Several months before the draft of the NFL 2024, I had lunch with a man of the staff at the annual combination of screening of the League when the conversation turned to the exceptional harvest of quarters of this year. While we reduce the list and debated variables for each player, which finally included six first -round QB, he closed the conversation with a nugget.
“The strongest arm – one of the strongest arms I have ever seen – may not even be drafted until day 3,” he said. “The arm of this guy is as good as (the quarter of Buffalo’s bills) Josh Allen and could be stronger.”
I didn’t need to hear the name. I knew he was talking about the quarter of the Tennessee volunteers Joe Miltonwhose strength of the arm has been buzzing since its first year in Michigan. But the chatter of the NFL on Milton really started to increase by leaving the NFL 2023 draft, after the dazzling climb of Anthony Richardson Until choice n ° 4 that year – largely due to the sporty profile of Richardson’s elite, the waist and a monster arm. Once Richardson ran the dashboard, a question began to percolate in the coming months about Milton, which had been transferred to Tennessee and waited for its turn behind Hendon Hooker. And this question was as follows: given its similar size and its athletic profile in Richardson, but with an even stronger arm, Milton could he zoom up from Draft 2024?
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The answer was no. Not even close.
Instead, the 2024 class was blocked by elite quarter-back talents, and the Milton project assessment among the teams was severe. Some detractors did not like its precision on the ground or its ability to deliver an easily capable ball. Others felt like he was leaning too much on the strength of his arm and failed to touch and a superposition capacity between the covers. Still others simply hated the simplicity and the strange global structure of the Tennessee offensive, which was also a criticism when Hooker was a prospect project a season earlier. In turn, they wondered if Milton was a high -level processor after six years of university football, or simply exploited a program that had no real application or pressure from the NFL to read the multiple facets.
The final result: Milton fell in the sixth round of the draft before the Patriots picked it up, finally twin with the third global choice (and the future starter), Drake Maye.
A little over 10 months later, this history project has become a free agency story. Whoever started during the senior Bowl in January, when a message began to filter himself to the offices of the NFL teams: after an encouraging recruit season that saw Milton plays well in the pre-season And then again during a final of the season against the Buffalo Bills, the Patriots could Be inclined to listen to offers on the future saving of 25 years. The same guy as the owner of the Robert Kraft team referred to a joke after the season when he thought that the patriots “had the chance” and could “have two quarters”.
Leaving this senior bowl, however, it was clear: if the patriots add a seasoned quarter of aid during the offseason to help support and develop Maye, it would be a sign that Milton phone calls would be taken. Then came on Monday, when the patriots signed a backup of the veterans Joshua Dobbs – Considered one of the best QB of preparation and support in the League – an agreement of $ 8 million over two years. Just like that, the question turned to what she meant for Milton and whether or not there were contenders.
On Tuesday, I contacted several teams in the quarter-Arrière as well as certain staff assessors who worked on Milton a year ago. And the answer I obtained was: it takes only one team to like it enough to exchange for it, but it has not been demonstrated enough to justify a high choice of draft in exchange.
As an AFC talent assessor supervised it: “He fell into the project because the assessments were what they were. What has changed? It is not as if he developed as a starter (last season). »»
The answer, I replied, was that Milton had played well in the exhibition shots and then had a good outing against the Bills – but largely against the backups in a match where Buffalo prioritizes the health of the playoffs for a victory. And then there is the evaluation of the patriots, which seems to be very positive for talent and progress, given the joke of Kraft to have two quarters.
“This is their biased opinion. It is not as if other teams have seen him train every day, ”replied the assessor. “And the work done on him (as a project prospect) is still quite fresh.”
The skepticism of the evaluator has not been isolated. A transversal section of high -level executives assessors at scouts fell to the idea that Milton was now worth a second -round draft choice – or even a third round – on the basis of a game where nothing was at stake for the opponent.
“Perhaps another strong pre-season will do it, but he went in sixth for a reason,” said an NFC assessor.
“Two choices in the senior Bowl match, not the best to read the defenses, despite a smile of a million dollars and a huge arm,” said a long -standing executive of high -level AFC. “He couldn’t keep jobs in Michigan,” said a simple UT system. People don’t forget.
I could repeat all the evaluations, but they were largely a version of the last two. By emphasizing the reality that patriots could like it internally, but there is simply not enough production on the field to transform a sixth round player that each team has succeeded several times – including New England – in a choice of second or third round.
That said, it remains the “only” reality of the commercial market.
As an assessor said: “(Indianapolis colts) gave Daniel Jones A year (and) $ 14 million and he looked like one of the worst quarters of the NFL when he played for the last time. … I would ride with Joe Milton in front of Daniel Jones.
“If (the director general of the patriots) Eliot Wolf looks like something like his father, then (Milton will not be exchanged). They will let him have another pre-season as he did in the past year, then treat him for a second round or more choice when his stock is high. »»
For the moment, it is difficult to find a team to assert that such a peak occurs this offseason.
