‘Watching Joe Milton makes me nervous’ — Skip Bayless delivers honest, if not premature, comparison between Dallas Cowboys QB Joe Milton and Shedeur Sanders
The former Tennessee QB wasn’t sharp in his first action as a Cowboy
Veteran TV talking head Skip Bayless is a well-known Dallas Cowboys fan and is never shy to speak his mind about a situation, to put it mildly.
With Dallas’ second preseason game approaching against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday in Arlington, Bayless pointed to his concerns about the backup quarterback position behind Dak Prescott. He singled out former Tennessee Vols QB Joe Milton III, after his lackluster performance in the preseason opener against the Los Angeles Rams.
Speaking on his show, Bayless says watching Milton makes him nervous compared to another young QB in the NFL — Cleveland Browns rookie QB Shedeur Sanders.
“Watching Joe Milton try to play quarterback the other night against the Rams, I couldn’t help but think ‘I sure hope Dak stays healthy all season,’” Bayless said. “Joe Milton is the flipside of Shedeur. Huge young man with a huge arm, but a young man who struggles to play the hardest position in all of sports. He doesn’t have Shedeur’s feel for playing quarterback, Shedeur’s command, Shedeur’s poise, Shedeur’s consistent, deadly accuracy. Watching Shedeur play quarterback just makes me comfortable. Watching Joe Milton makes me nervous. But I guess Joe Milton III is going to be the Cowboys’ backup quarterback.”
Milton started last weekend for Dallas against Los Angeles, and it wasn’t a smooth performance. He finished 17 of 29 for 143 yards with one touchdown and one interception to go with five rushes for 22 yards in the Cowboys’ 31-21 loss to the Rams.
From the perspective of watching him at Tennessee, saying that watching Milton play makes you nervous is a fair take because that’s what his game has inspired to this point. Milton has shown himself to be the essence of a highly talented but highly inconsistent player at the college and NFL levels. You’re going to get a 65-yard bomb, but you will also have too many lost drives mired by either indecision, a poor decision, or a missed throw that should have been made.
While I also understand what Bayless is saying about Sanders, it’s far too early to put faith that the command and poise that he talks about with the former Colorado standout will translate to the NFL level despite a solid first outing this preseason. It’s hard to argue that Shedeur hasn’t shown significantly better command and touch in the college game, but how his game will translate to the NFL is still unknown.
We’ll see if Milton can have an improved performance against the Ravens on Saturday, and if Bayless will change his tune if he does.
