pound freak athlete and when watching his film from this past season it is easy to see the athleticism, he possesses with both his arms and legs. His games are littered with deep balls thrown over the defense and completed for big chunk plays or in many cases touchdowns. His throwing ability is easy to fall in love with, especially when coupled with his ability to make plays on the ground, through either designed runs or impromptu scrambles. A comparison that is easily drawn to Milton is Josh Allen, another 6’5” quarterback who has freakish arm strength coupled with an above-average ability to run the ball. Coincidently they also share many of the same negative characteristics, Allen struggled with protecting the ball and decision-making in college which is currently Milton’s Achilles heel. This has long been an issue for Milton going back to his days at Michigan but came to a head this year in his sole full season as a starter. He tends to force throws into tough coverages and at times struggles to take what the defense gives him. These unfortunate defects were evident in his performance at the Senior Bowl last week. In the scrimmage he didn’t perform too well, throwing for 80 yards, two interceptions, and no touchdowns. One of his interceptions was a throw on the run across his body and into the middle of the field, if he had decided to use his legs, he could have picked up 5-10 yards and moved the sticks; keeping the drive alive. Given his ability and measurables, Milton is slated to go anywhere from the 4th round to going undrafted. 

What the Steelers should see in Milton is an uber-talented player who is potentially a starting-caliber quarterback, if he can reign in some of his mistakes. As it currently stands the Steelers only have Kenny Pickett on the roster and regardless of if they resign, sign, or trade for another quarterback, I will imagine they will still go into camp with three to four guys in the room. I would advocate for the Steelers to take a flier on Milton as one of those guys, especially given his low cost of a day-three pick or even potentially as a UDFA. He has all the tools you hope for a quarterback to possess and under the right circumstances and coaching could blossom into a fantastic player for years to come.