Tennessee Football: National media outlet names the QBs that could be first-round picks in 2024
If Tennessee Vols quarterback Joe Milton, UT's presumed starter this fall, is selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, it will be the first time in nearly 30 years that the program's had quarterbacks selected in back-to-back drafts. Former Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker was selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the […]
If Tennessee Vols quarterback Joe Milton, UT's presumed starter this fall, is selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, it will be the first time in nearly 30 years that the program's had quarterbacks selected in back-to-back drafts.
Former Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker was selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions last month.
In 1994, Tennessee's Heath Shuler was selected by Washington with the No. 3 overall pick. A year later, Jerry Colquitt was selected in the sixth round by the Carolina Panthers.
Milton undoubtedly has the talent to be an early-round selection in next year's draft.
The former Michigan transfer has elite arm strength (good luck finding a quarterback with a stronger arm than Milton) and Cam Newton-like size (Milton is 6-foot-5/242 lbs).
If Kentucky's Will Levis received first-round hype in 2023, then Milton deserves it in 2024. Levis didn't do anything on the field this past season to suggest he was worthy of a first-round pick. Draft analysts, however, fell in love with Levis's arm and size, despite his questionable attitude and consistently poor decision-making on the field.
Milton, on the other hand, has yet to throw an interception since arriving at Tennessee in 2021 (he's thrown 144 passes at UT without an interception). And he has a better arm than Levis.
That big arm is part of the reason why 247Sports views Milton as one of 14 quarterbacks that has a shot to land in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
247Sports listed Milton as a "darkhorse with a shot at the first round".
From 247Sports: I have a feeling Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton is going to be the 2024 NFL Draft’s version of Anthony Richardson. I had a coach at Michigan tell me, without me asking, that Milton was going to win a Heisman Trophy in the spring of 2019. Maybe that can happen in 2023. Milton has a cannon arm and incredible athletic traits to fit his 6-foot-5, 245-pound frame. The difference between Milton and Richardson is he is going to have to throw the ball for Tennessee weekly with consistent accuracy while going through progressions in their tempo-based choice system offense. I like his chances passing it 10 times more than Richardson at this stage.
Milton looked great as the Vols' starting quarterback against Vanderbilt and Clemson to end the 2022 season (after Hooker tore his ACL against South Carolina). If Milton can build off that progress, there's no reason he should be left out of the first-round conversation — especially after Florida's Anthony Richardson was selected with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft (despite the fact that Richardson completed just 53 percent of his passes last season).
If Milton goes in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, it could set Tennessee up to be "QBU" for the foreseeable future.
