FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Milton intel: The Patriots’ executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said on “The Adam Schefter Podcast” that University of Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III had “too much talent” to pass over him in the sixth round of the NFL draft (No. 193), even though the Patriots had already selected North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye at No. 3.
Few had a closer behind-the-scenes view of Milton’s talent than Joey Halzle, who enters his fourth season on the Tennessee coaching staff — first as the quarterbacks coach (2021-2022) and then offensive coordinator (2023-present). Halzle, 38, played QB at Oklahoma (2006-2008) before starting his coaching career at the school. And he has shared quarterback rooms — as either a player or coach — with Sam Bradford (2010 first-round draft pick), Landry Jones (2013 fourth round), Drew Lock (2019 second round) and Hendon Hooker (2023 third round), among others.
“He is physically the most talented quarterback I’ve been around, and I’ve been around a lot of guys that have been drafted really high,” Halzle said of Milton. “The arm talent, everybody knows about. The strength, flexibility, ability to run — high, high, high-level athlete. He’s a physical specimen on the football field.”
He tells the story of a 2021 summer practice in the Volunteers’ indoor facility in which Milton was executing a play-action pass from the left hashmark and throwing a ‘go’ ball down the right sideline. Milton’s delivery ended up in the rafters, hitting one of the spinning fans.
“It was like, ‘Oh, that’s a little bit different right there,'” Halzle said. “That was the first of many; the ball coming off his hand is absolutely insane.”
Wolf took note of the same thing while watching Milton warm up before last season’s Tennessee-Vanderbilt game.
But at the same time, it takes more than a powerful arm to be a successful quarterback, which Halzle relayed was one of the first conversations he had with Milton when he transferred from Michigan in 2021. They talked about being judicious with “things that showed off his arm” and committing to a laser focus on fundamentals.
“He was an upper-body thrower when [he came to Tennessee] and one goal was to make him a lower-body thrower — driving off the back foot and letting the arms put the ball where it needs to go,” Halzle said, identifying the change as a catalyst for Milton’s improved accuracy over time.
“It was all about ‘You have to invest in parts of the game that wasn’t just a natural gift to you. You have to invest in understanding defenses. Understanding the offensive scheme. Understanding protections.’ I think he always did, but he took that to a different level last year.”
Milton, in his first full season as a starter, finished 229-of-354 for 2,813 yards, with 20 touchdown passes and five interceptions. He added 78 rushes for 299 yards and seven touchdowns.
In explaining the Patriots’ thinking in drafting Milton after already landing Maye, coach Jerod Mayo noted Milton’s “cannon for an arm” and how the team is “in the business of trying to get good football players through the door” as its strategy.
“One thing that we preach is competition. Nothing is given. All of it’s earned,” Mayo said, adding that Milton could also potentially provide value as a scout-team quarterback because “having a guy that size, we’re going to play some of those [type of QBs] as well.”
With veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett and Maye locks to be on the 53-man roster, Milton and third-year pro Bailey Zappe could be competing for one spot. That is, unless the Patriots take the unconventional step of keeping all four, similar to what the team did in 2000 with Drew Bledsoe, John Friesz, Michael Bishop and sixth-round pick Tom Brady.