Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel announced on Monday that Michigan transfer Joe Milton will be UT's starting quarterback on Thursday night when the Vols' open the 2021 season against the Bowling Green Falcons.

The announcement didn't come as a surprise. Various reports indicated recently that Milton, a redshirt junior, had been receiving the first-team reps over the last week.

"He's (Milton) practiced with the one group for the last seven to 10 days," said Heupel on Monday. "We came out of our second scrimmage believing he'd made some major steps forward in the shortest amount of time."

Heupel declined to name a backup quarterback. Sophomore Harrison Bailey and redshirt senior Hendon Hooker are listed as co-backup quarterbacks on the Vols' week one depth chart.

Josh Heupel had no choice but to name Joe Milton as the Vol's starting QB

Naming Milton as the starter was the only logical choice that Heupel had.

It was obvious after spring practice that there wasn't much separation between Bailey, Hooker, and Brian Maurer (Maurer recently entered the transfer portal).

That's why Heupel added Milton to the roster. At the time, true freshman Kaidon Salter was also on the roster (he has since been dismissed from the program and transferred to Liberty). Tennessee had options, but Heupel didn't feel comfortable moving forward without adding another option to the mix.

It's unclear how much separation there is between Milton and Bailey/Hooker after fall camp. There might not be much at all. But even there isn't any separation, this was still the right call by Heupel.

That's because Milton has by far the most upside of the quarterbacks on the roster. His physical skills are special. He has the best arm on the team, he looks like a defensive end, and he has good speed. Milton's body type and ability to move has been compared to Cam Newton.

While it's unlikely that Milton is going to be the next Cam, we all know that kind of upside doesn't come around often.

And if anyone can help Milton unlock his potential, it's Heupel — a known quarterback whisperer.

"His ability to extend plays and make them explosive plays is something that's very important in our offense," said Heupel on Monday after naming Milton as UT's starting quarterback.

If Milton fails to live up to expectations, the Vols have experience (Hooker) and young talent (Bailey) waiting on the sideline ready to go.

But when you have a player with physical traits like Milton, you have to turn to him first just to see what he can do.

Tennessee is going to be just fine at the quarterback position this season, as long as the injuries don't start piling up.

Developing quarterbacks is what Heupel's done at every stop he's made. And it's what he'll do at Tennessee, too.

Featured image via UTAD/Andrew Ferguson