College football analyst has strong take on Tennessee Vols' QB situation in 2023
The Tennessee Vols have to replace quarterback Hendon Hooker in 2023
The Tennessee Vols will have a new quarterback in 2023.
After watching Hendon Hooker excel in 2022, the expectation is that Joe Milton, who started the final two games of the season for the Vols in 2022, will take over as Tennessee's starter.
Five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava, a true freshman, lingers as competition. But Milton, for now, appears to be the guy.
It seems like everyone agrees that Milton should get the nod over the true freshman. Milton is immensely talented, he has a great grasp on Josh Heupel's offense after playing in it for the last two years, and he's a key team leader. It seems like a no-brainer.
The only concern is whether or not Milton can fill the shoes that Hooker leaves behind.
Hooker was a special player at Tennessee that helped usher in a new age of UT football. He only spent two years in Knoxville, but he'll be a Vols legend forever.
Milton has the off-the-field stuff down — great leader, great teammate.
Replacing Hooker's production is the bigger concern.
Former Alabama quarterback turned ESPN analyst Greg McElroy, however, doesn't seem too worried about the quarterback situation at Tennessee.
McElroy made it clear this week that he thinks Milton can handle the job just fine.
"Let's think about what the big elephant in the room is, though," said McElroy. "Gotta replace Hendon Hooker. Just me talking — I'm not concerned about it. That's no disrespect whatsoever to Hendon Hooker. I love Hendon Hooker. I think he's a phenomenal young man. I think he's a very gifted football player and he had a great year last year. But I am far less concerned about the quarterback position at Tennessee than one might think."
"Because I've seen Joe Milton throw it with my own two eyes," continued McElroy. "That guy can rip the football. Now, we all know the issues that Joe Milton has had from time to time. He has a little bit too much horsepower for his own good. A little bit too much arm. What does that result in? Long foul balls. We can't have long foul balls next year. He's got to reign that thing in and if he only has one pitch, that's going to be a problem. On those shallow cross routes, you can't throw it 100 miles an hour because those things if they're coming in too hot, they get tipped up, they get intercepted."
"And when you throw a deep ball and a guy's behind the defense and you overshoot him by 20 yards, that's obviously an incompletion. It's no different than if you throw it in the ground three feet away from you. So it's gonna be really important for Joe Milton to continue to get comfortable and continue to get on the same page as some of his wideouts. I like that they're having a quarterback competition. I'm not sure it's necessarily going to matter. Everyone's already raving about Nico Iamaleava. I'm not convinced that he's going to be able to do enough here in a 15-span spring practice setting and a 15-span fall practice setting to overtake a guy that just played really well against a legitimate defense in the Clemson Tigers."
Milton showed against Clemson that he can make intermediate throws while taking something off his passes. His accuracy also look much improved against the Tigers.
Obviously, we have to see Milton perform at a high level over an entire season, but it sounds like there isn't much concern when it comes to Milton filling Hooker's shoes in 2023.
